ESPrit de Corps

As someone who has been a part of every Summer Seminar since 1998, I have some terrific memories from the past 11 summers.   As we build up to this year’s Seminar, the 13th annual, I’ll share a few of my most memorable moments.  I don’t want to monopolize the stroll down memory lane, of course, and I invite all former Summer Seminar attendees to share some of their memories as well.

Sarah Lawrence College, 1998: Playing a Merman

It was my first Summer Seminar, when I was working for the Roundabout Theatre Company’s education department.  Each day,  my teammates and I participated in a working group that included teams from Young Audiences of Western New York in Buffalo, and eba dance theatre in Albany.   The group was moderated by Carol Ponder (a Nashville-based Teaching Artist, who is returning to Summer Seminar this year) and a co-teacher from Nashville that Carol often worked with.

I developed some great professional friendships in that group, and one of my favorite memories relates to a creative activity we developed during the week.  In a small group, we were asked to devise a short play (I’m sure it was based on some pertinent theme, but I don’t remember what it was).  I do remember that the story revolved around a merman– as in male version of a mermaid (not a capital “M” merman, aka Ethel).  Being the only man in the group, I was quickly cast as this man from the sea, who was supposed to have a surfer dude approach to life.  I didn’t mind this obvious casting against type, nor did I have a problem with the ad-lib dialogue or even wearing a makeshift crown of metallic pipe cleaners.   I was a bit nervous about improvising a song, though, since it was a skill I’d never developed or even studied.

We had only a few minutes to prepare our presentation for the rest of the working group.  We might have run through the scene once, but it was hardly a full rehearsal.  When it was our group’s turn to share our mini-play, we all stood up on one side of the classroom.  In my pipe cleaner crown, I listened to my colleagues as they explained the background of the story and our location on a desserted beach.    As my fellow performers began singing back-up in a doo-wop style, I clutched my lyric sheet and made a mental leap of faith.   I tried singing the lyrics we had written, but I could tell that I wasn’t in sync with my other performers.  Then a CLICK happened– something in my mind or my soul or my heart just popped, as if to say to me, “Go with it, Phil!  Let go of your fear.”

I started to listen to the other singers again, but I now was listening for more than the tempo or the key.  I because attuned to the style, to the emotional mood of the music, which was about having fun and being relaxed.  Once I was able to “hear” the music’s style and mood, I instantly relaxed into the character and found myself improvising in a way that surprised me.  Not only was I able to stay within the rhythm better, but I was now singing with gusto and character.   Musically, I transformed myself into a beach dude with an enchanting personality.  When I finished my short section, my fiends and colleagues applauded and laughed.  They might have been appreciating the humor I added in my performance, but I like to think they were acknowledging the risk I took.  I was smiling broadly, because I knew that I was able to take that risk because of the support and confidence of my friends and colleagues.  Since 1998, I’ve come to understand that one of the things that makes Summer Seminar unique is the tremendous support we get from, and give to, one another.

Actually, with my sense of confidence and joy of the expressive qualities of music, maybe I was performing like a capital-”M” Merman!