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Magic To Do

This week’s post was supposed to be about RENT. However, I sat down to write it, and realized it was a much bigger undertaking than I was ready for tonight. I promise that’s going to be one helluva post when it goes up. In the meantime, my mother recommended I write up a truly personal post. I guess it can certainly be easiest to write what you know.

I believe I’ve talked about New Voices before, but I really want to give it the attention and details that it deserves. Because in the many years that New Voices has been a big part of my life in many ways, it deserves nothing but the best. There are some things that just change you life forever, and New Voices was one of those things for me. My high school years it spanned were some of the best times of my life when I was in one of the worst periods of my life, and working as an adult with the ensemble has been one of the most rewarding experiences in my life.

New Voices has been a program running at People’s Light since the late 90s. It was initially designed as an outreach program for the city of Chester, but has changed massively over the years. This is partially because of time, who’s running the group and their vision, what the theatre needs, and probably a ton of other things that I have absolutely no clue about. It’s just how these things tend to run. And that’s really fine, because, in my opinion, things get super static otherwise. The nature of New Voices is for it to run for a bit, then rest for a bit. Rinse and repeat.

I was introduced to the group in eighth grade, at the age of 13. It was around the time that people were starting to believe that I was depressed and suicidal and self harming. It was an extremely dark period in my life, with the theatre being my only safe space. There were auditions for the theatre school kids at People’s Light, which my mother probably encouraged me to do anyway. I had no voice that day, but I had to go anyway. I made it work, and landed a spot in the ensemble.

We did an abridged version of Metamorphoses by Mary Zimmerman. My fellow ensemble members saved my life. I had never been a part of something like that before. All of a sudden, I had friends who understood me on a whole different level. We were coming together to make a play and make a difference. I learned a lot that year, both about myself and the people around me. I had made it another year.

New Voices ran again my freshman year of high school and my junior year of high school. These people were my best friends. These people held my hand when I was having panic attacks. They let me cry on their shoulders and loved me anyway. New Voices saved my life, and there’s very little in my life that could ever compare to my years with the group. It’s honestly how I got through high school.

Fast forward to 2017, over a decade after my final year performing in New Voices. I had returned to front of house at People’s Light, and had the lightbulb moment of trying to get involved in New Voices…as an adult. It had done so much for my life growing up, and maybe I could do something like that for someone else. I was put in contact with the woman, Nadira, who runs the group. After a rather intimidating conversation, I was signed on as a stage manager for the group. I was so excited.

Of course, the group had changed since I was in high school. But that’s okay…I had changed, too. I’m not sure what I expected going in. I guess I figured I’d see something like what New Voices had been in my time…mostly a mix of black and white high school kids, at least half a dozen adults…but instead I met an amazing group of black kids of all ages and learned Nadira and I were the only adults in the room.

Not going to lie, I panicked a little. How could some white suburban person like me contribute anything to this group? But Nadira trusted me, and after a little, the kids did too. I became a part of the ensemble, just like I had in 2003. I hate to bring up the whole skin color thing, but it’s all a part of New Voices. How Nadira ran it was much more like it was when she was performing with them- way before my time. And like I said above, part of the changes are with who is running it.

But I don’t think that matters much in the end. The group is still formed with the same idea. And we’re still spreading love and building something special. It’s a lot of fun being on the other side of New Voices. We’ve had occasional adults work with us over the years, but it’s mostly me and Nadira. Nadira has become one of my closest friends. She was in my wedding party. We’re actually a super good team, and I think we’re really making a difference in these kids’s lives.

New Voices has always been there in some form or another when I need it. As a teenager, it was the safest place for me. As an adult, it was a way I could get a new perspective and change lives. My three years acting and five years (working on year six!) working as a stage manager/assistant stage manager/assistant director (the actual triple threat) and any other role they need me in has been close to a decade of some of my best memories.

I guess it’s really important to get this out there. Nadira has agreed to answer some questions about New Voices for me, so now you all have a background. New Voices is magic, and I’ll tell my story for the rest of my life. How else will people learn?

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