I live in an interesting intersection when it comes to the entertainment I consume. On one hand, as many of you know, I am a huge fan of theater. Both on and off stage, I love performing as much as I do sitting in the audience and watching others perform. On the other side of that I am also an avid sports fan. My summers are full of short trips down to Milwaukee to watch baseball, and fall will find me watching Football every Sunday.
I’ve found that people from both camps have a hard time understanding my love of the other. Theater people can’t understand why I skipped rehearsal to watch the Super Bowl, and my cousins were dumbfounded at the idea of me missing a playoff game to go perform in a show. However, these two worlds are not as different as they might seem.
The reason I love both of them is because I get extremely motivated watching people live out peak moments in their lives. On May 13th, 2018. The Milwaukee Brewers due to injury had to call up one of their young players to pitch for them, Freddy Peralta. The journey from little league to MLB is a harrowing journey, filled with thousands of hours of struggle and doubt, so when a player makes their debut in Major League Baseball it tends to be a big celebration. When Freddy pitched in his first ever MLB game his family dropped everything, including his mom who flew out to Colorado to watch her son. He pitched incredibly well 13 strikeouts breaking a record.
The camera throughout the game kept showing his mom, often in tears, sometimes jumping around on her feet celebrating another strikeout. May 13th 2018 also happened to fall on Mothers day. It was such a beautiful triumphant moment of humanity I couldn’t help but have tears in my eyes.
Those same tears were in my eyes In December 2024 during the curtain call of Suessical The Musical. I watched as a teenager went up and took her first bow, and was met to a chorus of loud cheers from her family, seeing her mom in particular beaming with pride. It was such a cool moment to be on stage for, she had worked so hard, stepped out of her comfort zone, owned the stage, and now the crowd was responding in turn.
These are incredibly special moments we get to be a part of, whether on stage, backstage, or in the audience. That’s why at ASPI we have been so passionate about trying to equip students with the skills and confidence they need to have their own breakthrough moments. That’s why we are thrilled to announce our summer youth camp, now a 3 day experience August 14th-16th. Our 2nd annual Abrams FLASHLIGHT Productions Kids Camp is now open for registration- so act fast cause last year spots filled up quickly! This year we are offering an expanded camp full of 3 days of fun! So if you have a kid who was like me and craved that passion up on the stage, this kids camp is for them. Taking that first bow on the stage is sure to create core memories.