
Literally.
Singing. Check.
Dancing. Check.
Acting. Check.
I fell in love with all things involving the arts when I was
little. At five, my friend across the
street and I were making up our own shows.
Not that we didn’t love shows that already existed. We did!
In our kitchen theater, we also starred in our own production of
Annie…which, as a redheaded child was impossible for me to resist. The best part was our parents loved that we
were interested in the arts and supported that interest. I was fortunate to sing in a fabulous
children’s choir and participate in creative competitions that allowed us to
write scripts, build sets and create costumes.
I also did shows. Musicals. Plays.
Skits. (I might have gotten
kicked out of my 8th grade play, but that’s a story for another
time.)
The more I explored the arts, the more I learned about the
world around me. The more I learned, the
more I wanted to know. It’s sounds
cliché, but that doesn’t make the link between my desire to learn and my love
of the arts any less strong. Oh—don’t
get me wrong. I wasn’t good at all the
classes I took or all the things I decided to learn. Me and calculus-HA! Well, let’s just say that my heroine in The
Testing did WAY better in calculus than I did.
But I wanted to learn it. I
wanted to try. The arts made me want to
try everything.
That’s not to say that I navigated the teenage waters
without hitting choppy waters. There was
drama. Roles that were lost. Roles that were won and made people angry
that I won. Roles that were won that I
thought I would look silly performing.
Rehearsals that didn’t go well.
Rehearsals I got kick out of.
(Yep…and that’s not even counting that show I mentioned earlier that I was
completely kicked out of.) Classes I
didn’t quite make the grade on. (Hello Calculus!) Nerves. Triumphs.
Freak outs.
Sounds like fun, right?
It was. Each
disappointment taught me about working harder.
I learned where my strengths lie and I worked to make them
stronger. I also learned about my
weaknesses and understood that I had to improve in those areas if I wanted to
take it to the next level. I learned
that the arts aren’t just about creativity and talent. They are about dedication and work, work,
work. Those lessons were hard won. They made me cry—a lot. But despite the tears and the drama, I have
never regretted one moment of the time I spent on stage both as a high school
performer, a college one and during my days as a professional musical theater
and opera singer.
It’s been several years since I’ve stepped under the bright lights
to portray a character from a musical or opera.
It’s funny, but during all those years of learning to sing and dance in
order to bring someone else’s words to life, I never considered writing my own
words. But the arts taught me that
anything is possible if you work hard enough.
Getting good grades. Getting into
college. Landing that first professional
role. Writing an entire book. Or two.
Or more. Having the arts as a
major influence in my life taught me that anything was possible. It might not be easy. I might get rejected or not be good enough
for something. But that wasn’t always a
bad thing and sometimes getting the part or the solo wasn’t the real point. Because the arts also taught me that the
journey was just as important as the destination and that the time spent
working to be my best at something was never wasted.
Available now!
Amazon
Barnes and Noble
IndieBound
Joelle Charbonneau has performed in opera and musical theatre productions across Chicagoland. She now teaches private voice lessons and uses her stage experience to create compelling characters in her books. She is the author of two mystery series: The Rebecca Robbins mysteries (Minotaur Books) and the Glee Club mysteries (Berkley). Joelle’s also the author of The Testing young adult trilogy that debuts with THE TESTING. Learn more at www.joellecharbonneau.com
Be sure to stop back Friday when we launch our Summer Reading Antidote Sweepstakes with a signed copy of THE TESTING!!!
Amazon
Barnes and Noble
IndieBound
Joelle Charbonneau has performed in opera and musical theatre productions across Chicagoland. She now teaches private voice lessons and uses her stage experience to create compelling characters in her books. She is the author of two mystery series: The Rebecca Robbins mysteries (Minotaur Books) and the Glee Club mysteries (Berkley). Joelle’s also the author of The Testing young adult trilogy that debuts with THE TESTING. Learn more at www.joellecharbonneau.com
Be sure to stop back Friday when we launch our Summer Reading Antidote Sweepstakes with a signed copy of THE TESTING!!!
6 comments:
Great post! Thanks for visiting with us today, Joelle! Hmm...theater. I think this post is going to resonate strongly with our own Carey Corp. You two might be spirit sisters. :)
Great post! I, too, was a bit of a theater girl, though more as a child than during high school, and I think you're so right! You can learn a lot about life through the birth, life, and death of a production. :)
Your book premise sounds terrific! Best of luck!!
Love the post! Can't wait to read your book!
Love it! I wish I had been less shy when I was younger, because there are some great kids theatre programs in my area that I would've loved to have been involved in.
Also loved 'The Testing'! I already can't wait to check out the second book. =)
Joelle, Thanks so much for joining us today! This is such a great post -- those are wonderful lessons to have learned from the arts. THE TESTING sounds fabulous! I'm looking forward to reading it, and best of luck!
Great post, Joelle! What an exciting life you've lived, and continue to live! I must admit that I've been squeeing with excitement since you first announced that you'd be writing YA. Must go pick up my copy of The Testing right now!
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