Going to Broadway
Going to Broadway by Idalmi Acosta
Last night I went to see "You Can't Take it With you" at the Indianapolis Repertoire Theater. This is the 6th play I have seen from the IRT's 2019-2020 season. These last couple of weeks have been very challenging with dealing with the loss of a family member, preparing for standardized tests at school and an overall exhaustion but being in the theater yesterday for two hours made me forget all my problems and I left the theater smiling and feeling upbeat and hopeful. It was such a great experience because for a moment I got to be inside a book and this book was refreshing. Some people like amusement parks -I like theater.
Growing up theater wasn't something that was accessible for me. I grew up with my father and two siblings. We had the basics but never money to splurge on things like going to the theater. We couldn't afford to go to the Zoo, museums, music classes, or dance classes either.
Living in a low income community there was not much around us in terms of programs or opportunities inside the school or in the community to give us access to arts education.
Once I got to highschool things changed. I was in the Macy program in Dewitt Clinton HS, which is an honors program. In the program we had a really rigorous and intimidating english teacher called Ms. Polan. She taught playwriting class and English. She introduced me to playwriting which was something completely new for me. I wrote a couple of short plays and even acted scenes out with a friend I met from the class. This class alone opened my eyes to how fun and interesting theater could be. Later on she invited me to participate in a program where we would get a sponsor and they would pick plays for us to watch on broadway. After the play we would eat pizza and sometimes even have discussions with actors or even producers of the plays we would watch. It was truly an honor to be picked and I am so grateful for her giving me that opportunity to experience theater.
Our sponsors for the program were Rich Cronin from the New York Times and his wife. We saw many plays together. Some of the plays we saw were "Twelve Angry Men ", "Dessa Rose", "25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee" and "This is How it Goes". I don't think I thanked Rich Cronin and his wife enough for sponsoring us and giving us the opportunity to see these amazing plays that we would've otherwise never had access to. I also looked up to him because he was a reputed journalist and I hoped to one day do the kind of work he was doing. I loved Twelve Angry Men and I'm actually watching it in September because it's part of the IRT's upcoming season. After "This is How it Goes" I got to meet Amanda Peet and Ben Stiller and eat pizza with them and ask them questions. I remember offering Ben Stiller some pizza and him politely declining because he needed to keep in shape because of hollywood. We talked about the book we were reading in class at the time- "The Things they Carried" by Tim O' Brien a book that still causes me an avalanche of emotions.
Since those days theater has become a part of my life. I saw many plays after that. Unfortunately plays in New York City are really expensive and getting access to them continued to be a struggle even as an adult. Moving to Indianapolis has really allowed me to throw myself into theater more than ever before. The Indianapolis Repertoire Theater is affordable ad they really support teachers and community members. I am looking forward to seeing 8 plays in the IRT's upcoming season.
I saw my first play in 2015 and it was "A Christmas Carol", I went as a field trip with my middle school. I loved this play! It has become a tradition to watch "A Christmas Carol" every year. Ever since then I've been taking my students to the theater every year. This year we watched Pipeline and learned about the school to prison pipeline and had a wonderful time. Students felt like they could connect to the play and it brought up a lot of reflection on family, relationships and education. Through the IRT I've been able to do for them what Ms. Polan has done for me, giving me access to theater and the opportunity to be part of a world I otherwise would not have been able to be a part of.
I hope that wherever she is, she knows the impact she's had in my life and in the life of my students. This year my sister took her students to the theater for the first time after much pressure from me. She's planning on taking them next year also.
By the way the IRT is currently fundraising to continue to provide affordable tickets to students, teachers and community members. If you would like to donate visit this website: https://www.irtlive.com/support
Last night I went to see "You Can't Take it With you" at the Indianapolis Repertoire Theater. This is the 6th play I have seen from the IRT's 2019-2020 season. These last couple of weeks have been very challenging with dealing with the loss of a family member, preparing for standardized tests at school and an overall exhaustion but being in the theater yesterday for two hours made me forget all my problems and I left the theater smiling and feeling upbeat and hopeful. It was such a great experience because for a moment I got to be inside a book and this book was refreshing. Some people like amusement parks -I like theater.
Growing up theater wasn't something that was accessible for me. I grew up with my father and two siblings. We had the basics but never money to splurge on things like going to the theater. We couldn't afford to go to the Zoo, museums, music classes, or dance classes either.
Living in a low income community there was not much around us in terms of programs or opportunities inside the school or in the community to give us access to arts education.
Once I got to highschool things changed. I was in the Macy program in Dewitt Clinton HS, which is an honors program. In the program we had a really rigorous and intimidating english teacher called Ms. Polan. She taught playwriting class and English. She introduced me to playwriting which was something completely new for me. I wrote a couple of short plays and even acted scenes out with a friend I met from the class. This class alone opened my eyes to how fun and interesting theater could be. Later on she invited me to participate in a program where we would get a sponsor and they would pick plays for us to watch on broadway. After the play we would eat pizza and sometimes even have discussions with actors or even producers of the plays we would watch. It was truly an honor to be picked and I am so grateful for her giving me that opportunity to experience theater.
Our sponsors for the program were Rich Cronin from the New York Times and his wife. We saw many plays together. Some of the plays we saw were "Twelve Angry Men ", "Dessa Rose", "25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee" and "This is How it Goes". I don't think I thanked Rich Cronin and his wife enough for sponsoring us and giving us the opportunity to see these amazing plays that we would've otherwise never had access to. I also looked up to him because he was a reputed journalist and I hoped to one day do the kind of work he was doing. I loved Twelve Angry Men and I'm actually watching it in September because it's part of the IRT's upcoming season. After "This is How it Goes" I got to meet Amanda Peet and Ben Stiller and eat pizza with them and ask them questions. I remember offering Ben Stiller some pizza and him politely declining because he needed to keep in shape because of hollywood. We talked about the book we were reading in class at the time- "The Things they Carried" by Tim O' Brien a book that still causes me an avalanche of emotions.
Since those days theater has become a part of my life. I saw many plays after that. Unfortunately plays in New York City are really expensive and getting access to them continued to be a struggle even as an adult. Moving to Indianapolis has really allowed me to throw myself into theater more than ever before. The Indianapolis Repertoire Theater is affordable ad they really support teachers and community members. I am looking forward to seeing 8 plays in the IRT's upcoming season.
I saw my first play in 2015 and it was "A Christmas Carol", I went as a field trip with my middle school. I loved this play! It has become a tradition to watch "A Christmas Carol" every year. Ever since then I've been taking my students to the theater every year. This year we watched Pipeline and learned about the school to prison pipeline and had a wonderful time. Students felt like they could connect to the play and it brought up a lot of reflection on family, relationships and education. Through the IRT I've been able to do for them what Ms. Polan has done for me, giving me access to theater and the opportunity to be part of a world I otherwise would not have been able to be a part of.
I hope that wherever she is, she knows the impact she's had in my life and in the life of my students. This year my sister took her students to the theater for the first time after much pressure from me. She's planning on taking them next year also.
By the way the IRT is currently fundraising to continue to provide affordable tickets to students, teachers and community members. If you would like to donate visit this website: https://www.irtlive.com/support
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