What is the Reason?

It was in high school where I first found my love of theater. As a family, I don't recall us ever going to see shows, and I was never a class clown or attention hog, so to speak. I'm not sure what prompted me or gave me the confidence to go the first audition of my life -- for a musical called "Magic Theatre II". I was in 9th grade at Nazareth Area Junior High School in Nazareth, Pennsylvania...though I look like I'm about 8 years old! 

I don't remember too much about that experience, but I know I had fun. I know I felt like a part of a great group of interesting people.

Now, almost 30 years later, that's still exactly what being in a show is all about -- being part of a great group of interesting people.

Since graduating from college with a Bachelor of Arts in Theatre/Dramatic Arts, I've been in about 60 different productions -- musicals, concerts, plays, etc. Were you curious, they are ALL listed on my website, in chronological order (jasonmhammond.weebly.com). 

Life, on its own, is somewhat of a roller coaster and everyone, no matter their chosen profession, has ups and downs. But to say that my life has been simply a roller coaster would be a ridiculous understatement! 

I have loved inhabiting various characters and telling those stories. But it's important to point out that I don't act just because I like doing it or because I feel it's my purpose in life. I do it to entertain other people!

If acting was simply to make myself happy, I could easily do that without a college degree and especially without having to endure the specific hardships I've experienced. 

I act so other people can find enjoyment in the telling of the story! While I've performed all kinds of shows for all kinds of audiences, this particular show is all about the kids!

And the last few cities have been an immense blessing and reminder of the REASON why I do this.

DeVos Performance Hall
Monday, November 22, 2021

After leaving Peoria, IL we drove to Grand Rapids, MI for what would be the first stop on this tour that I'd previously played a different year (2015 & 2018).

I remembered the city, it's quite lovely, actually, but I did not remember the theater at all--so much so that I assumed we'd played a different theater in Grand Rapids. However, that's not true. I just forgot. Oh well. It was a nice space.

There's a famous line from the Rudolph song, and it's in the Rudolph movie, and it's in our Rudolph show. I get to say the line. The line is "Rudolph, with your nose so bright, won't you guide my sleigh tonight?" Perhaps I've written about this before, but I love saying this line in different ways each performance. It's a spoken line of dialogue, not a sung lyric, so I don't have to keep it in any certain rhythm. Typically, I'll pause right before saying "sleigh tonight", just to break up the flow of the words, and often I pause there to make it seem as though Santa has some trouble remembering the word to describe the big purple conveyance device pulled by his reindeer friends (sleigh!). Invariably, I'll hear several voices softly from the audience say the line before I do. I love that. Well, in Grand Rapids they were boisterous! I paused and they just filled in the blank, rather loudly! It was awesome. I didn't break character or in any way acknowledge they'd said the line, I just finished my line and kept going. The whole cast is on stage for this line, and so they all got to hear the audience say the line as well. It was a great moment.

The Palace Theatre
Tuesday, November 23, 2021

Our next venue was in Greensburg, PA, the second stop on the tour (and in a row) that was a place we'd previously played (2018). I remembered this one a bit better. It's a small stage, but a beautiful theater. Unfortunately, because it was such a small space, we had to cut various things from the show that just wouldn't fit or wouldn't be safe. The audience doesn't typically know they're missing anything, but it's not as fun for us. Rudolph doesn't fly, no snow falls, etc. But the audience was awesome! And again, when I paused in that famous line, the audience did not disappoint -- and they said it with confidence!

What a gorgeous old place, though!

It's late and I'm tired -- I'll post about the next stops soon.