I got the courage to try out for our high school musical West Side Story. Finally, it was respectable and cool theater for guys…not just the usual song and dance, but gangs! The Jets vs. the Sharks! We were ready for some respect. I auditioned as Steve Martin doing a poem called “Cruel Shoes” with sunglasses and a fedora hat to show my incredible acting range. Out of all the guys that auditioned, I arguably had the best voice…really. “When you’re a Jet, you’re a Jet all the way from your first cigarette to your last dying day…”
All summer long I had prepared. I memorized the music, practiced the parts, watched the movie countless times. I desperately wanted to be Tony, the lead role, or at least Riff, the leader of the Jets. Disappointment was imminent. I was crushed that I didn’t get the lead part of Tony. It went to my best friend. His girlfriend, a blonde Scandinavian got the part of the Maria. (In the interest of cultural diversity, every other Puerto Rican woman in the show was also played by a blonde.) To add insult to injury, I didn’t get the part of Riff either!
I was offered the part of Baby John. You don’t remember him? I barely noticed him in the script. He was a Jet that read comic books…and his name…Baby! I was so upset. I even cried…like a baby. “Why me?”, I lamented. “This director doesn’t care about me. I’m not even going to be in the play at all.” So I went to tell our director, Jennifer Hadtrath, that I was quitting.
“Let’s talk” she said as we sat down in the auditorium for some one-on-one counseling. “Tim, I chose you to be Baby John because he is one of the most important Jets. He is a thinker and
peacemaker. He has a heart. He carries a comic book but plays with the big boys. He cares about people and Maria. He is scared and not afraid to show it when others hide their feelings.” After her explanation and somewhat reluctantly, I took the part.
On the far left, Baby John reads a comic as the gangs plan to rumble at the “war council” in West Side Story.
Long after the show was over, I realized some things about the part I was assigned. I got to be a leader in the jets and played it for huge laughs in the song “Officer Krupke”. Riff wasn’t even in that song since he died in the first act! In my extra time off stage I got to direct the pit orchestra and develop more of my musical skills. Tony, by the way, also dies at the end. (Oops, that’s a spoiler.) Baby John also played the clincher role in the final scene. I kissed Maria and comforted her in her moment of loss. In the end, the show went on and Baby John was the best part for me. In fact, I now realize that Baby John was the consummate “Child at Heart”.
The finale of “Officer Krupke” in West Side Story, Columbia Heights High School 1983.
Jennifer took the time to believe in me and saw who I was inside…even after my Cruel Shoes audition. She played an important part in making me who I am today. We all have a role to play in life that is uniquely made for us. Are you trying to be someone you’re not?
Jennifer was an underpaid high school drama director with a passion to build kids up and encourage them to be their best. She spent late nights and stressful times loving us kids. The challenge to us today is: Can you bring out the best in someone by believing and encouraging them?
Addendum: The following spring, the drama department play was “Alice in Wonderland”. I played a rabbit. So much for macho theater.
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