I recently reconnected someone with whom I had performed in a musical when I was six years of age. Paul shared some photos, a program and a newspaper clipping about the production – Papa John’s Musical Garden – that featured a picture of us in a rehearsal. Looking at the old photos and memorabilia made me laugh and smile and recall various songs from the show. I could only remember a few lines from some of the songs but the tunes got stuck in my head and I found myself turning to You Tube to listen to a recording of the theme song from the musical and looking through my childhood scrapbook to find some more photos of the show to send to Paul.
Paul, who went on to have a career as an actor, said that Papa John’s Garden came up for him in an interview recently when he was asked about how he became inspired to pursue an acting career. This made me realize that Papa John’s Musical Garden was also one of my first performance experiences that not only left me with many positive and happy memories, but also inspired me to go on to pursue a career in music. The musical wasn’t only a great show that engaged many members of our church community, but it was also a successful fundraiser for a new church hall. In fact, since the old hall was to be torn down soon after the show ended, large murals of some of the show’s main characters were painted on the church hall walls.
After Papa John’s Musical Garden, I went on to pursue voice, piano and later violin lessons, continuing my musical studies through elementary and secondary school and later at university. Reflecting back on this early childhood performance I realize now its significance in my life and what it meant to me, and I am grateful to Paul for taking me on this trip down this musical memory lane.
I am also grateful to my parents for supporting me and providing me with so many opportunities to develop my musical abilities. They paid for many years of lessons, recitals, examinations and competitions, shuttled both myself and my sister to and from our various musical activities, monitored (and put up with!) our practice routines and of course mentored and supported us through our respective artistic journeys.
As we gear up for a new season of music lessons in our voice studio, I encourage all of my students to take some time to reflect on their first childhood musical experience, what it has meant to them, and how it led them to further pursue vocal studies. And I hope that together we will share many more positive musical experiences which I hope will give my students happy memories to last them a lifetime and perhaps inspire them to one day pursue music careers.