Why I'm Just a Big Kid

    In the film Big, Tom Hanks plays a boy whose wish to be big turns him into a grown-up. The wish to be "big" was never one that I really asked for, but as it happens to be I am a "big" individual. However, there is something that I am rather proud of: I am still a big kid at heart.

    This photo, which was taken last summer during a promotional event for the Minnesota Centennial Showboat, shows me at my finest. This plastic wagon was meant for the young kids who were walking/riding along with is in a parade. No, I was not "that kid" who kept the little ones from riding in this wagon. Big kid that I am, I wanted to sit in that wagon from the moment the parade was about to begin...and I did, by gosh!

    I believe that it is uuber important to remain a child at heart in every way that you can, but this is especially important in theatre. I have retained the ability and the desire to play through improvisation and an eagerness to try new things, not to mention actually playing games with kids in my family.

    Not only does it mean that I have more fun on stage, but I have more fun at life. I can almost always find a game or have fun with what I am doing, whether it's singing my heart out in the car, making sound effects as I send off emails, or whatever else strikes me as amusing at the time.

    Life is too short to not have fun. So go out there and be a kid again. You might have to grow old, but you sure don't have to grow up.