Thrills of the Stage a.k.a. Journal #7

I really enjoyed the series piece by Lane DeGregory. Currently, I am involved in a play on the FPU campus and I was so enthralled with this young girl's story of making it to Broadway. I do not have such high dreams as Michelle but it was like a fairy tale, and what girl wouldn't love to see her name in lights?

Once I realized that the article was actually a series of short stories about Michelle's journey onto the professional stage, I was intrigued. This piece really read like a fiction novel, not something to be read in a newspaper. I thought that the subject matter was handled well in that it broke up the emotion into workable pieces for the reader. What could have been a totally overwhelming article became a saga of highs and lows.

It's hard to think about this piece being only one article. So much detail and character would have been lost. By the time Michelle gets on stage, the reader is right there sharing in her triumph. What if DeGregory had only one chance to get the whole story across? I think readers would have missed the whole plight of struggling actors and the tolls taken on their families.

I really enjoyed the series piece by Lane DeGregory. Currently, I am involved in a play on the FPU campus and I was so enthralled with this young girl's story of making it to Broadway. I do not have such high dreams as Michelle but it was like a fairy tale, and what girl wouldn't love to see her name in lights?

Once I realized that the article was actually a series of short stories about Michelle's journey onto the professional stage, I was intrigued. This piece really read like a fiction novel, not something to be read in a newspaper. I thought that the subject matter was handled well in that it broke up the emotion into workable pieces for the reader. What could have been a totally overwhelming article, became a saga of highs and lows.

It's hard to think about this piece being only one article. So much detail and character would have been lost. By the time Michelle gets on stage, the reader is right there sharing in her triumph. What if DeGregory had only one chance to get the whole story across? I think readers would have missed the whole plight of struggling actors and the tolls taken on their families.

When I was reading DeGregory’s piece on Michelle and Karla, I started thinking about Zinnser and what his response would have been to this series. I think his principles of simplicity, style and voice are definitely a strong part of why I was attracted to the story.

As I was finishing up this reading in the FPU Coffee Shop, I remember looking up with tears in my eyes trying to get my friends to understand how wonderful it was to be part of the moment when Michelle finished her first Broadway performance. For the most part, my friends laughed at how emotional I got over a newspaper article. "But," I thought to myself, "that's the power of words. This is real."