Warwick Life Strategies

I'm thrilled to welcome guest blogger Jacqueline McMahon to the WLS site to share her thoughts!! Jacqueline is co-owner of Slightly off Broadway Triple-threat studio. Check out their website for information on their many classes and programs: http://www.slightlyoffbroadway.com/

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A little child grabs your hand as you both walk out onto the stage. The music starts and she looks up at you, her eyes wide with fear. You give her an encouraging smile, take a deep breath and begin singing. She watches your every move for her cue and then it happens. She conquers her fear and sings her part of the duet. You keep smiling and in the flash of a brief moment,the performance is over. The smile on her face can't match the smiles on those of her family and friends' faces. As you both exit the stage, still holding hands, the little child skips off to see her family, still smiling.

A shy teenage boy who finds school a struggle, tells you that his favorite day of the week is Saturday, not because he doesn't have to go to school, but because he comes to musical theatre class where he can indulge his passions of acting, singing and dancing. As the years go by, the boy's confidence in himself increases, due in part to the numerous performances he has been involved in. Soon, school isn't such a struggle anymore.

A single mother with two children beams as she enters your studio. For the next half hour she asks questions eagerly and gets excited when you both pick out a new song for her to learn. But her biggest smile comes when she performs for the first time in a recital and the loudest cheers are from her two children.

A group of students, ages 9-15, attend a summer creative writing camp. They are full of ideas and enthusiastically create a short story together. A few weeks later, as they each arrive to pick up a copy of the magazine that published their story, their fire to continue to write flows out of each of them as they ask when the next creative writing camp will be and excitedly tell you of their next story ideas. Two of them even wrote novels because of this experience.

A grandmother, longing to make music but afraid she just doesn't have any talent for it, calls for a consultation. Her fear - that she is tone deaf. But that is not the case. Once she learns the proper way to use her voice, so many possibilities open up for her. With the support of her family, she embarks on a volunteer job of performing regularly in church services and seniors homes.

All of these inspiring stories will remain in my memory forever as I look back on my 20+ years of teaching performing arts classes (voice/piano/drama/musical theatre/creative writing).

As an only child, I always made up stories and songs to amuse myself. I loved when the neighborhood kids would come over and ask, "What should we play today?" Within minutes, I had my mother looking around the house for items to use in our impromptu plays. Kids would run home to get old clothes to use for costumes and the afternoon would fly by as we created characters and worlds not only from my imagination but theirs as well.

I didn't start out as a performing arts studio owner. I actually had a job as a bookkeeper, and really enjoyed it until my tasks were taken over by a computer system in head office and I no longer had the security of a job.

Not everyone applauded my choice to return to university and major in music. In fact, most were skeptics. "How will you earn a living singing and playing piano?"some would ask.

Turns out, there are as many opportunities as you can create, if only you are willing to put in the work and never lose sight of your dreams.

After years of teaching on my own, my best friend (who is a dance teacher) and I decided to amalgamate our talents and open a triple-threat studio. Our first recital got rave reviews from all who attended because we created an original musical and showcased all of our piano students,dancers and singers. Slightly off Broadway performing arts studio was born.

Fifteen years later, I continue to enjoy nurturing the creativity in everyone from the children to the teens to the adults to the seniors. Who wouldn't love having the kind of homework I do - writing plays, arranging songs, picking music and buying CDs and scores for our studio library.

But most of all, it is the joy of working at a job that fuels my creativity and allows me to share that with all of my students. Watching them grow, not only as musicians and actors, but also as individuals, continues to inspire me in a career that I hope to continue for many years to come.