Backstory: In Development

The family moved to Midvale, Utah, in either 1979 or 1980, I forget which. What I do remember was the fantastic front window and curtain, the perfect venue for a little boy to put on shows for stuffed animals. The curtain was operated with a drawstring on one side, so I could open the curtain, step out from behind it, perform whatever it was I was performing back then, then return and close the curtain to end the show.

The house also came equipped with our first staircase. The stairs landed in a hallway that ran perpendicular to them, so that there was a blank white wall facing you when you took the last step down. This turned out to be ideal for showing “movies” to my stuffed animals. I would line them up on the steps, and imagine that a movie was being shown on the white wall. Being the projectionist, I did not actually stick around; but I was known to leave the animals on the stairs for over an hour as if they really were at a theater viewing the latest flick.

In elementary school, I gladly participated in all the class programs. Somehow, the principal, Mr. DeGraw, became aware of my performing interests and invited me to join “The State Show”, an annual musical presentation he put together himself out of popular songs from select states. A chorus of some thirty students sang “California, Here I Come” and “I Am a Utah Man” while others would take center stage to perform an accompanying dance.

I was slated to be in the Utah song, but I couldn’t pick up the move very well, so I was moved over to join two others in doing the (easier) dance for “Chicago, Illinois.” I must say I looked dapper in my – well, I'm not sure what to call it. The striped shirt, vest, and pants remind me of an old-west bartender or some such. Ultimately, it was a blast for an exuberant young performer, especially when we took the whole show to a nursing home in the area.

It was while living in Utah that I really got into the home-grown “shows”, inspired mostly by my vinyl record of Disneyland music. The record featured music from the Electrical Parade, Pirates of the Caribbean, The Haunted Mansion, and other prominent attractions at the amusement park. And on repeated occasions, I sat my parents down and performed “dances” to each of the tracks on the record. The whole experience was a good forty minutes per sitting, yet my parents were always smiling and enjoying every moment.

On the one hand, these were trivial moments in my past; but on the other hand, I have no doubt they contributed to the foundation of what I would become. Even us great performers have our humble beginnings.