Life Lessons Learned Along the Way: The Reluctant Performer
We continue our series of personal, impactful stories that have shaped how we practice law.
I was one of the only boys at musical theater camp. I’m grateful to my mother for a lot of things, but this?
All I wanted to do every summer was play ball with my friends. Instead, I had small parts in Guys and Dolls, Free to Be You and Me, and Grease. I still remember most of the words to “Beauty School Dropout” and how it felt to belt it out while dressed up like Frankie Avalon. In case I wanted to forget, the home videos don’t let me. Rainy-day entertainment for my kids.
Back at school in the fall, I didn’t hear the end of it. Musical theater camp?! Until one of my classmates shut down the teasers: “He was one of the only guys at a camp full of girls. Ladies’ man!” Great comeback. Wish I’d thought of it instead of just singing about it: “Call it sad, call it funny, but it’s better than even money, that the guy’s only doing it for some doll.”
My parents had met years earlier at a dancing club. I wasn’t as fortunate to find love at musical theater camp. But it was great preparation for trial lawyering. Performing is performing. Stage fright, adrenaline, all the good things.
So, does my mother need to make amends? Not at all. She can do no wrong.
In our second article this month, Steven Wolock examines how and when attorneys are required to disclose errors.