Transcript of conversation with Parker Esse

When I was five years old, my sister who was five years older than me, she was ten, took this musical theater class, and each semester they would put on a show, and it was Oliver, and I had to sing "Who will buy this…" I had to sing for an audition, I cried, I was terrified, I didn't want to stand up in front of anyone and sing at five years old, I was "What is this?" and then when I got to actually get up and move around and dance and sing and connect with people, the audience, I thought this is really cool, oh look they're laughing at me, because I was so young I was looking at all of their faces out in the audience.  Did they like me?  Were they entertained?  Did they feel something?  So as a five year old I thought, "I have an opportunity to change somebody."  I know that sounds deep for a five year old, but I was like, "Oh I can entertain them, I can make them happy, or I can make them sad.  However they felt before they came into the theater, I'm going to change them when they walk out the door.  They're going to feel something different."  And I fell in love.  I fell in love with musical theater.  It's my mission in life to affect people that way.  And musical theater is an American art form that is a true American art form in its inception that we thrive on, we need.  No matter what else is going on around the world in our daily lives, politics, war, whatever, we can go see musical theater and be swept away.  We can get lost in a story.  We can hear music and it takes us somewhere we never thought we'd go.  We can see dance and it can change us and affect our spirit, and that's why I do it.  I do it because I want to share and I want people to feel something deep inside, and if I'm not in that place, if I'm not in that open place when I'm creating, it doesn't work for me, and I always tell my dancers when we start working on a number, I tell everyone, I said, "Okay, if you're in this room with me, you have to be open.  You have to be open because the more open you are the more my work will inspire you and you're going to inspire me, because it just unfolds.  It's magical on a deep level."  Otherwise, like I said earlier on, it's just dance, it's just steps, shuffle, ball change, yeah but how do you do that shuffle, ball change?  How do you feel inside?  What kind of story are you trying to tell?  How are you going to take the audience on that ride?