It’s no secret that I attend quite a few youth sporting events. If there’s a game in the Hopkinton High School gym, or on one of the school’s athletic fields, there’s a good chance I’m there. But while I am clearly a sports hound, I also try to be a culture vulture and attend as many school concerts and theatrical productions as I can.
For example, last January, I spent a glorious Saturday night at the Hopkinton High School production of Anything Goes. As I watched the play, I recognized three or four of the actors from soccer, basketball, lacrosse, baseball and track. Then I remembered that the space that currently houses the Hopkinton High School auditorium began its life as the high school gym. That coincidence, in turn, got me thinking about similarities and differences between athletics and the performing arts.
First, there is teamwork. I am a big sucker for a well executed give-and-go or pick-and-roll play, and with field sports, my favorite players are those who know the game so well and see the field so clearly that they can do the thinking for three or four players at a time. And I love watching players who have played together for so long that they can anticipate each other’s moves.
But sports have nothing on a big musical when it comes to teamwork. Just think about a duet between two singers, or a dance number with a couple of dozen hoofers on stage at once. But that’s just the tip of the teamwork iceberg. Backstage, there are multiple layers of teamwork that must come together seamlessly to make the onstage magic happen.
Another similarity between athletics and stagecraft concerns memory making. I can still visualize the dramatic corner three-pointer, with five seconds on the clock, that won the Hopkinton girls basketball team a victory over Monadnock in the Division III quarterfinals more than five years ago. Just imagine how deeply etched that memory is in the mind of the girl who made the shot.
I saw similar memories made on the closing night of Anything Goes. One of the leads was a senior, appearing in his final high school production alongside two younger brothers who were appearing in their first play. If those brothers are anything like me, they will cherish that experience for decades. More than 50 years after I graduated from high school, I still remember the curtain-call hug I shared with the girl who played Lisa to my David in David and Lisa, my final high school play.
So, sports and the arts can both be full of teamwork and memory making. But there are also some notable differences.
For one thing, the “seasons” have very dissimilar contours. Basketball season was just about as long as the amount of time it took to bring Anything Goes to the stage, but those two seasons couldn’t have been more different.
The basketball team played about twenty games, interspersed with practices. A basketball player can have a bad game and bounce back. A basketball player can suffer an injury, recover and return to the lineup.
With the play, three months of rehearsal led up to three performances in two days. After the closing-night performance I saw, I learned that one of the leads had been battling a nasty flu bug, but muscled through. A couple of days on the shelf is not usually a big deal for an athlete, but with three months of work by cast and crew on the line, going on the sick list just wasn’t an option for the actor; the show could not have gone on without him. I’d stack his grit and determination up against anything I’ve ever seen on a soccer field or a basketball court.
Then there is this. I’ve often observed that for the vast majority of high school athletes, high school is the end of the line, athletically. And even if some of the Hawks I watch do compete in college, we’re just not sending any of our athletes to MLS or the WNBA. But during the curtain call after Anything Goes, one of the leads, who is now starting college, told the audience how working on high school musicals with our school’s incredible music teacher has inspired him to pursue a career as a music teacher. That was the moment when my floodgates burst, and I’m sure I was not alone in my reaction.
Students express their best selves on the fields of play. Others do so on stage or in the concert hall. Some shine in both areas. I’m just glad to live in a community that values both sports and the arts.
Parker Potter is a former archaeologist and historian, and a retired lawyer. He is currently a semi-professional dog walker who lives and works in Contoocook.