We sat down with Cedar Valdez, a returning Resident Actor with our company this season, to hear him express how the power of live theatre has impacted his own life as a human and an artist. Read on below:
Theatre means many different things to me. When I was a kid, it was playing in the backyard with my family and friends pretending we had super powers and could do anything. We’d step onto the trampoline and transform into whoever we wanted to be that day, spending hours creating senseless story lines that only a child’s mind could come up with. Nothing in the world could stop us!
In high school, theatre was all about being up front, being seen, and receiving applause from an audience of people I had never even spoken to. It felt good, and I knew I wanted more of it, but I hadn’t fallen in love with the idea of theatre itself yet. It wasn’t until I was in college that I realized what makes theatre so specifically special to my heart.
To me now, theatre is all about human connection. And that looks different in every direction you turn! I still enjoy the audience’s support and applause, but in an audience you can be made to cry, laugh, snore, and freeze cold in your seat. And one way or another, in that moment you’ve made a connection with me. Nothing is better than finding out someone genuinely needed to hear a story that you’ve been able to tell, that’s beautiful. I believe with my whole heart that you were meant to be sitting in that audience and I was meant to be on that stage in the same moment, sharing that moment.
I love that when I teach theatre classes I get to watch kids have some of their first sparks of excitement, confidence, and creativity. Not only do I get to pass on what I love to them, but I have the opportunity to re-learn from them how to enjoy this life I’ve been given. For this reason I consider the connections made in the theatre classroom invaluable.
The people that I have met and collaborated with in the theatre work field have been life-changing. They has helped me build my confidence in who I am as an individual as I watch their love and respect for themselves and apply that self-love to my own life. I see so much beauty in how theatre connections, whether onstage, backstage, or in the audience, bring a shift in your life, make you ask a question, or turn your perspective. When I am able to impact you or you are able to impact me, that’s when I believe the theatre has done its job well. I couldn’t be more excited and grateful to continue doing so for the rest of my life.
Cedar received his B.F.A. in Musical Theatre from Ouachita Baptist University and is excited to be joining the Charleston Stage team for Season 45! Some of his previous credits include Bright Star (Jimmy Ray), Murder on the Orient Express (Hector MaQueen), Kinky Boots (Harry), Junie B. Jones the Musical (Daddy), and Fiddler on the Roof (Motel). Cedar is originally from Rogers, AR, and he wouldn’t be where he is today without his family, friends, and teachers that helped him get there. Remember to have fun and “do it with love!” www.cedarvaldez.com / @cedarvaldez