Open Call: Valuable life lessons come from a long career in the arts

When I was first invited to write this guest column, my initial instinct was to put on my arts administrator hat to generate ideas about how the arts impact the economy, education and quality of life. After all, I’ve been writing from that perspective for the past 24 years. But as I transition out of arts administration at the end of this month, I feel compelled to share how the arts have shaped my life as a person and as an artist.

My fondest memories of high school are playing in the band: first as a trombonist in concert band and community orchestra while playing the sousaphone in marching band. I still have vivid images in my head of the Mickey, Donald and Goofy covers on our sousaphone bells for the Disney medley that we played during halftime routines at the football games.

In college, my four years in the glee club gave me an opportunity to continue my musical activities and go on tour every spring break. While I never got to Fort Lauderdale, I did travel throughout the eastern U.S. every spring with 70 other choristers. A fellow glee clubber (and fraternity brother) and I carried our love of music back to the fraternity house, working with other brothers to participate in interfraternity talent shows: no ''American Idol'' material, but we were surprisingly good.

Earlier: As economy resurges post-pandemic, arts will be critical to revitalizing region

Open Call:Wilmington Children's Chorus singers inspire group to raise voices for change

But it was my love of theater that brought me to the Delaware Valley. I knew there were many opportunities to participate in this region, so I sought my first teaching job here. During 17 years as a high school history teacher, I remained active in the theater scene, notwithstanding a short hiatus while earning my master’s degree. In fact, my first show after college was a production of "South Pacific'' at the old Three Little Bakers Dinner Theatre when they were still in Kennett Square. Since that day, I’ve had the great fortune of performing with fellow actors in the tri-state region.

But most important is how theater has shaped my life. I often tell the story of how I, playing Motel, appeared opposite my future wife, playing Tzeitel, both of us sharing the stage with Yente, played by her mother, who in real life was the daughter of Jewish immigrants from eastern Europe. Needless to say, "Fiddler on the Roof'' holds a special place in our hearts.

Two years later my “Tzeitel” and I were married and soon thereafter had two children, both of whom grew up in the theater. Throughout the years, we had so many joyous opportunities to work together in productions. By the time our oldest left for college, our family had appeared in 19 theater productions together. We have a “theater wall” in our finished basement documenting it all.

Theater has provided rich experiences for the four of us, serving as a teaching tool and vehicle for growth. Through theater we have explored the range of human emotions, discovered more about ourselves in every role we play, and learned valuable life skills: from listening and empathy, to discipline, cooperation and how to cope with rejection. We have examined socially relevant topics like women’s rights, racial strife, criminal justice and domestic abuse. And we have challenged ourselves and audiences to wrestle with complacency and inaction.

More Open Call: OperaDelaware plans to 'look beyond resilience ... toward true transformation'

But theater also has brought joy to our lives, lots of it! It has made us laugh from the scripted as well as the unscripted humor: the accidental trip on stage, the flubbed line or the awkward ad lib. Most rewarding though, is the pride we have felt watching our kids perform, from marching with Harold Hill in "The Music Man'' to tapping their hearts out on "42nd Street.''  

As I prepare to leave my position as director of the Delaware Division of the Arts, I am grateful for how the Division has cultivated and supported the arts during my tenure, and how the arts continue to impact the state’s economy, education and quality of life.

I am privileged to have served the people of Delaware. But I also reflect on how the arts have sustained me: how they have shaped my life and that of my family and how rewarding this has been. After all, arts administrator has been just one role in my life as an artist, a spouse and a parent.

Paul Weagraff is the outgoing director of the Delaware Division of the Arts. Open Call is a weekly column that gives the state's cultural and arts leaders a forum to welcome back visitors and audiences.