It was summer 2006 when my musical theatre aspirations and willingness to work anywhere to “climb the ladder” landed me in cheesy revue show. All 9 of us lived in a tiny cottage with one bathroom, and would travel from one muskoka resort to another and pony our way through sped- up billy joel/ elton john medleys. I think I changed costumes for every number (like 10 times) and the audience could usually see you changing, because our “set” was just two angled pieces of wood that had the words “VIBE: Rock On 2006!” painted on the front. Anyway, it was nightmarish (for me at least). However, there was one upside to being in the VIBE crew- we got to perform in the Pride Parade! Now- I have been on many a stage and performed to a few thousand at times, but I don’t anything will ever compare to the feeling of performing to the euphoric and liberated crowds at pride. People were so into our disco medley/ choreography, people were so into our not being on a float and actually just dancing through the streets, people (some friends, mostly strangers) were grabbing my hands and kissing me. It was great. We danced tirelessly for the entire parade- like 3 hours in the blazing hot sun. I ended up getting severe sunstroke and dehydration. Then I quit VIBE. It was awesome.
- Allie Hughes