Federle - Life is like a musical: how to live, love, and lead like a star

W illkommen! Bienvenue! Welcome!

At this evenings performance, the starring role will be played by well, you, it turns out. So are you ready?

No worries, Im here to help. This book contains everything I know about life, learned during my time as a theater kidturnedchorus boyturned Broadway playwright. Along my way to the Great White Way, I picked up tips and tricks backstage, onstage, and in between gigsand realized just how many ways life is like a musical.

Basically, think of this book as Dont Sweat the Small Stuff with jazz hands.

These arent instructions for dancing in the middle of the streets (though, by all means, go for it). Its more about borrowing (okay, stealing) the pizzazz and determination that define theater people, and harnessing that energy for your own forces of good.

Right around my third career transition, I recognized how many hard-won showbiz lessons applied to all walks of my lifenot just how to be a successful performer, but how to be a successful person and partner, too. And I want you to know these insights, too.

Come on in, the spotlights warm.

From Cast Yourself in the Role You Must Play (), in which I recommend cultivating a network of like-minded souls, I hope the advice I borrowed from Broadway can help you get inspirednot to mention get hired, whether its in a boardroom or on the boards.

Now, you dont have to know every lyric to Les Miz to find these secrets and shortcuts usefulat least I hope you dont. Many of the references contained within Life Is Like a Musical will resonate with theater people, surebut also with anyone who didnt think they liked musicals, until they accidentally overheard some kid blasting the Hamilton album. Truth is, even if youre not a diehard drama geek, there are fundamental insights about getting ahead in life, love, and leadership that only a true Broadway baby can share. Trust me.

Oh, why me? Great question, appreciate you asking.

Because nobody has a thicker skin or a more deeply ingrained work ethic than a lifelong theater person. We eat rejection for breakfast and still manage to smile (see , Put on a Happy Face). Ive worn just about every hat in the theater, at times literallyyes, that was me sporting a bejeweled catfish on my head for The Little Mermaid. Hey, it paid the bills.

Beneath the grit and before the glitter, I grew up swallowing how-to books whole, dying to discover answers to my own deepest questions: Will I ever be truly happy? Will I ever be cast in Rent? But while I hope this book both guides and counsels you, Im no doctor (though I have, on occasion, been a sort of show doctor). Life Is Like a Musical is more a collection of wry observations than a prescription for livingbut everything here was indeed jotted down from the frontlines, the sidelines, and occasionally the footlights.

Lastly, Life Is Like a Musical is for people who find themselves desiring somethinga stronger relationship or a better job or a more refined way of framing the story of their life. (We theater people call this your I want song; more on that in .) I dont care what this something is for you. But I know its something. Or you wouldnt still be reading. And thats where I come in.

So good luck. Or, rather, break a leg. Now please silence your cell phones. The performance of your life is about to begin.

T he worst thing in the entire world happened to me when I turned thirteen years old. No, my dog didnt die. My voice changed.

For most of my childhood, I was the picture of a freckled theater kid, straight out of central castingthe kind who would someday move to New York City, of course. The dream was that once I had settled into my gigantic loft (ha!), I would, naturally, get cast in the role of Jean Valjean in Les Misrables. But when my voice changed, and I realized I could no longer hit that iconic Two-four-six-oh-one high note that is one of Valjeans signature moments, I panicked. What kind of life would I have if I couldnt headline Les Miz?

A pretty good one, it turns out. Largely because I wasnt meant to play Valjean, and instead had to discover something more original for myself.

Friends, youve got to cast yourself in the role you want to playno, need toeven if others dont see it for you. Few people are lucky enough to be born into the perfect body, voice, and era that lines up with their dream partand Im using the phrase dream part loosely here. All sorts of us have the kinds of ambitions and desires that the world is not ready or willing to grant us, for any number of reasons. If youre not one of those lucky folks who gets to automatically step into the part they think theyre born to play, then you have to make the leap and figure out what writing your own roleand destinymeans to you.

Aim your heart toward your destination.

You might not be a Valjean. Maybe you can think up something even better.

The comedian, writer, and star Amy Schumer has talked extensively about how people werent willing to cast her in funny roles, so she had to create the part of Amy Schumer for herself. Same with Whoopi Goldberg and Lily Tomlin, who both got their starts doing one-woman shows. I find this endlessly inspiring and a bit depressing. But thats life.

How can you create your own dream part? Maybe it means literally joining an amateur improv troupe, and becoming so quirky and dynamic that you actually write your own material. But maybe were not talking about just the arts here. Perhaps casting yourself in the part you want means no longer dating people who treat you like youre the hired help. Maybe casting yourself in your dream part means deciding, in your own way, to create something, every day youve got on earth. A poem. A sketch of someone on the subway. A sapling that you plant at the side of the road, just because.