March 29, 2003 - 3:12 a.m.
He took the stage as he had done so many times before, his skinny form slinking through the blue light that precedes every scene.
In a full suit and gangster's hat, he froze as the conductor finished the overture to "Guys and Dolls." The lights came up, and he was off.
The familiar face -- belonging to Roosevelt High School senior Mike Roberts -- was different than the last time I'd seen it perform. It was animated, alive ... as though something other than Mike had taken over.
And then he sang.
The notes were on, the words were clear. It was an amazing sound and sight from a kid who just three years beforehand was almost frightened to go on stage.
Mike is the most emotional tough guy I've ever met.
When we were in high school together he would put up a tough-guy facade, but cry at the end of each performance, sad that graduating friends would be singing their last notes and taking their last bows.
He came and saw me on my last day of school. I was in the library and he got out of class especially to talk to me before I left. He cried a little. I almost did, too.
Mike's into skateboarding. I like to read. Mike listens to hard music. I prefer Chopin. And even though I see him maybe once or twice a year, we share a bond in the theater and that's what makes our friendship so strong. Because of that, Mike is a reminder to me of why my time on that stage was so special.
When we worked together in Children of Eden, he was the newcomer: nervous, awkward and inexperienced. He had trouble holding a pitch sometimes and he was visibly uncomfortable acting on stage.
But that vanished tonight. The performance he gave was amazing and for a moment, Mike Roberts was nowhere to be seen. Just his character.
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