Editor\u2019s note: The Bulletin is examining how residents experience joy this holiday season. This is the third in a series. A reporter reached out to four longtime Central Oregon artists to learn how they experience, and think about joy as related to their disciplines \u2014 music, visual art and theater.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cIf we don\u2019t cultivate our ability to experience joy when we\u2019re young, it gets harder as we get older,\u201d said Bree Beal, executive director of BEAT Children\u2019s Theatre.<\/a><\/p>\n Beal said that in her work as the longtime director of the Bend youth theater company, she talks a lot about the subject of joy.<\/p>\n Bree Beal, executive director of BEAT Children\u2019s Theatre, pauses briefly before rehearsal at BEAT in Bend Dec. 15. (Andy Tullis\/The Bulletin)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cOne is, just when I think about the service that we provide to the kids in our world, I don\u2019t think we put enough of a premium on joy for the sake of joy, and fun for the sake of fun, and what an important part of our development as human beings that is,\u201d Beal said.<\/p>\n \u201cPart of BEAT\u2019s purpose is to give kids a liberated, nurtured, safe place to be joyful,\u201d she said. For some kids, the joy comes during performance, for some of them it\u2019s doing tech and support, others it\u2019s finding their tribe and a feeling of belonging.<\/p>\n \u201cA very important part of joy is finding a place where you belong,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n Joy can also arise from setting a goal and succeeding, or hearing an audience applaud after you\u2019ve something new and frightening \u2014 all things theater can afford.<\/p>\n Kids often don\u2019t realize the power they have to affect other people\u2019s joy.<\/p>\n \u201cI think when you\u2019re young, a lot of time you don\u2019t feel like you have a lot of power,\u201d she said. \u201cI talk about how, when we go into a theater space and perform, and the audience comes in \u2014 and there\u2019s a lot of kids in the audience, a lot of adults in the audience, a lot of grandparents in the audience, all kinds of people \u2014 most of them come in carrying the weight of whatever is going on in their day, in their world. Sometimes around the holidays, that\u2019s particularly heavy, or in the world right now there\u2019s a lot of weight, fear and uncertainty.\u201d<\/p>\n Her voice dropping almost to a stage whisper, Beal continued, \u201cAnd the lights go out, the curtains open, and the kids come out and they perform these amazing characters. And when they do something funny, everyone in the audience laughs. When they do something moving, their hearts are all touched.\u201d<\/p>\n Those moments serve as reminders of how much people have in common rather than the things that make us different or divide us, Beal added.<\/p>\n \u201cAnd that is an incredibly joyful experience. And I tell our actors, \u2018You have the power to bring your audiences that joy, and that moment, and to take them out of their worries, and out of their responsibilities and out of their fears and just bring them something joyful and wonderful.’\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cPeople leave beaming,\u201d she said. \u201cIt\u2019s very powerful.\u201d<\/p>\n Longtime Central Oregon singer-songwriter Paul Eddy is a busy professional musician, both with his solo work and as a member of popular Beatles cover band JuJu Eyeball<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cI love seeing the smiling faces at retirement communities when I play music for them,\u201d said Bend musician Paul Eddy. (Submitted photo)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n But this has been a particularly busy year for Eddy. In March, he released a full-length album, \u201cOregonian,\u201d<\/a> and in November, the three-song EP \u201cSkoolie,\u201d<\/a> featuring songs about old school buses converted into homes.<\/p>\n Recording is its own joyful process, outside of occasional software glitches. But Eddy also has a recipe for more frequent access to joy: He performs about 10 times a month at retirement communities around Central Oregon. He\u2019s performed for some of these folks for years now:<\/p>\n \u201cI like them, and I guess they like me, too,\u201d he said. \u201cI think they call that a win-win. I play about two or three originals, but the rest are the old-timey songs that they love to hear and I love to sing. Songs like \u2018Our Love Is Here To Stay,\u2019 \u2018Shine On Harvest Moon,\u2019 and \u2018Deep Purple\u2019 go over pretty well, I think.\u00a0 Plus, I think they also just like my energy.\u00a0 I love to perform, and they\u2019ll pretty much let me play anything.\u201d<\/p>\n As you might imagine, the joy he brings them has a ricochet effect.<\/p>\n \u201cI love seeing the smiling faces at retirement communities when I play music for them,\u201d he said. \u201cSometimes they even cry if I touch on a memory (and I have to look away myself or I\u2019ll go, too!).\u00a0 They\u2019re the best audiences in the world, and it brings me joy just knowing I\u2019m adding some happiness to their day.\u201d<\/p>\n The same is true with playing public gigs, Eddy said.<\/p>\n \u201cRocking out with the original JuJu Eyeball trio has been some of my happiest times on stage. Solo gigs are also very rewarding. Just sitting and playing my Bedell 1964 OM acoustic brings me joy. Once you get over the nerves that often accompany live performances, I find that making music, singing and playing an instrument, is a joy that you feel through your whole body. And it just keeps getting better over time.\u201d<\/p>\nBree Beal, children\u2019s theater director<\/h3>\n
Paul Eddy, singer-songwriter<\/h3>\n
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