David Bethards:
CLASS OF 1982
North Tahoe High SchoolClass of 1982
Tahoe city, CA
David's Story
Life
Well I was too shy to speak in High School outside of the music department, so if you have no idea who I am, then you weren't in music classes.
My 20's were a blast. I made that awful, parents worst nightmare decision to quit college after 1 year, move to Los Angeles and try to become an actor. In trying to broaden my marketability I also studied voice and dance - that's right, I studied dance. As a result I ended up working almost exclusively in theater doing musicals. Really not a bad way to make a living. I travelled a lot, worked with and studied with some very successful people, did some shows that were amazing, and others that were amazingly bad. After about 10 years of doing theater professionally I decided to get out and find a real job. In hind site I don't know what I was thinking. It was the easiest job in the world! But I didn't know any better and artistically I wanted to stop travelling and focus on writing shows. I'm a composer and I write lyrics and book for plays. I'd been produced in L.A. and thought it was just a matter of time till I could make a living at it.
I learned that it took a LONG time to settle into the 'real' world and make a normal living. I was going to become a police officer, then an airline pilot, then finally ended up as many of our generation did, in computer technology (PC/LAN support).
Along the way through my 30's I got married, had two kids, moved from California to Florida, then to New York where I work for a financial broker dealer supporting a trade floor in midtown Manhattan. I still write music and musical plays and while I haven't made any money as a writer, I have had a little bit of success in NY and am enjoying it. Computer technology and music have merged into an amazing world.
School
Biggest Crush - Kathy Rickert. I was shy, maybe I spoke to her about a dozen times in four years.
Most influencial teacher - Geoff Igarashi. He made the school bands play the lousy music I was writing and had a great sense of humor.
Would I do it again? Hell yes. Only this time I would actually study!
Craziest moment - One Halloween John Keating decided to light a bottle rocket at the 7-11 from a perch of Bill Reeve's car doo...Expand for more
r while a bunch of us sat in the car. What are the odds of that going right? As the rocket was lit, the driver (no names mentioned here Bill) began to accellerate the car. The bottle rocket fell from the car window perch into the vehicle. Right as the bottle rocket fell down, it ignighted and flew around the car like it was a big pinball machine, creating an enormous amount of smoke. Our natural reaction was to get as far away from this thing as possible, so 4 people are trying to climb out of the driver side window while the car is gaining speed. Half way between 7-11 and the Dollar Point entrance - BLAM!
I hope that my kids don't try that one.
College
Schools attended:
College of Marin
U.S. International University (that's what I get for not studying in High School)
American Academy of Dramatic Arts
Santa Rosa Junior College
I was a performing arts major, I'm sure you want to hear about the wild parties. Well I have nothing exciting to report. These weren't 'party' schools and I'm as straight laced as they come. Not to say that I wasn't wild, just nothing to tell here.
Workplace
Work used to be fun. As my Profile mentions I worked in theater for most of my 20's. I danced on cruise ships, danced at the Hollywood Bowl, Madison Square Garden, in commercials, music videos, dinner theater, summer stock (including 2 seasons at Sacramento Music Circus), national tours. Shows I loved doing like "7 Brides for 7 Brothers," "Evita," "A Chorus Line." Some shows weren't as much fun like "Cats" and "Barnum." I did "Oklahoma" so many times that I learned how to spin a rope like a cowboy. I thought that was stress at work - "Damn it, I stepped on the rope when I was supposed to jump into it and pull it up over my head." I was clueless.
Then I decided to quit the theater work just as I was getting good roles. I worked for Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department briefly, then became a flight instructor which was a blast! But I made more money doing PC/LAN support which I just fell into, so that's the (yawn) career that I'm in now. I support a trading floor in NYC. It's an aggressive environment and I'm often not crazy about the person that I've become as a result of this job.
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