Ten Years Ago...We Had A Blast

 A memory popped up on my Facebook feed today...

Ten years.

A decade ago I posted a short video I made (back when I was making short videos...) about a show I was doing at the time. It was Centerpoint Legacy Theatre's production of the classic, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. It was the first time that theater did the show and the second time I had the great fortune of participating.

I met some incredible people in that show, and thanks to social media, I've kept in touch with many of them since the last curtain fell, April 2, 2013. There's been marriages, babies, homes purchased, retirements announced, the children in the cast are getting married, and unfortunately, a divorce or two thrown in. That's what happens to fifty or so people in ten years.

Each show has its own personality, its own spirit. We meet, learn, sacrifice, and perform together for a few months, then we go our separate ways. Sometimes we meet up again in another show down the road, but that unique experience of that particular production can never be duplicated. Watching the video again took me back, back to when I was Issachar, I was not the oldest brother (a rarity...), and I danced mostly in the back row due to my talent level.

Good times.

For those in the show who watch the video, I hope it brings back some similar memories of hard work, long practices, and appreciative crowds.

Go Go Go Jo!

That Time A Past Cast Member Is In A Tony-Nominated Show...

Since 2000, I've done a few community theater shows...not as many as some, but definitely more than most. When you do a show, you get to know a lot of people, especially if the show requires a large cast and even more if the show is double cast.

For me, it's been one of the perks of being in shows--the friends you make.

Sometimes, if you're lucky, you get the opportunity to do more shows with your friends, and after spending almost every night with the same people for months at a time, those friendships build.

But the opposite of that is, you'll do a show with a person and that's it--either they move away, become disinterested in doing shows, or other responsibilities take precedent in their lives. Thanks to social media, even though you no longer see or talk to these people, you can keep up with what they're doing (as long as they post what they're doing...).

A show I did ten years ago this summer was one of my favorites, Joseph and the Technicolor Dreamcoat. I know the show is done a lot--I've done it one more time since 2009--but it's a blast to do. One of the wives from our 2009 production finished the show, graduated from university, then moved to New York. Tonight, her show was nominated for several Tony Awards. 

Congratulations, Kalyn! Well done!

I remember Kalyn--but to be fair, she's difficult to forget. I remember her being a tremendous talent, singer, actor, but an especially fantastic dancer. At one point in the run, I said she ought to be on Broadway. She downplayed it, saying she had only been dancing for a few years, not the "dancing all my life" response we all think is a requirement for a Broadway performer. Maybe she was being humble, or she believed it--I'm not sure. Either way, it doesn't matter because she did make it. She's in a company, doing a show, and based on her social media posts, living her dream.

In the ten years since the curtain at Rodgers Memorial Theatre's production of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat dropped for the final time, we've all taken different paths. But for one in our little theatre family, she's gone from a non-paid gig at a small community theater, to Broadway, and whether she believed it or not, my prediction came true. 

Backstage Pictures...

I snapped a couple of pictures tonight, backstage, before the show began. There's an interesting feeling among us before the curtain rises. We all prepare in our own different ways.

The show begins with the apron curtain down so those of us waiting backstage chat, say stupid things, basically try and make the time before we set foot in front of the audience fun.

Of course, we never touch props that aren't ours. We would never do that.

 

On our stage is a lighted plexiglass section. It looks great. 

 Tonight I could have taken a picture of each person in the cast for each of us has a story to tell. We all prepare in our own different ways...

It's The Little Things...

We open our show tonight. I usually write my blog posts right before I go to bed, but not today. Right now I can't write about how the show went, but I'll bet the little things will make all the difference.

At the theater on Saturday, we were given a little personal gift. Each member of both casts (82 in all...) had waiting for them a personalized card with the show's name on one side and our name and our character's name on the other. There was also a lanyard included so we could wear them around our necks--kind of like a backstage pass for the show.

One of our directors, Megan, the musical director, made them for us. Apparently she makes them for everyone in shows she directs--it's her thing. The gift got me thinking. She didn't have to do this for us, but she did. It's the little things that can mean the most. Last week we were at the theater well past 11pm most nights working on the details. It's the details that make the difference between a good show and an amazing show.

Tonight we open--our first official show of the run. The directors and everyone else involved to make us look good, including many many many little things. Now it's our turn.

The Downed Curtain...

We gather before a downed curtain and wait. Friends roam behind the downed curtain anxious to perform. Butterflies flutter in stomachs both in front of and behind the beautiful red fabric--fabric that stands between us and them. Slowly the clock ticks down and the lights begin to fade.

A downed curtain contains a mysterious proposition--almost anything may be behind that curtain. The performers, the tech crew, the audience--each will experience a different sensation, be it physical or emotional or both. The sensations come at a cost, a cost we've all paid.

Curtains separate reality from fantasy, exceptional from the ordinary, truth from what we want to believe is true. They remind us that even a mundane life can be enriched by imagination, determination, sweat, tears, and patience.

 

We sit in the balcony and feel the excitement churn beneath us. The music starts and we shift to the front of our chairs to improve our individual vantage points. The music builds, orders are given and ropes, weights, and gravity work together to lift the downed curtain. 

And that's when the magic begins...

One Night, Two Run Throughs--Well, Almost...

Call time is in roughly 1/2 hour. We're running the show twice tonight. It's the last time we have a chance to tweak the show before it's put in front of a real audience, so repetition is not unwanted--dare I say, needed.

I've never been in a show where we've run it twice in one night for a rehearsal...probably because the show is so short. Running the show once can be stressful, especially when things aren't habit.

I'm not home. It's not quite midnight (but it's close...). This week has been something else. Tomorrow's Thursday, my last work day of the week. Only one more 10-hour shift and then, I can finally rest. Goodnight all!

First Dress Rehearsal...

We just got home. It was a long night. And there are some killer costume changes. But, hey...it's why we do shows.

In a few hours I'll be up in the mountains helping to promote a charity event for scouts. It's a great cause. My day was filled with picking up a large inflatable Yeti, grocery shopping, buying ski equipment, watching some serious traffic and getting home at midnight from the rehearsal, which included a rolled ankle and other surprises.

Good thing I took the day off...

A Pretty Classy Move...

Last night at rehearsal, a cast member--we'll call him, Joe--brought a gift for all the female members of the the cast and crew. And I thought, what a classy move!

I also thought, why don't I think of things like that? I'm a creative guy. I like to think that I care about other's feelings. I've been married for 20 years (I may have just answered my own question...). 

 

It was such a simple thing, too. A single flower, even the little girls in the cast (including my daughter...), received a rose. The director was blown away by the gesture.

As it happens with such things, I'll bet the giver drew more satisfaction from giving than the women did from receiving.

In hindsight, I don't know if I would have chosen several dozen long-stemmed roses as a gift for all the ladies. Other cast members brought Valentine's Day cupcakes for everyone (and they were pretty good...). That sounds more my style.

But one thing's for sure...last night at the theater, Joe (we'll call him, Joe...) was the king.