Make ' em Laugh!

The ole proverbial bucket list is a bit lighter as one item has been scratched off.  You see the last time I tried out for a play I was 15 and I was cast as Hodel in Fiddler on the Roof for a summer camp production in Barryville,  NY.  Heck, I must have forgotten how much work it was to put on a production. Maybe memory fades like 'giving birth'... Well anyhow I have a friend who does Community Theater all the time and I thought why not at least try out. Fat chance of really getting a part.  So when the Cancer fundraiser play of The Pirates of the Chemotherapy needed actors, I thought this was a sign. It wasn't a large cast call and you could say by default, I was offered the role of Winnie, a single cynical independent store owner who has a hell of a lot of lines... BUT what was I thinking when I said 'yes' to a role in the middle of a Wisconsin winter?

We were assured that previous acting experience wasn't necessary. Come on... when directors tell you to go off book cold turkey, who are we kidding?  In education, we always break things into chunks. So ok go off book for one scene at a time would be feasible but the entire play all at once for a cast of novices. Ha. Could we pull this off?

For the last six weeks I experienced the roller coaster of theater... cancelled rehearsals, losing our first director  and a cast member due to personal reasons, influenza which struck a cast member, members of the fundraising committee and even my own household, one cast member being in a musical production at the same time, the second director having a weekend work schedule in addition to previous out of town commitments, one cast member had a funeral, bizarre inclement weather and a 'minor' problem (sarcasm) that we couldn't get into the theater until the week before the play besides the meltdowns.  BUT maybe that's what you get with an all women cast with only 2 of us post-menopausal.

Was this play doomed? "Be more, not less.."

Tech week was a night mare as props, costuming and the stage were all crammed into one week.  A poorly constructed ramp led to my pushed wheel chair wheel slipping off one edge along my foot at the same time. Now add physical pain with 3 days to go before curtain time. And practices got later. I am a morning person and tired didn't begin to define my body with a constant headache and dread of a long drive home in questionable road conditions. Luckily, a cast member friend opened her home to me and I spent more than a couple nights 'in town.' Alas the show must go on... there were no understudies in this low budget production so if anybody got sick / quit, we would be done...

Falling mikes during 2 out of the 3 performances added to the excitement.  Each night we remembered our lines differently but the audience laughed and cried.  Boy did that laughter  serve as a catalyst to converting one of our members to a new theater addict... MAKE EM LAUGH

It was a shame more people didn't come/ at least purchase tickets as donations as ticket proceeds went to our local breast cancer center. Somebody really screwed up in the PR department and local paper coverage was minimal. Besides if you're smart, you let people sell tickets wherever/whenever they can, at least that's money collected.

Six weeks of my life were consumed by theater and I met some women who have made my life much more interesting... and hey if nothing else, I had a part that let me cuss like a sailor.

Karen, Judith, Doris, Winnie, Peace and Nancy
alias Colleen, Jodi, Sue, yours truly, Jessica and Bonnie Jo
The Pirates of the Chemotherapy

To all my friends and family who came to see us, thank you for supporting us and our efforts for such a great cause. All the way from Milwaukee -Sally and Gene, Coon Valley- Lynn, my La Crosse (Jazzergirls most of them pictured below), CSOA buds- Ed, Corrine, Monica, Bob, Maureen, Clara & her Boys, 2 of my family members, Sam and of course Natureman who had to put up with a Theater Diva for 6 weeks...

Left to right:The Jazzercise Girls : Cari (Matt), Trini, Rita, Cyndy, Sara, Linda, Sue, Debbie
not pictured Mary, Sally, Barb, Bonnie& Pam

pictured below from Friday's performance Cari, Bert and Judi

     
Our last performance was over in an instant after all those practice hours.  After greeting our 'adoring' fans ... the 'high' was quickly replaced by one more theater chore, to 'strike,' ( put everything away that we used on stage.) AND one more stressor loomed as the impending darkness neared and I knew that an icy mile of driveway awaited me, I bid a quick goodbye to my shipmates and reached my destination as dark descended and a surprise candlelight homemade dinner, roses and a very happy Natureman welcomed me home to the End of the Rainbow Valley... 

It's great to be home.