Day Two

Tonight was the opening night of Christmas Carol and it went really well! There was a good crowd and there were no major mistakes. And one other thing... it now has me in the Christmas spirit! This is my very favorite time of year, but so far I haven't been truly enjoying it this year. The lights are beautiful and I love the music and I like the cool weather, but now I feel more cheerful!

Tonight I was mentally reviewing Shuler productions I've been a part of-- there are several!-- but one stood out in particular. I want to say it was the summer between fifth  and sixth grade... Hansel and Gretel! Every year Raton has a company, Missoula, come through, and they take a week and put together a children's show of a classic fairy tale. Well! When I heard it was Hansel and Gretel I immediately wanted the part of the evil witch. It just sounded fun. However! One of the two Missoula directors played the part in every show, which was disappointing. But I tried out and gave it my all- when they asked me my age, I cheekily (well, I was going for "cheeky" but it came out very staged) hollered out with the inflection of a poor public speaker, "I'm as old as you want me to be!" Well, by god, that cheeky answer got me a part! I was one of eight "Witch's Assistants." We spoke in verse! God knows why but I still remember one of our spiels... the witch called for us and we pranced on stage, and sunk to our knees as we spoke line by line:

Assistant One: "We're coming, your badness!"
Assistant Two: "We're on our way!"
Assistant Three: "We're here to do..."
Assistant Four: "Whatever you say!"
Assistant Five: "We worship, we grovel..."
Sarah: "We fall to our knees!"
Assistant Seven: "We're willing to do.."
Assistant Eight: "Whatever you please!"

Cutesy, I know. Oh, I know. You wanna know something else "cutesy"? We assistants had another, smaller part, and my cheeks still burn when I think about it.

We were the gingerbread men, and we did a little dance. Oh, forgive me, a ballet. We wore these atrocious suits of vomit-brown corduroy and did little twerpy steps around the stage while the rest of the cast and audience howled with laughter. Maybe it WOULD have been cutesy if it were a bunch of five year olds but we were all caught in the midst of puberty! Hell, Assistant Three's VOICE was changing!

Over the years, I discovered I just might not be right for acting. That's why I stick to backstage work! One year for "Miracle on 34th Street," I got to work up in the lighting booth which was pretty awesome. I got to use the the spotlight! Truth be told, I wielded it like drunken or seasick sailor but most of the time I got it on target.

This summer my sister was in charge of a Western Vaudeville, and that was a lot of fun! I got to flaunt my madd piano skillz by playing a bizarre collection of songs I learned in my 4th grade piano lessons.

As far as performing goes, I think music is more my style... back when I was in a few metal bands, we played some shows and they were pretty awesome. My one regret? When I headbang a lot I get dizzy and almost fall over, and people laugh.

I did a little bit of tweaking on my writing project tonight. I was thinking about it during intermission. You know what? Instead of saying "writing project" let's call it SC, its initials. Are you intrigued?

Bwahaha!

Sarah