We have made it through our first week of performances for the Merlin show!
When I signed up for this gig, I was a little wary of the performing every day thing. I even asked the director if we couldn’t double cast it so that we could have some days off. He kind of laughed and said he could barely get enough people to fill one cast, let alone two, which has been true. People have had to drop out because of work or injuries, and we called some people who didn’t even audition but were maybe available to be in the show, so there are no back=ups. To do a show at 10:00 am, means we are supposed to be at the theater at 9:00 to do our make-up and hair, get our microphones on and checked, and have a cast meeting. In order to be there by 9, I need to leave my house at 8:35 at the latest. Two days a week I teach my chime choir from 8 until 8:50, which makes it impossible to get there by 9:00. I have let the kids out 5 minutes early so that I can LEAVE the school by 8:50, and then I get there as quickly as I can (usually by 9:10-9:15).
The show is only one hour, which is nice. But after the daytime show the cast comes out and we have a little question and answer session with the kids.
These were taken after a dress rehearsal, which my kids attended, since they didn’t have school that day. When we come out for the question and answer, we bring chairs, not just sitting on the edge of the stage. The kids ask questions, mostly about “How do you do that trick?”, but sometimes they ask fun questions like “Do you guys practice magic in your other jobs?”, or “What’s your favorite movie?”
By the time we are done with that and out of costume, it’s nearly noon, and I can get home to eat lunch by 12:30. So, it takes out the bulk of my day, especially days that I am teaching, when I really just eat lunch, clean up, and get back to the school. Not that I’m complaining, because it’s quite fun.
We get to dress up, do our makeup and glitterify, and have fun.
(This is me with Tana, who plays Guinevere)
(Here’s me with Tiffany, who plays Morgana. She’s the evil sister and I’m the nice one)
Then on Mondays and Fridays we come back at 6:00 and get ready again for a 7:00 show. The 7:00 show is more families than just kids. Last night I think we did our best show yet, and it was fun to see several wonderful friends from the Scarlet Pimpernel who came to see the show and support us. John came again last night with a friend (he’s now seen it three times, the most of anyone in the family. I guess if we were keeping score, it would be John 3, Jenna 2, Natalie and Megan 1, and Ryan 0)
Even though it’s a fun experience, it is extremely draining. This week was especially hard as we were dealing with the death of a friend, and then had his funeral and luncheon on Wednesday. But there’s always something, so no week is going to be smooth and easy. We just need to enjoy our theater time together as much as we can, because before we know it, our 21 shows will be gone with a poof.
Leave a Reply