I’ve been meaning to blog about this for the past week now, and just haven’t had a chance.
I had such an awesome time doing this play. It was a lot of work, and I’m not going to lie, I’m glad it’s over. It’s nice to have my evenings back.
But, I had some amazing experiences that I’d like to share. Half-way through our run, we had some technical problems that forced us to redo much of the show. We had to change the beginning, some of the leads had to learn up to 3 pages of dialogue, and Belle had to learn a whole new song; all within a few hours. The rest of the cast found out about the changes as we came in for hair and makeup. Everyone was really upset and the feeling was very tense. But, we had our cast meeting and did some last minute blocking and said a prayer.
While we were waiting for the show to start I was talking to one of my fellow actors. I said that I had a good feeling about the show and thought that we’d be able to pull it together well. He agreed and we started talking about the ambition and talents of our lead characters. Our conversation reminded me of a few experiences in my life that I shared with him.
The first was when I was a communications student at BYU. I was working for the Daily Universe during the Spring/Summer terms. I did a profile on the head of the Piano Performance major. I asked him what it was like to be the head of a major that many people in this area don’t take seriously as a career. He said that when he chose his major during school, many looked down on it. But, because he had a natural talent and the ambition to stick with it, doors were opened to him. He said that he felt like every profession could be that way. If you have the natural talent and ambition for something, go for it. The opportunities will come. That was a changing point in my life. I decided then that I would do what I felt was right and take advantage of opportunities given to me. And it really has paid off.
The second thing I was reminded of was when I was a senior in high school. The only class I had at the high school was choir. Near the end of the year we went on choir tour to Los Angeles. It was a really neat experience. We got tickets to see the Lion King on broadway at the Orange County theater. It was absolutely fantastic. I had never seen a professional musical production before. The experience totally changed my outlook on theater. I was left with a feeling of awe and wonder. Whenever I performed after that, I tried to bring that same sense of awe and wonder to the audience.
That night we had an amazing performance. When we came out for curtain call I was along the side of the auditorium. When Belle came out I saw these two little girls in the audience. I wish I could have taken a picture of their faces. They were just absolutely glowing. That night we got a standing ovation, and got more compliments than just about any other night. I could hardly believe that no one noticed the changes we had made to the program.
Then, on Saturday night, we were opening the curtain for the number “Gaston” one of the benches got caught on the grand. When the curtain was lifted it ripped a hole in the grand about 10 feet wide. The bottom of the curtain just split at the seam. I was sitting right behind it and heard that rip and thought, oh shoot. But, we kept going through the number. At intermission about 6 women got some needles and thread and we sewed the curtain back up. It wasn’t the best job, but it kept the show going.
It may be weird to say this, but all these experiences were testimony building for me. It proved a sense of community and pride in our work. We had several other things happen in the play. There were deaths of family members, fires, and torrential rain. But, when things got bad, we trusted in the Lord. And we succeeded. Our Monday matinee was completely sold out, and every seat in the house was filled, plus some.
Thanks to all of you who took time to come see it. Your support made it all worth it.
PS
I don’t have pictures of the play yet, but I will post them when I get them.
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