As some of you know, I have been getting shot in the head and dying on a regular basis for the last six weeks or so and having a lot of fun doing it. I portrayed a very wealthy woman named Mildred Bagshot who was duped into purchasing some dubious paintings from a French con artist in a production of ‘Murdered To Death.”
The small cast of nine plus myself had a great time over the run of the rehearsals and performances getting to know each other and learning how to be authentic British characters while laughing ourselves silly each night. It sounds clichéd, but some nights my face actually ached from all the smiling and laughter. I always went home tired, but it was a really good, satisfying kind of tired.
The thing that struck me the most about this time around was the sense of teamwork and dedication. It was really neat to see it develop from the first night of introductions to the final performance on Sunday afternoon. Theater patrons may not have realized all the obstacles that the cast had to overcome during this time.
To them, it looks like a lot of fun, and don’t get me wrong, it really is. However, every night is not always like another. Energy and emotions go up and down. Things go wrong, sometimes terribly wrong, and life just gets in the way. Still, the show must go on, and we would courageously walk onto the stage and give the best performance we could possibly manage that evening.
Yes, we know it’s “only” community theater, but there is a dedication and camaraderie among us to put on a great show and give you your money’s worth. We want you to have a good time and laugh along with us. We don’t care if you appreciate everything we’ve done to bring the show to you, we just want you to be thoroughly entertained. And that’s true even if we have a cold, sore throat, a raging blister on our toe inside that period-correct set of heels, or something even worse.
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