Rediscovering Love

First, sorry. I've been busy. And this blog post will explain why.

Second, if you think I'm about to post about finding my one true love with whom I shall have a lifetime of happiness, I am sorry to say you will be very disappointed. This is about another type of love I've found...a type of love I've rediscovered.

I love performing. I always have. I've loved being in choir and chorus and band and pep band and music club and quartets and trios and duets and solos...I love it all. Yes, I'm insanely nervous before I start. Yes, I question my sanity ever second up until the music starts or I get my cue.
But what I have always loved most of all is acting. I'm not a stellar actress. But I can carry a tune, and I'm very good at not being myself. I love doing accents (which comes in handy). I was in every musical my school put on from sixth grade (two westward expansion themed shows followed by The Bard is Back!, where I portrayed a "stage mom from hell" with a voice like Miss Hannigan) through my senior year of high school (Oliver!, Bye Bye Birdie, Oklahoma!, and The Sound of Music). I felt very comfortable doing those shows because the directors were my band/chorus/English teachers who knew how I sang and spoke before I even auditioned (which was helpful because auditioning is stressful).
Then when I graduated, I found myself without a creative outlet. There was no way I was going to audition at Parkland or ISU and compete with kids from the suburbs who had professional training. I'm good for our area, but no way could I hold a candle to some of those kids. However, living in Iroquois County isn't all bad because we have a gem over in Cissna Park. I'm talking about the Country Theatre Workshop. I'd never done a show there before. In my younger days, kids would go over and do the children's show, but it never crossed my mind to do it. When I got older, I either worked all summer or wasn't brave enough to audition.
Until this summer.
Because CTW announced they were doing one of my all-time favorite shows, Bye Bye Birdie.
I've always been a musical junkie, but somehow I'd never seen the 1963 movie with Dick Van Dyke and Ann-Margret. My first introduction to the show was the stage version, which is vastly different from the movie. And I fell in love. The songs! The characters (I was Ursula, the obsessed teen)! The general hilarity! Absolute amazingness all around! So this May, I bit the bullet and drove over to Cissna Park and auditioned. Due to my advanced age (I'm the eldest "teen girl" at 25...the youngest is a freshman in high school), I was put in the best role I could fit in--Margie, the Conrad Birdie Fan Club member. We've been rehearsing since mid-June, and it's all I can think about some days. Just before I started this post, I was practicing the choreography to all the songs in Act I. I've never danced this much before...it's so exciting!
I can't even imagine what I'd be doing this summer if I didn't have rehearsal to attend. Probably lots of nothing. Anyway, we start performing in August:  the 7th, 8th, 9th, 10th, 14th, 15th, 16th, and 17th (eight performances!) All but the Sunday shows are at 7:30; Sunday shows are at 2:00. If you are interested in attending, I believe you purchase tickets through the box office only (I always attend with season ticket holders, so I've never had to go through the process before!). Call over to the theater, reserve your seat(s), and then send a check (all tickets are $10). Someone told me you can reserve your seat and then pay at the door, but don't quote me on that--for all I know, that was a special case. And if you would like me to get your ticket for you, just let me know and you can pay me later! I've included the website below which has the box office hours and number and all that jazz.
Country Theatre Workshop
Stay gold!

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