Yesterday I was sorting through my junk mail when I stumbled across a postcard from my high school's Shakespearean Society - they're having a 50th reunion this spring. And wow, if that didn't bring back memories...They've even put together a website, and I was lucky (unfortunate?) enough to find a picture of me in the only Shakespeare play in did in high school, my senior year: The Tempest. Take a look:
Two things I remember most from that play: my line "Oh brave new world, that has such people in it!" and the fact that I had to "fall asleep" on stage for about 5 minutes, but the sleeves on that Elizabethan dress were so tight that my arms would fall asleep no matter how I tried to arrange them. Anyone else ever acted on stage? It's a trip, what actors go through behind the scenes. One time, in college, I was in a crowd scene on the second floor of a set and the main character leaned too far and almost took a tumble. I had to grab him by the back of the coat and yank him back into place.
That picture brought back more memories, though, so I went poring through my old photo albums for some other pics from my days in the high school musicals:
Ah, yes, the sweet Laurie singing to her cowboy Curly in "Oklahoma" ( what do I remember about this one? that some of the jocks in our school decided to sign up to play singing/dancing cowboys and promptly disappeared during rehearsals to get drunk in the school parking lot)
And my favorite role: Rose, the crazy secretary from "Bye Bye Birdie." This is the scene where I interrupt an uptight Shriner's Meeting and dance on the table. The last night of this performance, that skirt started tearing at the side slit and everyone including myself was wondering if I could make it offstage without showing too much leg.
Ah, memories...
I had a friend in grad school who always said teaching was like being on stage. It's kind of true; you have a captive audience, and you have to keep their attention. But you can also see that my love for great stories and happy endings goes back a long time...
7 comments:
Oh do those pictures bring back memories.
Yes, I think you were preparing for a teaching career way back then!
LOL... I was in drama my entire life! I wonder if I can find some of my old pictures.
We did "Bye, Bye Birdie". What a hoot!
And our nod to Shakespeare was "Twelfth Night". I was also in a show called "Get Bill Shakespeare Off the Stage" which had such memorable lines as:
"TB, or not TB? That is the congestion." and "Out, out, damn Spot, out, out I say. The living room's not where a dog should play."
*G*
Thanks for sharing your "stage" memories with us. You are so right, being on stage does prepare one for teaching.
I was never on stage, but I did type the scripts for the drama club.
Can you believe it?! We were in two of the high school musicals?!
Oklahoma and Bye Bye Birdie! Isn't it a small world?! Cindi
jchoppes[at]hotmail[dot]com
I don't think there is much photographic evidence of my high school experience. At least I hope not. What can I say? I went to high school at the beach where they locked the parking lot gates to keep us from cutting. Great material for a book, though...
So you were an actor in the past. It doesn't take much to bring back old high school memories. I even get my yearbooks out every now and then just to remember things.
Cindy, You were in BBB and OK too?? It *is* a small world...
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