I am officially full immersed in the world that is Cabaret 5-Cowboy Mouth. I've never done a project quite like this before and I love everyone that I am working with. This is a really great design team, directors, and actors. We go into tech on Sunday and open on Thursday.
Because I am officially immersed, it also means I survived midterms! Two projects and a drama history midterm later, I can say that I am fully relieved that everything went as well as could be expected. There were some late nights and some stressful nights but I'm so glad that they are behind me. The next challenge will be handling finals during tech in December but that's far enough away that it's not even worse thinking about right now.
Recently I have been amazed at how much music can pull you back to a specific place or time. It's something I've always known about myself so it didn't really come as a surprise but it's incredible the power (good and bad) that certain music will have.
Whenever the musical Chess or Seussical come on my itunes, I am instantly drawn back to that place in my life. Those shows bring me back to a time that is forever ingrained as one of the happiest times I've ever experienced. Everything felt new, fresh, and exhilarating. I was working with some truly amazing people. And I was loving my job.
Chess was new. Chess brought me new friends, new experiences, new stage management challenges. New school challenges. Taught me to balance my schedule, how to drive during rush hour traffic, how to grab dinner in the half hour between classes and leaving for rehearsal, how to step out of my comfort zone and step up my game. How to integrate myself into something new. How to fall in love with my job again.
Seussical was a two week crash course in "let's put on a show!". 20 kids. A director, an assistant director, a costumer, a sound designer, and myself. 3 hours of after school rehearsal. A set that had to work around another set (literally covering theirs with a backdrop and enlisting their crew to move some things around that we were front of the drop). And complete enthusiasm for what we were doing. I was amazed by how quickly these kids absorbed the material and their blocking--proof that kids will rise to the challenge if you give them the chance. We had a hurried tech process and early morning (read: we had to be there by 9:00 for the kids 10:00 call) performances. And I was so proud of the kids and the production that was pulled together. Anyone who knows me knows that I will cry during curtain call, without fail, on opening night but this was even more than the typical "we did it!" feeling.
The powerful nostalgia associated with those shows is twofold. While I enjoy the joyful feelings that came whenever I hear those songs, they are usually accompanied by a profound sense of longing. It is unfortunate that memories of something so wonderful also bring sadness simply because they cannot be replicated. It's a natural part of theatre. Shows will always come to a close and you must move on. And some will capture your heart in special ways, while others you want to run from. It's a learning curve and one that I'm still learning to master. But I will still smile every time I hear those songs because the good memories will always mean more than the wistful feeling of "remember when". I can't go back but I can move forward knowing that those experiences will be a special part of my theatre history.
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