The show must go on!

This weekend, I had the pleasure of taking part in a theatre project that is one of my favourite creative experiences ever! It's called Wingin' It, and it's WILD!

On Friday night, our team and three others of 5 or 6 received a completely random line of text, a completely unrelated prop and 24 hours to write and produce a play for a paying audience! The teams are made up of theatre veterans and newbies alike and the plays are always histerically funny!

I hadn't appeared in a theatre production of any kind in two years. Someday when I'm self-employed and financially free, I'll get back at it...for now it will have to wait! In the meantime, this was the perfect way to get back on stage since it only takes 24 hours to write and stage the play instead of weeks and weeks of intense rehearsal! Of course, without all of that rehearsal, chaos can ensue, but that's the whole fun of it!

Four years ago, when I was "looking for myself" after the end of a horrible relationship, I decided to take a leap and try acting. It's something I always wanted to do, but just never got around to. So I went to an audition...

I was terrified. Yeah...me...terrified! I walked into a room full of people I had never seen before and sat near the middle of the group. I feared if I sat in the front I would appear to eager and end up making an ass of myself, but I wouldn't sit in the back for fear that everyone would be able to see that I was crapping my drawers!

It was an audition for 4 one-act plays, so there were 4 directors with 4 scripts. We all got scripts, and the directors would pick people out of the group to read certain parts. I did what I was told, and did a reasonable job, but man did I blend in. I couldn't believe it. I HATE blending in! I didn't do anything to get any one's attention. While other people were reading their lines, I kept admonishing myself for not doing something outrageous or stunning! I kept telling myself there was no way I could leave that building and let people think I was a mouse. Strange word, huh? Mouse! It's the word that kept running through my mind. Here I was, career broadcaster and self-professed spotlight hound, and I was being mousy!

One of the directors, Scott Thomas (possible genius!) kept telling the group that he wanted to see something over the top. Don't feel you have to sit in your chair and just read the lines, get up and do something to get his attention. But I was crazy glued to my chair being a mouse.

So I listened to all of the other auditions and everyone started shuffling papers and making departing overtures. Scott asked if anyone missed an opportunity to read a part they were interested in. I waited for what seemed like an eternity for someone else to speak up. They didn't. It was now or never, and I could not leave as a mouse. So up goes my hand and I say I want to audition for a part which Scott has already said will go to someone with lots of experience because it had a lot of text and it was very much a lead role! He said thank you and offered me the script.

The dialogue was a woman pitching a completely outrageous plan to a group of potential investors. Some pretty stern prospects at that. So, I grabbed a total stranger from the group, dragged him up to the directors table to use as a prop, and proceeded to address the directors as though they were this group of potential investors. I ranted and raved and did some slightly outlandish things to my poor unsuspecting prop. In short, I made an ass of myself. Guess what...they loved it!

When I left that building, I was floating on a cloud! I was so excited that I took a chance. It didn't matter one bit whether I got the part at the time. I had done what I planned to do. I faced the fear and did it anyway! I stepped outside my comfort zone! I was a friggin' genius! It was one of those moments when I felt like I could really take on the world! Nothing could stop me! WOOHOO!

A few days later, I got a call from the director, Scott. I didn't get THAT part, but I did get a part in his show! I had to sit down I was so excited! Not only did I prove to myself ONCE AGAIN that I can do anything I set my mind to, but it paid off! I had a bonefide part in a play, and I loved it!

In the two following years, I did just about every play I could get my hands on, and had some of the most amazing experiences of my life! I met some wonderful people who will be life-time friends, and I learned a lot about myself. The dedication and hard work it takes to put on a production of any size is enormous! It's something I didn't think I had in me. But passion just takes over, and doesn't leave me a choice. I never begrudged a single rehearsal or a minute of learning my lines. It was a total labour of love.

I have taken two years off from theatre, but now that I have done another show, I definitely have the bug again. When my business reaches a place where I don't have to maintain my day job and I can take the time to work on another show, I'll be back in, up to my ears! I'm addicted and I never want to be in a place where I don't have theatre in my life in some way!

Thanks, Scott! You Rock!