To Be or Not to Be...That is the Question
This summer (2008) I had the chance to act in my very first play ever. The huge bonus factor was that I got to perform with Jessica, Adam, Aaron and Sherri! Haily was able to be an assistant to the Director and worked on scene changes. Michael was our biggest fan and came to every single performance! He also took lots of pictures and even video taped it. It was really fun knowing that I had at least one person every night who was there to see me!
It all happened very suddenly and without any planning or aspirations on my part. Sherri had decided to venture back into acting as she had been in many productions in High School and a few after but it had been a long while since she had been in a play. She found a local small, in-the-round theatre that was holding auditions for an original musical written by a local lady and she auditioned and won the part as the step-sister to an now-widowed Cinderella 20 years after the story we all know. She also assisted the director and got Lisa involved in helping with make-up & hair and also assisting the director during the run of the play while Sherri was busy performing. It was a great success; Sherri was very good and she really enjoyed herself. This play ran from the end of April for 6 weeks through the end of May.
Anyways, after a good month's rest she heard of another play audition at the same theatre, different director but another original play that needed a teenage girl and some other kids so she convinced Jessica to tryout with her. Haily and Aaron heard about it and wanted to give it a try as well. As luck would have it, they all made callbacks! (In the play business, you have first auditions and then they call back people they are interested in to see them more closely and then they make their final decision. Hence the name "callbacks".) Adam decided that it sounded like fun so he had Jessica call the director and see if he needed a boy his age and if he could come to callbacks even though he didn't go to the original audition. The director said, "sure!" So on the specified night, they all went. I wanted to see the kids perform just in case they didn't make it and it was my only chance to see them. Soon after walking in, the director and his cute wife said from across the room, "Have you ever acted?" To which I said no. "Would you like to try out?" To which I stuttered and stammered a mostly negative response. Uh, uh. They kept encouraging me so I decided, "What the heck. It's not like I will be cast or anything. I mean, I don't even know if I could make it to rehearsals, let alone performances! Well, this could be fun while it lasts!" I was very nervous but there I was reading lines in front of my kids and Sherri instead of listening to lines being read! There were 4 ladys up for my part. The play was called Rockrollers and Pancakes and was written by Bill Brown.
Two days later, much to my major surprise, the director called and said he wanted to cast me! I was so shocked! I just kept saying, "Are you sure?" Luckily, I played the mom of 4 kids and he cast Sherri as my crazy sister-in-law, Aunt Flo, and Jessica as my teenage daughter about to graduate from high school, Adam as my oldest boy and Aaron as the baby of the family. Talking about real life role playing! Sadly, the director had a granddaughter who got the part Haily tried out for. My first thoughts were for Haily and how devastated she would be that everyone was cast except for her. The director said she could be his assistant and help with scene changes and set decorating. A small consolation but it was all I had to offer. Haily was a real trooper and took the news well. I saw her audition and she really was very good. It truly was just nepotism and not a lack of talent.
So that's how it happened. I decided not to say anything about the fact that I had been mostly in bed for the last 7 years and I had no way of knowing if I could even fulfill the commitment. Luckily the whole play was double cast, except for Sherri and one other character. So I only had half the performances. I decided to take it a day at time and do the best I could.
And guess what?! I never missed a rehearsal nor was I even late. Even on Saturday mornings. The play ran from August 22 through the end of September every Friday, Saturday and Mondays. And our cast was every other time. This made it so I never had back to back performances. Opening night was extremely scary. I started the entire play on stage all by myself talking on a phone for the first little bit. I had over 500 lines I had to memorize. Turns out that is very difficult! I learned a lot and gained a huge appreciation for what I have been watching Jessica do for years! It is hard work and it really does matter who is in the audience supporting you. I was glad that I had always made the effort to see every single night of every single performance any of my kids have been in-even if they were only on stage for 3.2 seconds! It always baffled me when parents didn't come to their child's show every night. Now I am extra glad I was not in their shoes looking back with regret!
All in all, it was a wonderful experience performing with my kids and Sherri.I met new people, learned a new skill, and can now say I have been in a play! Probably once in a lifetime. (mostly cuz, let's be serious, who would ever be crazy enough to cast me again?!) And finding another play where there were characters we each could play. The only way it could have been better is if Haily could have played my other daughter. Now that would have been perfect!! I am truly grateful for the experience and would like to try it again sometime. But I am not sure if I could play something other than a mother of 4! We will just have to see!
This is me opening the show pretending to talk to my nosy neighbor, Ivy, on my 1950's phone.
No one was on the other end so it was up to me to pause long enough to pretend she was talking back to me. I started out in the dark all by my lonesome and then the lights came up as I started talking. I never did get used to that!
This is me on stage folding clothes in the first act.
I also scrub the floor, make pancakes from scratch using only a campfire, make a prom dress while in same said campground, all while wearing a smile and an apron! Ahh, why did the 50's ever have to go away!
To see a newspaper article about the play, here is the link. Just in case the link is dead, here is the article that ran in the local paper. It will give you an idea of the plot of the play. It is probably WAY more information than you care to know...but oh well!
"ROCKROLLERS AND PANCAKES TO PLAY IN LINDON |
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| Daily Herald |
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The Valley Center Playhouse at 780 N. 200 East in Lindon announces the opening of the comedy "Rockrollers and Pancakes" on Friday, Aug. 22. This delightful and poignant comedy is celebrating its tenth anniversary.
Written and directed by Springville playwright and actor Bill Brown, this 50's drama is based on a true story of a Utah County family that was evicted from its home for non-payment of rent.
Homeless and with very little money, they were forced to live in a tent in the campground at Vivian Park in Provo Canyon.
"I lived through this experience as the oldest of seven children," Brown said. This family was in crisis. The father had a serious accident while doing a chemistry experiment at BYU where he was seeking a graduate degree. He lost his job. The parents were already struggling to make ends meet. With no resources, the family camped out that spring and summer of 1952.
"This was an experience, I will never forget. It made great fodder for a comedy written in Tim Slover's playwriting class at BYU," said Brown.
Gone are the old landmarks -- the Chalet Cafe, the old bait shack and the old campground. "In reminiscing about those early years, and with quite a few years gone by myself, I was able to find the humor in this crisis situation. As children we really enjoyed ourselves," Brown said. "Mom felt frustrated and Dad retired to his own little world. We ate a lot of pancakes, and learned how to collect rockrollers from the old man at the bait shack."
This situational comedy is based on childhood memories and has been fictionalized to make the story work for the stage. "Each character is a composite of various family members and friends," Brown said.
The main character, Midge Johnston, is a senior in high school and is embarrassed to have her friends know what has happened to her family. She is in constant conflict with her father about the situation, especially when there is not enough money to go to the prom. (Note from Shelly: This was Jessica's part)
The mother is anxious about the family's difficulties and tries to keep everybody content.(My role)Sibling rivalry is abundant and makes for some hilarity. (Between Adam and the director's granddaughter...it got pretty physical sometimes!) The wealthy Aunt Flo, the flamboyant divorcee from Texas, has a conflicting lifestyle, but a generous heart. She never had children of her own but bonds with her nieces and nephews and draws nearer to the Johnstons as a result. (Sherri's role) Mr. Potter, the old man who owns the bait shack, teaches the kids how to catch rockrollers, a crustacean that affixes themselves to the bottom of rocks in the Provo River. (Sherri's "love interest" played by a mere boy only 25 yrs old and married with a pregnant wife. Not awkward at all!)
"All told, this show is well worth the effort and money to see. The story is full of hope, and assurance that stress and problems are part of everyone's lives and things are seldom as bleak as they seem. We all need to be reminded of that once in a while." (a quote from the Daily Herald review by the late Sharon Gholdston.)
Noted playwright Tim Slover said of "Rockrollers and Pancakes": "This play deals with real honest-to-goodness problems in two generations."
This production will play each Monday, Friday and Saturday, August 22-September 29, on the intimate stage at the Valley Center Playhouse, 780 N. 200 East in Lindon.
Tickets may be purchased at the door: $6 gen. admission, $5 for students, seniors and children, with a family ticket for $25.
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