There's No Business Like Show Business

Ok...It's no secret...I love Broadway and Theater. I always have! This weekend I got to go see my nephew Isaac in his high school's production of "Brigadoon" Now "Brigadoon" is the one show I had not seen or been in. I think when I was little, we skipped the "B's" and went right to the "C's" In my childhood, I performed in "Carousel", "Camelot", "Carnival" and "Calamity Jane" lol. I did a lot of theater in my childhood, but I have to say that nothing I did as a child could compare to my nephew's production of Brigadoon. The voices were amazing, the dancing outstanding and of course my nephew was brilliant in the chorus. The show was better then most of the Community Theater I've seen..and these were all high schoolers. It was a fantastic day for my Papa and I. We are all very proud of my nephew.

I was very lucky as a child to be exposed to quite a bit of both Broadway and Community Theater. I remember that we would take class trips to Broadway Shows and about once a year my parents would take us to eat dinner at Mama Leoni's and then we would go to a show. The one show that I longed to see was "Annie". My Dad made a deal with me..If I got a report card with no "D's" He would get me tickets. Well, that worked the opposite way...I think I got a "d" on my report card for the next 3 years. Finally my whole class went to see it. We actually got to see the final show for that current Annie, who happened to be Sarah Jessica Parker.

As a child, I think I wanted to grow up to be on The Carol Burnett Show..I wanted to be famous...The only thing that stopped me was ..lack of talent. Now I wasn't terrible, but I wasn't great either. The chorus was pretty much where I was in most shows. The one time in Jr High that I got a small speaking part was ummmm...interesting. I was playing Joe the bartender in "Calamity Jane". All I had to do was say a few lines and pretend to tend the bar..Well, they had put a riser behind the bar and gave me a stool so I could sit sometimes. Well stools only work when all four legs are on the riser. It was during our performance in front of my 9th grade class... My mother said she was watching and all of a sudden I disappeared behind the bar. Both I and all the bottles of fale booze fell to the stage. Quickly my friend Jaci took my place while I was being pulled off stage and the ambulance was called. I had hurt my ankle and as I was being wheeled out to the ambulance, The Assistant Principal was telling me..."I told you to break a leg but this was not what I meant. That was the closest I ever came to giving him the finger. I could also see every student peering out of the windows. They then wheeled me into the Emergency Room in full Western bartender garb and makeup (see pic below). The nurse only wanted to know where I worked. I ended up with a sprained ankle and Calamity Jane certainly lived up to it's name.

That was not the last time I made a fool of myself on stage but more about that another time. I did find that being part of a cast and being on stage were some of my favorite times. While I haven't been on stage for many years, I still think that watching good theater is the most entertaining, fun time that you can have. When I see a show or listen to a soundtrack, something happens inside me that is hard to describe. It gives me great joy!

That's all for now...BTW..What is your favorite show experience..Please put it in the comments.Thanks

Be Musical, Be Brave and Be Superb.
R