And so Shrek, Fiona, Donkey, the Dragon, and all the various Fairy Tale Creatures once again live happily ever after.... at least until the next community theater production. :o) Well, that's a wrap on Shrek folks. Two months of singing, dancing, and practicing led up to a final performance weekend. I think it was estimated that somewhere over a thousand people came over the course of five shows. We ran Wednesday through Saturday night, with an additional Saturday matinee.
I met some fabulous people this go round....us fairy tale characters, we stuck together! And I adored little four year old Britton, who became my little buddy on stage. In our production, Tweedle Dee's sidekick....was Elsa. She was absolutely adorable. My favorite moment of the entire run, came backstage during a final dress rehearsal, as Britton holding my hand backstage asked, "Am I in the show?" Yes, Britton, you are in the show. :o)
The only unfortunate occurrence for myself, was confidently walking down the back steps of the house, late in the evening after opening night, and devastatingly slipping and falling on top of my right foot. After I caught myself, unfolded my foot from under me, and ate the dried mango I was still holding, I hobbled into the Shed to prop it up and ice it well into the night. Luckily I only twisted it and bruised my toes, BUT dancing in heels for the Three Blind Mice became incredibly difficult. :o) I persevered, only changing one section of moves to "shimmy" in front of my fellow mice as they jump kicked, landing all their weight on their normal, uninjured right legs. Good times.
Playing Tweedle Dee was incredibly fun. I built my own "belly" sewing together two t-shirts (one that fit, and one that was a couple of sizes bigger) with the sleeves cut off. I layered some 2xl red scrubs and a yellow polo, added an oversized, mostly hot glued bowtie and a red baseball cap. It took FOREVER to find the pieces that would fit together, and the belly was awfully hot to wear...but I loved the kookiness. Let other girls be the princesses and cute fairy tale characters, I'll take the weird, delightful ones any day.
Community Theater is such a special experience. To think of all these incredibly talented, kind, creative people all being in the same place, to bring to life a story through words and songs, to take the time and gifts to plan the staging, the lighting, the costumes..... I feel grateful for the journey. I don't know if I will have another couple of months that will overlap with auditions, rehearsals, performances and so this summer feels unique and set apart.....and of course I did it with a musical that featured ogres and crude humor. Everyone likes a good farting joke.