Summer Community Theater–Excited to be Back on Stage!

Perform, rinse, repeat

After last summer’s experience performing in my community theater’s production of “Footloose,” I knew that I would plan to audition again for the summer of 2023. I anxiously waited for the announcement of the summer show. Not that it would change whether or not I auditioned, but I still wanted to know. The musical for the summer of 2023 was going to be Rogers and Hammerstein’s “Cinderella.” Honestly, I didn’t have much of a reaction to that. I was familiar with some of the music and aspects of the story but had never actually seen a production of it, either on stage or screen (not even the version with Brandy). I also knew that my goal was to get a part in the ensemble, so the specific roles didn’t mean as much to me. Knowing that the show was a Rogers and Hammerstein one, there was no doubt that the music would be great! Was it a dance show? That I didn’t know, but I figured that there would at least be some waltzing type of dancing. When the names of the production team came out, I was excited. I knew from past experience that the director and musical director were fantastic. I had not previously met the choreographer.

Getting ready

After reading the information about being in the production, the first thing I needed to do was contact the producer. I knew that I was going to be out of town during the first weekend of tech week, a time you really aren’t supposed to miss. My high school girlfriends and I had made LONG overdue plans for a girls’ weekend getaway (originally planned for 2019, didn’t happen, and then the world got more crazy). There was no way I was not going out of town. Before even signing up for an audition spot, I asked the producer if missing that weekend would be ok. If not, I wasn’t going to bother signing up. After getting the green light, I signed up and had to find something to sing. Unfortunately for me, neither my husband nor daughter wanted to audition with me for their own appropriate reasons. This would have to be “my thing” for the summer. At least I could expect loud cheers from the audience!

I mentioned this in last year’s post and will mention it again. I am an alto. It is much harder to find a great alto song than soprano song. With the help of the internet and searching “songs for low altos,” I found some options. Putting “low” into the search increased the chance that I wouldn’t have to worry about hitting a sour note while auditioning. I admit that I wanted to play it safe.

The final song choice: “No time at all” from “Pippin.” Additionally, as one of the older people likely to audition (not that I am old, but I am realistic), the lyrics seemed appropriate as well. The vocal audition was supposed to be approximately one minute, and the verses of the song fit nicely. Through inter-library loan, I was able to access a printed musical score as well; I needed to bring the sheet music to the audition.

Audition time

Something my daughter and I seem to have in common is that we like to sign up for the last time slot (more of a chunk—up to 8 people can sign up for a slot) on whichever day we audition. I arrived ready to go. My singing seemed fine. I wasn’t thrilled with my performance, but I don’t think it was bad. Wearing the same jazz shoes I’ve had since high school, I learned the choreography. It was so much easier for me to pick up the choreography this year compared to last. It wasn’t complex, and I believe that I looked quite graceful, if I may say so myself. Overall, I felt good about the audition.

There is always the hope for a call back audition for a role. There was no expectation, but there was a small hope. I did not get a call back, but I was optimistic that I would make the ensemble. (We altos are a bit of a rare breed, so I had that going for me.)

Cast list

I was on the list! Woohoo! Besides the roles of Cinderella, stepmother, stepsisters, fairy godmother, and prince (all of whom had actual character names), I had no idea who the other named characters were. I recognized some of the members of the cast, but the ones I knew were in the “under 30” crowd (I am pretty sure they were all under 30). None of them were in my daughter’s grade. None of my fellow “adults” from last year’s show were in this one. None of them were people with whom I ever socialized in the past outside of the theater. (A few of them were invited to my daughter’s graduation party, but that isn’t quite the same.) This would be a brand new experience which was both nerve wracking and exciting.

At the first rehearsal, I noted that there were definitely more “adults” in this show compared to last. It should not have come as a surprise–”Footloose” and “Cinderella” are quite different. I was in the older contingency overall, but I definitely was not the oldest, and I certainly had more in common with more cast members this year than last. That itself made me grateful to have auditioned for this show.

Something that helped with some initial bonding was that at the first music rehearsal, we had assigned seats so that the different vocal groups sat together. I was part of my little row of seven altos. I kept thinking (but never followed through) that I should make us a little “Alto 7” something. In my mind it was a cute idea. Oh, well. What it did, though, was give me a little group to start to get to know better since we sat by each other.

Rehearsals

As mentioned in the past, one of the biggest challenges of being an alto is that it is rare to sing melody. I think we had two bars of melody in this entire show. Like last year, I could sing the alto part just fine until the other parts were added in. Fortunately, there was a program we all had access to for practice at home (Show Ready) that allowed cast members to listen to the music and separate out the different parts. This gave me the chance to practice the alto part at home without being “messed up” by the other vocal parts and also the chance to practice with all or some of the other musical parts added back in. (The program plays the music, not the lyrics, for the different parts. You can pick and choose what to include.) By show time, I think I mostly sang the correct notes. I hope I did. Without the program, who knows what I would have been singing!

As a regular ensemble member (as opposed to being in the small “adult ensemble” last year), I was part of all of the regular ensemble musical numbers. I don’t feel as though the choreography was too difficult for me; I think I did quite well. My challenge was remembering it. When young, I was REALLY good at remembering choreography, so having trouble this time was frustrating. Although I can blame it in part on age and just not having practiced choreography regularly for many years, it still bugged me. I had to remind myself that it was good brain and body training. Finding that silver lining—the struggle, although irritating, was not without benefit. (I am trying to convince/remind myself of that.) Fortunately, videos were taken at rehearsals so that we could review the choreography outside of rehearsal as well.

One of the largest challenges, in my opinion, was tweaking some things as we got on stage for the rehearsals shortly before and during tech week. The show was going to have a live orchestra which was great! They would be performing on the stage which was also really cool! (This really impressed the audience, too.) Granted, that really cut down on the amount of space available to move during the ensemble numbers. It all worked out in the end. I don’t think anyone stepped on anyone else’s toes, but I almost ran/bumped into a staircase banister on more than one occasion.

Another challenge was costume related. In “Stepsister’s Lament,” everyone in this fun all-female number is wearing one shoe and carrying the other. We also had masquerade masks which we wore during the prior ball scene but pulled up for this next number. Shortly after going offstage, we had to come right back with both shoes on our feet and masks back over our eyes. With ballet slippers, it is easy to do. With character shoes, I had more trouble quickly putting the shoe back on. I slipped it back on just enough so that it didn’t fall off my foot while I was briefly back on stage. Plus, I wear glasses, so it was a bit difficult to quickly replace the mask so that I could still see.

As the summer progressed, I gradually felt that I was making more connections with the cast. A lot of them knew each other from previous shows and had close bonds, which made me feel a bit like an outsider at times, but I was determined to make connections. One night after rehearsal I did go out with some of the cast, and that had a huge positive effect on how I felt with them. Oftentimes, the “outside” or “unofficial” stuff has the biggest impact. This is true for many situations, not just theater.

I stated earlier that I was out of town for the beginning of tech week, but by doing so, I missed some of those additional bonding opportunities. (It was still SO WORTH IT! My girlfriends and I had a fantastic Michigan getaway!)

Showtime!

Performances were the last two weekends in July! I was so excited that I would have family coming to cheer me on! My son was out of town for a summer internship, so he would have to miss it. I gave him a pass. I would have to count on them just being able to spot me on a crowded stage. I had two costumes—villager and ball-goer. All of the ensemble had similarly colored outfits for the ball, so saying, “look for me in the blue dress” would have been useless information. They could look for the glasses and gray hair to help spot me.

Well, I was easier to identify on stage than previously anticipated. The Friday morning of opening night, my husband tested positive for COVID. I was at work and tested negative, but I knew that that the protocol per CDC guidelines was to wear a mask when around others. Fortunately, since I was at work in a medical office, I had access to some N95 masks, so I took some to wear for the performances. I was NOT going to be the one to take down the cast! Last year, the second of the two weekends of performances was canceled due to multiple cases of COVID among the performers. Although I looked ridiculous with the N95 mask (I looked like a duck—not an exaggeration), I wore it. One thing more powerful than vanity is guilt. I wasn’t going to avoid performing, but I definitely tried to keep my distance in the green room (where we waited between scenes/did costume changes) and wore the mask constantly. I did my hair and make-up at home before going to the theater. I didn’t have to worry about wearing lipstick at this point. No one would see it. It would just mess up the inside of the mask. I also went through a lot of hand sanitizer over the weekend as a precaution.

Remember reading that we wore masks over our eyes for the ballroom scene? I was quite a sight wearing both the eye mask and an N95 mask. I was under there somewhere!

Unfortunately, Sunday night, my energy took a nose dive, and I tested positive for COVID. It sucked. I was feeling a lot better by the end of the week, but, once again, per CDC recommendations, I knew that I would be missing at least the Friday performance.

I did return on Saturday (still following recommendations; still wearing my duck mask), and I received such a wonderful, sincere (I believe/hope) reception. It really did make me feel good and like a true member of the theater family. (It actually was a highlight for me.) I performed with the rest of the cast in the final two performances. Warning: Political style comment coming. For those who complain that they can’t breathe or do anything in a mask, I managed to sing, dance, perform, and do costume changes wearing a mask, It wasn’t pleasant, but it was doable. I got a little out of breath at times, but that was likely in part due to recovering from COVID.

One of the worst aspects of all of the COVID stuff was not just wearing the mask but trying to keep some distance from everyone else. (My husband and I fortunately recovered well!) I didn’t go out with the cast after performances. I wasn’t going to go to restaurants or houses to eat requiring me to remove the mask. I didn’t want to go somewhere noisy where I would have to lean in close to hear or be heard. Sadly for me (do you hear the violins playing?), I did miss out on some of the camaraderie because of this. I did go to the cast party wearing the mask, but it wasn’t ideal. I truly hope, though, to maintain some of the connections made over the summer.

I AM PROUD TO SAY THAT (to my knowledge), NO ONE ELSE IN THE CAST GOT SICK! I am patting myself on the back for that. Yay, me!

Now that it’s over

I am so glad that I participated in the show this summer. NO REGRETS! The show provided challenges and opportunities for me for which I will always be thankful. I would’ve liked my family to have joined me on stage, but, on the other hand, this was “my thing” for the summer. I really hope to maintain connections with cast members and plan to try to be proactive about keeping these relationships as the years progress. Many cast members will be performing in a different show this fall. (For now, I am going to stick with summer shows. This gives me time to be an audience member and fully evaluate how to spend my newly found empty nester time. OY!) I intend to be in the audience cheering on my new friends!

If things go as planned, I will be writing another similar post in a year!