Our Final Performance

The Music Man has consumed my life for the past 3 months, so it's hard to believe it's all over. I can finally stop worrying about losing my voice and always carrying around bottles of water. While we were getting dressed before the show, someone (I think it was Nick Marsh) said ending the show will be like a divorce; an abrupt end to some very deep relationships. It's hard not to get close to people when you're working together that intensely for that long. It also helps that we were working to make something beautiful. As I said in my "pre-game" prayer on Sunday, the community developed during The Music Man is a small picture of the Kingdom Jesus came into the world to establish. So many different people coming together for a common mission. It was a wonderful experience. After the final scene was over and the lights went off, I gave Caitlin (Marian) a big hug and almost started crying as I said, "we did it!"

We all made some mistakes on Sunday but I think the general energy level was still pretty high. We wanted to send it out with all that we had. Each performance I made different mistakes. On Sunday, for the first time in weeks, I got off rhythm on "Trouble." For a second I panicked, not sure if I could get back on rhythm. But the band actually stopped and came back in with me and it really wasn't that bad, all things considered. Thanks Will and Annie. In fact, Annie told me that it's one thing to do it perfectly but it takes even more talent to fix a mistake 'mid-stream.' Erin said she could tell my voice was sore during "Trouble." But I must've fixed it somehow because I was able to sing "Marian" better than any other performance. Maybe I just wasn't warmed up yet.

Probably the best compliment I received yesterday was from Chris Haag, telling me (several times) that I was "very professional" throughout these three months. I think he was referring to my work ethic and the fact that I tried to stay ahead of the rest of the cast in regards to memorization. I worked really hard at all of this; partly to lead by example but also because I needed to, none of this came naturally. I also received some compliments from drama teachers, including Heather Tinker. Getting compliments from "professionals" is a nice feeling.

One final, funny note. Our director, Franci, pulled an M. Night Shyamalan by appearing in the 2nd to final scene, one with the entire cast. She grabbed costume, put on some makeup and nonchalantly took a seat on the picnic table. I'm not sure how many cast members even noticed. Jake, a stage crew member said, "have you seen Franci? She's on stage!" So I ran and grabbed a camera and barely had enough time to snap a few blurry pictures. We were able to bring Franci up on stage during our final curtain call but she wasn't where she was supposed to be, so after running across the stage a couple times, I finally yelled out "Stop! Where's our fine director?" She then came running down from the back and we were able to give her the recognition she deserved.