Anything Goes (the novel... as in it's a super long post ;) )

I just wanted to document the good, bad and the ugly of doing a show. 

As the show is winding up I just wanted to document (for myself) my reflections of doing a show. 

Let me back up, I should probably describe the whole process. I think I have blogged about my audition process, but I don't know if I talked about anything from there. Kate (the director) offered me the part of "Purity", who is a show girl (one of the Angels), and with that comes being a single girl who flirts with all the boys on the ship. I was worried because from what I had researched, the Angels were the main sex appeal of the show. I love doing theatre, but I'm not willing to be a part of crude jokes, or things that are provoking. There is a fine line between being cute flirty and being raunchy, and I wasn't willing to be raunchy. I called Kate, and talked to her about what her expectations were for the Angels, and she assured me that it was going to stay cute, and not raunchy. So I accepted the part and felt good about it. 

It has been so fun to revisit this side of myself again. At first, it was so weird and felt so unnatural to stand in front of people and try to react to certain situations that were in the script. I remember the first time I needed to flirt with a boy and I felt SO WEIRD! It wasn't anything... I waved at him and said he was cute... No big deal but it was for me! I came home from that rehearsal and talked to Jonathan about how weird it was for me to look at another guy and flirt. It felt good that I was so open with him and that he was ok with it. From that moment on, as I was open with Jonathan, and got more serious about acting when I was on stage (rather than just going through the blocking) that aspect of the show got easier. 

It was so hard for me to learn simple choreography. The other girls were much younger than me (19, 19, and 20) and one has been doing ballet her whole life, the other was a cheer leader, and the other has been doing theatre since she was five. So I felt a little rusty. It doesn't help that I'm a slow learner (when it comes to dancing) but then you add to the mix that I hadn't done choreography for 8 years, and you can imagine how I felt. But at the same time it felt so good to dance again! The first time we did our number in front of the cast (they weren't there when we learned it) it was such a rush! So fun!

As I got to know more people in the show, the more excited I got to be at rehearsal. I can’t remember how many times I came home and told Jonathan about another small conversation I heard/was a part of where people were talking about morals or religion. I realized how much we as members of the church share with other Christian people. I had some awesome talks with some girls, I learned a lot about general Christian beliefs. I have become much more open about how much Heavenly Father is in the details of my life.

The more serious everyone got about acting and putting 100% into every time they were on stage, the more fun rehearsals got. I love singing, I love dancing and I love acting. I love a lot of other things too, but when you put those three things together, I just have so much fun! I think the reason why this has been such a great experience is because you add those three things together with good people and guaranteed social interaction, and I’m basically on cloud nine. A social experience doesn’t get much better than that.  

As the show got closer, I got to know a girl, Lizzy, who is in charge of hair and makeup. I talked to her about hair and we bonded. She keeps trying to convince me to go to hair school. One time she even said “Melissa, you just need to go to hair school, you are a natural. I can tell you would be awesome because you know how to manipulate your hair. Melissa, you should just do it. I’ll watch your kids for you…” I looked at her and responded “ooh, don’t tempt me”. I know she wasn’t serious about watching my kids, but if she were, I might have taken her up on it (you know, if hair school was free). Speaking of hair, Today was the first day since Wednesday that I haven’t done full hair and makeup. I got out of the shower, and added some product and scrunched… and I was done! I put some mascara on and that’s it! It feels so freeing to do whatever I want with my face and hair! I have loved playing around with my hair and learning about the 1930’s, but it feels good to have a break!

There have been so many great things that have come from the show, but not everything has been awesome. I just want to record everything, I’m not complaining… just recording everything so I remember. The main thing right now that isn’t awesome is the social side of the show… I know, let me explain. When we are sitting and chatting before/during after the show everyone talks about these hilarious youtubers or funny things they saw on Tumblr or movies that I haven’t seen. I just feel really out of it, and I don’t love that feeling. Now, all we do is chat while we get ready, and quietly chat during the show (while we are waiting to go on stage) and then the one time I tried to hang out with people after the show, more often than not I just feel out of place because I can’t participate in the conversations. I don’t think that my choice to shelter myself by keeping to one form of social media, and not watching too many movies is a bad one, it just makes it hard to relate to those around me right now. Maybe I should try to integrate myself with the few other friends I’ve made throughout the process.

Kate, the director, has been so fantastic to work with. She has given me the freedom to explore my acting abilities. She has been respectful of my religious beliefs (and excused me from most of the Sunday rehearsals). She has been so great to work with. The thing that really shocked me (and I touched on this in one of my last posts) is that she opened the show with a prayer. When we finished our vocal warm-up she had us circle up and she praised us for our hard work, told us that she appreciated us and for how the show came together, and it wouldn’t have without everyone involved. Then she said this “Paul (the music director), Kathy (the stage manager) and I happen to be believers. So we would like to open this show with a prayer. If you aren’t religious, please give those of us who are some respect and give us a moment of silence while we do this.” Then she said a prayer asking that we might perform well, thanking God for the talents He had given us, and asking that we might perform this and lift those who see it. She also asked that this show might praise Him. I was just so pleasantly surprised that she would do that.

This show has opened my eyes in ways that I didn’t think it would. It has made me think in so many different ways. It has made me think about what I believe, and why I believe it. It has made me think about what others believe, what makes them tick, and what they live for. It has helped me realize again that there are good people everywhere. It has obviously made me think about acting, and all that… All in all, it has been such a great experience. I’ve said this before, but I’m worried about this upcoming week, and going forward. I have been thriving with having something extra to do. I’m going to miss being around so many people who (for the most part) lift me, and allow me to see the good in everyone.