I feel that I should report on the play opening, but I am not really sure what to say. I spent my birthday getting prepared for our final dress rehearsal and the opening of the show over the weekend. My friend Aycia, who has done my hair for years, is always so willing to help me figure out the strange myriad of hairdos I need for various shows. We figure it out and then she teaches me how to do it so I can continue for the run of a show. We have done “faux hawks” and hairdo’s of the 40’s and once she helped me figure out how to go from a frumpy, manly secretary to a trendy shop owner and back in the span of a few minutes when I had to play 2 different characters in one play. This 50’s do almost did her in though. After 3 hours of fixing my hair and redoing it and trying again and again, I finally just left because we were all exhausted and I was afraid I was minutes from being bald. My husband Tim had shown up to try to take me to lunch for my birthday and he sat in the chair next to us and marveled how women could spend so much time and energy on their hair!
Dress rehearsal went well and I really can’t think of anything I would rather do on my birthday! I am so happy to be in this show and most of the people in the show either were my friends already or I now consider them friends! It was a different way to spend a birthday, but it was good!
On opening day I worked out and then ran some errands. I needed a new makeup bag, but I could not find what I wanted, and I needed some hair tools to try to fix my hair for the show. It always comes down to hair for me! Since Alycia and I never really came to a hairdo we liked and since we took so long to do what we did, I never really learned how to fix it. When I got home I realized I had about 2 hours to do my make up and hair. Since it took a professional three hours I was feeling panicked! I decided the fourth time I dropped my comb that I needed to calm down and so I poured a half of a glass of wine. I was not driving to the play- Tim and Jon were to attend so Tim was driving- and I hoped by show time any effects would have worn off. It always scares me that I will forget my lines if I am not at my sharpest! When I hear stories of actors who drink before they go on (and I have seen it with my own eyes, too) it amazes me. I am too worried about being in the moment and present for my part to ever do that!
I finally got my hair fixed. It did not look good, but it looked like a delusional older woman trying to look like a young Elizabeth Taylor back in the fifties, so I went with it! I sprayed it heavily with some Aqua Net and we headed out.
I was not my usual terrified self. I had those moments of “What am I doing? What play is this?” and “I think I might be sick, I need to go home NOW!” but overall I was fairly calm. I prayed silently before we began and then I tried to keep my head in the game while others around me talked and laughed. Right before our first entrance I felt light headed, but as soon as I walked on stage I was fine. My criteria for success- remembering my lines and not falling down- means I had a successful night. I can not speak to how I did, but I think overall the play was good and I think the audience enjoyed it. I saw lots of people I knew and overall it was a good experience.
I feel like God keeps giving me these interesting shows with really good cast mates because that is where I am supposed to be. I have doubts constantly and I often think “Well, this is it. I will never perform again.” But I keep getting these fun and memorable experiences that I am not sure I deserve, so I have to think I am in the right place for now. And I am so grateful! I am having so much fun and meeting such great people. So I will carry on and take each day and each part as they come. And I will celebrate being so blessed to do something that brings me ( and I hope others) such joy every time I get to perform, not just when it is my “birthday weekend!” After all, I do believe in celebrating every day!
