Curious Savage

As I posted a long time ago, I directed a play. And I know it's been a while, but I've been so busy that I haven't had time to blog. And I lost my camera cable. SO here we go. I'm catching up on all my blogs. So there's going to be a few posts in a row.

But yeah. I directed the Curious Savage. And you know what? I was really proud of my play. I was really lucky to have an amazing, very professional, and talented cast. We had our problems, as all casts do. But there seemed to be very little drama and the problems were handled very well. 

So thank you to my amazing cast.

I always knew that directing a play was a lot of work. I knew that. I've assistant directed, costume designed, written plays, I have even directed, but it's never been as hard as doing one like this. The plays I directed were in High School and College and I always had a friend or teacher there to tell me what to do. 

Luckily I had chad.

Now I don't know waht I ever did to deserve a friend like Chad Craner, but I'm sure I'd do it over and over again. He had no obligation to this show, wasn't in it, etc. BUT he was there every moment that he wasn't working, helping me paint, painting, painting, painting. Keeping me sane. Running for Mt. Dew. Running for my house for stuff I'd forgotten. Running to Arby's for dinner, and painting some more. 

We even had to spend the night sometimes at the scary theater. 

One night we decided to watch a ghost movie on my laptop...in the haunted theater...not a good idea.

This is our bed we would make out of various couch cushions, blankets, pillows etc. that we found lying around the theater. We slept on the stage, because we felt like it would be the safest place...and we were scared.

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But I've spent so much time at this theater, on this stage, that once we turned the lights off and were just lying there, we just stared out into the dark theater, the faint outline of lights reflecting the green exit sign lights. The seats barely visible. etc. And you know what? It was quite peaceful. I will always remember the hours we spent in that theater. I know it isn't as much as some, but I also know it's a lot more than others. I've been in lots of productions there, spent many nights at late night rehearsals. I've been through every nook and scary cranny and room in that theater. I've seen bats and mice and I've seen new paint and old paint and new carpets and old carpets, etc etc, etc. And lying there with the theater dark and quiet, I realized how much Heritage has become a second home to me.

And my play turned out great. I loved my cast and I loved the experience. And I will definitely direct again. But it won't be for a bit. During this experience, and helping with Midsummer's (a  blog post yet to come.) I realized that I need to go back to school and I'm majoring in Theater Education. Yep. Gonna be a drama teacher. Oh brother. But here we go. right? Anywya, for those who took the time to support my cast, Thank you so much for coming to to show. For those who didn't, you really really missed out on an amazing show. Lots of people told the theater it was the best show they'd ever seen there. And I'd believe it. But not because of me, because of my cast. I received a letter from a lady telling me she'd been in the show twice, but she saw my production...and finally understood the show. She understood the characters. And that was quite the compliment. 

And it was all worth it. The pain, the late nights. The hundreds of gallons of mountain dews the hundreds of Arby's curly fries and chicken sandwiches consumed. The hours of sleep lost, the nights covered in paint with no showers. (I had rashes on my arms from the paint!) etc. it was all worth it. Next time? Think farther ahead so I'm not so tired opening night so I can enjoy it more.