I will not miss Callahan.
Our cast had a blast performing Legally Blonde this past weekend, with large audiences that responded with all of the things that we performers hope to get from them: lots of laughter, applause, and audible appreciation that created for a charged, energetic show. Honestly, the opening night audience was the most responsive one I’ve ever performed in front of. They were clapping, laughing, hooting and hollering at nearly everything we threw at them. The Bend and Snap Pink Mimosa’s being sold at the theatre bar may have had something to do with that. Reflecting on the weekend, I’m reminded of how live theatre really is an interplay between performers and audience. Those hundreds of people in the seats make such a difference to how we tell the story.
This summer I haven’t written as much about my character, Callahan, as I did last summer when I played Sweeney. I find Sweeney to be such a rich, complicated character. Playing him will be one of the highlights of my life. Callahan? Well, he’s a villain, and he has one feature song in the show that is a lot of fun to sing. Unlike Sweeney, Callahan is a character I am happy to leave behind. At a most basic level, he is the embodiment of white male privilege in this show. His world is the one that Elle and the other female characters in the show overcome, each in their own way. It’s a none-too-subtle subversion that at the end of the show Elle is the one proposing to Emmett. Elle is the one who sends Warner, the man she thought she wanted at the beginning of the show, away. This is a show about female power. In this respect, Callahan is an obstacle to be overcome. At the Sunday matinee, the audience clapped when Callahan took his walk of shame from the courtroom. Good riddance.
I have a very hard time relating to Callahan’s smarminess, his casual cruelty, and the way he sexually harasses Elle in Act 2, one of those moments that evoked audible gasps from some in the audience. Reflecting on his character, there is one thing about Callahan that I can relate to. I see Callahan as a professor who, while embracing “shock and awe” in front of his students, still wants to be adored by them. At the end of “Blood in the Water,” Callahan dismisses Elle from his classroom, but he also motions to the remaining students to gather around him for the final song refrain. It’s as if he wants them to be close to him, to make him the center of their attention. I can understand this. It feels good to be liked by your students.
I have enjoyed playing Callahan, but I will not miss him the way I miss Sweeney. As we reach the end of this run, I’m thinking a lot about what I’m taking from this summer show. Being on stage is exhilarating, and this show slaps. Beyond the happy memories of performing in such a fun show, there are other things I’m taking from this summer. It has been such a thrill watching younger actors do what they seem to be created to do. I am an introvert. Over the last few weeks I have been able to hang out for long hours with young actors, simply watching and listening to them talk about their hopes and dreams. I also listened to them share about their experiences in their respective theatre departments. In the hours before the opening curtain, student performers let their guards down. They express heartfelt feelings about the stories that Christian universities choose (or choose not) to tell. When I listen to their conversations, these young performers make me think more deeply about how Christian faith intersects with the stories that we tell on stage. Speaking truthfully, If I were thirty years younger I would want these student actors to be my best friends. They are extraordinary. Theatre people are awesome.
Beyond what I’ve learned from listening to the conversations of young performers, this summer I got to witness unexpected friendships form among college student actors from our three universities, who rarely get to collaborate. How unfortunate is that? Isn’t this yet another gift that the Paramount offers the Abilene community: space for our siloed theatre communities to work together?
This summer I got to hang out with dancers. We didn’t have dancers in Sweeney. Feature dancers, you make me want to dance, to do things that I don’t think my 50 year old body can do. That is inspiration. I didn’t know Teri Wilkerson (show choreographer) before this summer, and Callahan’s soft shoe routine did not require anything as intricate as what Teri choreographed for the real dancers in this show. I’m inspired by Teri’s dedication to excellence and what she created on stage this summer.
This summer I got to work with Marc Sanders (music director) again. The music of musical theatre is always what I am first drawn to. I am so thankful for Marc’s expertise and for the opportunity to improve as a musician, even if I couldn’t convince him to transpose “Blood in the Water” a half step up (wink, wink).
This summer I got to learn more from Katie Hahn, an actor’s director who has helped me become a better performer and who is an absolute treasure to the Abilene theatre community. Katie’s creative vision drives this summer’s show. Paramount Productions could not be in better hands.
This summer show has been a thrilling experience. I will not miss Callahan, but I will desperately miss this show, a great gift that I will treasure long after the final curtain closes.
