Hello friends! I’ve not dropped off the face of the planet. My rhythm on this blog over the last two years has been to post during the summers when I’m doing theatrical things. Honestly, I haven’t had it in my heart to come back to this blog since Legally Blonde closed prematurely in July. A couple weeks ago I was commiserating with some of the cast members I ran into on campus, our first meeting since the lost weekend. It’s hard ending a show so abruptly, with no sense of closure, no final goodbyes, and no final curtain call. But it is what it is. Damn you, Covid.
Last Spring I decided that I was interested in doing something more than simply auditioning for local summer shows. Returning to theatre has been such a great joy over the last two years. After visiting with Dawne Meeks, chair of ACU’s theatre department, she gave me permission to begin auditing ACU theatre classes. This semester I’m taking “Intermediate Acting.” Every Tuesday and Thursday morning I am hanging out with a bunch of sophomore theatre students in ACU’s performing arts center. I feel like I stick out like a sore thumb, but the students themselves have been most welcoming, and Dawne is a dear friend who has been so gracious in letting me join her class. Early this semester, Dawne has us reading Uta Hagan’s A Challenge for the Actor, an old classic work of theatre pedagogy. The class itself is heavily practice-oriented, so each week I find myself working on stage, trying new things and forcing myself into uncomfortable spaces. It’s fabulous. Later in the semester our entire class will be working on scenes from several classic Tennessee Williams plays. I can’t wait!
As for future shows, I don’t have anything booked just yet, though I’m considering auditioning for a Spring show and am eagerly waiting to see any casting calls for summer musical productions. There is one play in particular that Abilene Community Theatre is performing late in the Spring, a local production of Equus. When I first read that play it made me so uncomfortable, but it did so in a way that had me probing more carefully the sources of this discomfort. As I’ve gotten more familiar with the play, I find myself really moved by the story. I performed the opening monologue in my acting class a few weeks ago, and I’m spending a fair bit of my reading time these days digging into the script trying to understand the main character better. While I’m uncertain if I actually will audition next Spring, it has been on my radar. It would be a challenging role to play in a very challenging play!
As for other updates, what can I say? Tara and I are adjusting to our empty nest and finding happiness with our kids who are now mature, thoughtful adults who seem like they enjoy being around us. I am in my second year with our local pop acapella group, Backbeat, and Tara has joined the Classical Chorus of Abilene. I’m in my second year as ACU’s Faculty Athletic Representative (Go Wildcats!), so I get to spend time each week working with our athletic department in service to our student athletes. This year will be my 15th year sponsoring a scholastic chess program in Abilene. I just found out today that we have nearly 80 kids signed up for the Taylor Elementary Chess Club, an impossibly large number given our space limitations. What a good problem to have! Beyond the business of my present life, these days I find myself missing my mother a lot. How much joy she would have found were she alive and healthy enough to attend plays and concerts. Every day I miss her.
I hope family and friends are well. I may continue posting to this blog through the Fall as I find time to reflect on my experience in acting class. Best wishes to all!