Way back in the summer of 2011, I was asked if I'd be musical director for a local amateur / volunteer production of Paint Your Wagon. It seemed a safe bet that it'd never come off, as the cast is almost all male.... a very hard thing to cast in our town, especially if the fellows all have to dance and sing. So I said, "Sure, I'd love to!" Well, you've already guessed that they pulled it off, and now here I am doing a minimum of 3 rehearsals a week until the end of April. Sometimes as many as 5 or 6.
There have been some very interesting studies on the possible connection of creativity to mental illness. I'm living proof, I guess. Life is crazy these days.
So, since I'm @ rehearsals anyway, and I know the play, when the person playing Cherry, the dancehall 'madame' withdrew, I guess I seemed like a good choice to replace her. It's not a big part, so I agreed, not taking time to have a close look at the script. And once again, you know already that that was a mistake. The costume mistress showed me the low-cut form fitting gown they plan to put me in. Then at the first reheasal of the opening scene, my (Cherry's) lover (Jake) approaches me before we begin the scene to tell me " We need to practice this". "Well, yes," I respond - "That's why I'm here." "No" he replies, "we have to pratice THIS" ....pointing to the page of the script in his hand. .... which describes Jake and Cherry engaging in a passionate kiss.
So later that evening, at home I described all of this to my daughter and granddaughter, saying "I've been set up." The grandgirl's response was, "eeeeewwwwww! Grandma kissing a boy?!" The daughter's was a huge grin and, "We are SO going to see this!"
No, I'm not a prude, but my experience on stage thus far has not included public necking and partial nudity. This will take some time to accustom myself to. Wish me luck!
