Catch Up: Urinetown

the downside of waiting an entire month to post about something is that i can't recall all the words i had in my heart when i planned to write about it. 

So it is wit Urinetown. 

sigh. 

So. In early January i was approached my high school theatre director about being the stage manager for her spring show. i was hesitant, because of the time and stress and dealing with high school kids (who are really only a few years younger than me but seem so immature. because um, hullo, you know me, the pinnacle of sophistication. duh.) but she said she's pay me a little bit. and i had nothing else to do. so i agreed. 

at first i was weary. we live in a pretty conservative town, and a play with a title like, "URINEtown" wasn't exactly looking like it had a chance. there were a LOT of new actors, and the cast just seemed too inexperienced to pull off a Brechtian satire. 

plus, remember what i said about immaturity? truth. 

those first few weeks i drove home discouraged. In addition to being stage manager, i was also running music ("temporarily" turned into - always. until two days before we opened. but i actually learned to love it.) and felt completely useless. i knew the script pretty well but i wasn't about to try and usurp the directors. i like living too much to disagree with Ginger Latimer and Brandon Giles. 

But slowly, this sense of pride started to grow. 

and even thought i dreaded stopping what i was doing (surfing the interwebs or just reading. so nothing.) to leave for rehearsal, once i was there, i was stoked. this is my space. that stage is my second home. i've felt almost every emotion possible there. and i fell head over heels for the arts again. 

not that i ever stopped...

and i LIKED it. i started thinking of it as my job, and decided to put my everything into it. and when i did, it made a total difference. the kids could see that i believed in them, and i like to think that it made them work harder and be better. i tried to love them (even the squirrely one with the foul mouth and vulgar attitude) and it all started coming together. 

i loooove that feeling. 

a show falling into place. 

(one day i had to go on last minute as "The Ghost of Roger Roosevelt". so this happened. hahaha. )

and let me tell you what, i love those kids. every single one of them. i do. and i was so proud of them. 

one of the last nights before we opened, it was a looong night, and there was no time after rehearsal for me to give the cast my notes. So i wrote them all out individually and handed them out with baggies of hershey's kisses and a sign that said, "You're all doing so well, i could kiss your feet!" and then each name tag doubled as their notes for improvement  on the back. 

I just knew that the only way to make them pay attention to the things i wanted them to do differently was to give them candy with it. hahaha.

and on closing night (April 12, 2014), the cast gave me this:

with a giant bag of caramel hershey kisses and a paper that said, "Notes!" with a bunch of compliments and i cried. hahaha.

ALSO?!

you all know that i am a die hard Madera South Stallion. forever. i don't care how cheesy it is. 

BUT.

shout out to those Madera High Coyote actors (especially Joe, we all know he was my dang favorite.) because although i know nothing about who they are offstage in their personal lives, they have incredible work ethic. and they respected Mrs.Latimer and the other adults more than most of the MSHS kids combined. They took all the direction without being offended, and they did everyhtign we asked them to! they were the first offbook, they didn't complain or talk bad about other actors, and they never missed rehearasal. like, ever. they were all fairly new to the stage, too. but you couldn't even tell!

So hats off, coyotes, for proving yourselves tenfold this season. 

YOU THOROUGHLY IMPRESSED ME. 

especially, Joe. i love you, haha. (in a totally not creepy, platonic, you're 17, and i don't really even know you, you're a little boy and i'm in college, brother/sisterly way.)

oh, Urinetown. I love you. thank you for giving me a purpose every day for months and making me happy. 

HAIL MALTHUS!