Final Respects: my first “real” acting role

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It's been about a week and a half now since Final Respects wrapped up. I meant to blog about it sooner, but time has been tight between work and weekend travels.

As for Final Respects - I learned a ton and had a blast! I'll have to put up some photos and video clips soon. Among the unexpected lessons I learned:

• Not only do you have to learn your own lines (which is hard enough), you have to know all the lines for the people who are on stage with you. It probably took me until opening week to say my lines without help.
• You have to be able to adapt to unexpected changes in the plan. This skill was particularly difficult for me to acquire; it requires a certain mental facility as well as familiarity and understanding of the situation to come up with a plausible solution. Again, knowing your own lines or just enough to skate by is asking for trouble.
• Timing can make all the difference. I already sorta knew this, but learning to apply in practice is a whole new level.
• Exit applause is a thing to be cherished. I didn't know what this was until the first night; we had a great audience and they clapped after I left in the first act, sputtering and adlibbing protests. (It's quite possible that Prescott started it and the rest of the audience followed out of politeness, but let's not split hairs there.)

I've come a long way since the last time I was in a play, about 20 years ago. I was Page #2 in our first-grade production of The Princess and the Pea. I never made it to our classroom stage — I was so scared and dreaded it so much that I worked myself into a fever (my mom says about 103°F; maybe I had a cold, too) and stayed home that day. I never thought I would want to be onstage again. Even though I've done various kinds of performances, they always involved music and were purely lighthearted fun fare. Singing is one thing; I'm more comfortable with that even though there's a lot more room for error. But acting?

I had a few somber moments in Final Respects, but they were always tempered and outweighed by the comedy. I pretty much imitated my mother on a lot of levels, so it wasn't too difficult. I still don't consider myself a theatre person, but I guess I'm taking baby steps toward becoming a better performer.

All in all, I couldn't have wished for a better show or team to work with. The director, Tim Sagges, was also the playwright, and the show had never been performed before. I was privileged not only to see firsthand the creation of original characters bringing an original work to life, but to be part of the story as well.

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