A Funny Thing Happened On the Way to the Theater

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A Funny Thing Happened On the Way to the Theater

September 5, 2000: First Audition

Less than a week ago, I had never auditioned for anything. Tonight, I was on stage with forty or so actors, most of whom had several plays to their credit. As I had neither a major, nor past plays to back me up, I was nervous. I survived it all anyway, and had fun despite the scary scary evaluative process.

September 7, 2000: Callbacks

The hyper-talkative freshman girl in my French class looked at the callback list before I had a chance to. She wouldn’t tell me if my name was on it, she only wanted to whine that hers wasn’t. After our classes were done, Kaitlin and I checked the list, and were both called back for both possible plays. (yeah!) The second round of auditions began at 7PM, so I had just enough time to get there after standard Thursday night wine tasting. My sister said it would bring me luck, “I would cast a cute pink-cheeked girl over a regular girl any day!”

September 8, 2000: Cast List

I’m in a play! Yeah for me! Yeah for me! I’m in a play and I have never been in one before! I have a character name and everything. I am Myrrhina in Plautus’ Roman farce “A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Wedding.” My character is a drunk. Perhaps those pink cheeks gave me the edge I needed. Rehearsals start Monday, preliminary costume fitting after work today. Oh my.

September 11, 2000: First Rehearsal

I was the first one to arrive; Askanase auditorium was dark as I stepped tentatively onto the stage. A conference table sat with roughly 20 chairs guarding the periphery. My role prior to this point was that of an audience member; tonight, I entered a new world. Sitting in the glare of the harsh work lights, the chairs of the auditorium were hardly visible. I took a spot at the center of the table, not wanting to be too close to either end. I faced the door so that I could see the others as they filed in. Several of the cast members knew each other, I know them only as staples of the NDSU theater community. The group dynamic is a little intimidating; I hardly spoke at all tonight.

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