What's in a Name?

Ecstasy (n)- 2. Excessive joy; rapture; a degree of delight that arrests the whole mind; joy may rise to ecstasy. (Websters 1828 Dictionary)
Doldrums (n)- A sate of inactivity or stagnation.(Dictionary.com)

Monday, April 14, 2008

My Journey to Narnia Part 2

The other day I wrote down a memoir in my journal about the whole experience- about everything fun and humorous that I could think of that happened during this production, so rather than try to reword it, I'm just going to copy it:
"The play is over. It was another one of those times where our entire cast got really close during the last few weeks of the show. The play itself was a big success and we had great crowds- selling out two shows our last weekend at 300 seats, with great reactive audiences (they clapped when the white witch died!). There were a few injuries- Brie (Maugrim) was bruised and stabbed in the knee area, Sarah (Wolf) broke her ankle after leaping offstage and Kathi (Dryad) got stepped on and her ankle was so swollen that she couldn't be in either of the last shows (but hey, she'll have a great conversation starter: I was once stepped on by a Giant!).
I had lots of fun getting close to Meg Varney and arm wrestling, thumb wars and re-enacting Mr. Beaver's sleucegate scene backstage. We were even auctioned off as a 'pair of perfectly matching leopards' for $1,000 at one of the mic checks. I'll always remember Marcel's (Mr. Tumnus) 'sardine' mic checks, Carla Rose (White Witch) always having something side-splitting to say. Mary's (Dwarf) great facial expressions and vivacious energy. Michael's (Peter) 'martini mime' to the battle scene music and Zach's (Edmund) commercial for 'sardine cakes.' Emily (Lucy) running across the auditorium with the back of her dress unzipped in a 'wickt, wickt' hurry. I always laugh at Bill's (Father Christmas) forgetting to bring the lampost on and then putting it on at the wrong time ('Why is there a lampost in the professor's house?'). The first time Meg and I did our own costume changes and came out as Queens- I, looking like I got beat up and hair frizzing like the bride of frankenstein, small crown falling off my head, Meg with traces of intensely, perfectly drawn leopard spots still on her forehead- attempting to say our lines while she smirks at me and Warren an Czach start cracking up, stopping for a moment only to hear Robbi laugh loudly in the background, all the while rotating around a lampost that wasn't there! Bob(Aslan) always messing up his line, telling Peter that the noise was his 'daughter's horn' and suggesting that Meg and I carry him in on a chair (he is the king, after all).
I remember standing next to Linda (Mrs. Beaver)- also Bob's wife- and hearing her say, 'I don't know about you girls, but I see two foxes over there!'- alluding to Warren (Fox) talking to her husband. I'll remember the girls in the bathroom discussing our spoof production of The Tiger, The Sorcerer and the Bathroom Stall. I'll remember nearly going onstage as Queen Susan with my leopard tail sticking out- thankfully Bob let me know about it! The first night we heard our curtain call music we did some scottish step dancing around the stage.
Dan's (Mr. Beaver) sheer excitement building more and more each night he got his new 'sleuce gate!' The pink beaver tails. Rian (Wolf) knocking me over and actually hitting me during one of the battle scene rehersals. Being so excited for Hannah when I heard she got Susan and watching her shine onstage and offstage as she became dear to everyone in the cast. Warren, sitting, arms resting around the shoulders of 4-5 girls that surrounded him. Dancing in the dressing room with little Emily. Emily Wardwell's hard work and service- seeking to help anyone she could, whenever she could- radiating Christ's love. Ashley's hard work with costumes, her creativity, her initiated, super-fun game of 'vicious duck-duck-goose.' Marcel's ukelele and impression of the beavers as the beaver from the Lady and the Tramp (with the whistling "s"). Robbi giving stage directions only to be interrupted by her cell phone ringing to the tune of 'singin in the rain' upon which everyone stopped to do a little tap dancing.

God truly blessed this performance and this cast and I am so thankful for His goodness."

3 comments:

Josie said...

Yay, wonderful play experience. I am so glad that you have this outlet for your expression and enjoyment. I was thrilled to see you in the play, what a wonderful night for me. The hot cocoa was good too. Praise God for His blessing of a Christian company. There are so many plays and company's out there, many not worth seeing. It is a blessing to have appropriate theater, and to know that a cast of people are doing what they love for His glory, not for theirs.

Anonymous said...

OMW, the first time we were kings and queens was hilarious! All of us looked insanely ridiculous, but at least we got everyone to have a good laugh :) This is a wonderful blog, I'm glad you recorded all of the memories!

Amanda said...

Ali- thanks for your encouraging words and reminding me to thank God for His goodness!

Meg- I think I looked like a crazy lady as Queen Sue that first night!! How horrible. We'll have to see how we really looked when the video is shown!