But Call Me Betsy

I don't have any photos of my community theater days--I mean, I have a bunch more from when I worked in children's theater (see previous posts)--but none from some of the shows I did at the Royalty Theater Company in downtown Clearwater or with that one group of actors who did these mystery theater events. Maybe I did just one play at the RTC, A Pack of Lies and I played Julie, the naive young daughter. If I recall, I was allowed to use a British accent (I excel at accents). Before each performance, the woman who helped me get the acting and teaching job at Ruth Eckerd Hall (Kay Campbell--she was a veteran actress and looked quite a bit like Carol Burnett) always did these vocal exercises to prepare. Deep breaths and inhalations and trilling of the lips, teeth, tip of the tongue, roof of the mouth.  I found this to be completely embarrassing. I know that you have to do these things to warm up your instrument, as they say (your body, your voice), but then another part of me say...

I had one of those dreams last night where I'm in a play, but haven't rehearsed any of the lines in weeks, don't know the part very well, and don't have a costume, and am also playing someone against type (in this case, I think I was Falstaff. Perhaps I feel like I've been eating too many Christmas cookies?). I had to go onstage first. When I peeked through the curtains, the seats were mostly blank, but when I went onstage (with the play strategically smuggled in the front of my shirt), it was a packed crowd. I warbled and chortled about (as Falstaff does), while also realizing that I wasn't emphasizing the right words. The line would be something like, "Is that a dagger I see before me?" but I'd say it like, "Is THAT a dagger I see before me?" As if there 4-5 things in my line of vision. The cast and director were not pleased with me and told me so after the show. I was upset, not just because of my poor performance, but also because I ...

There are many reasons that I never pursued an acting career beyond college, not the least of which was that I didn't have the kind of mind-blowing talent needed to succeed. Also, I hate constantly being rejected. More moments to blush by include: *My roommates and I always threw a huge Halloween party at our house on Tharpe Street. Invariably, most of the attendants were theater majors, and you know that Halloween is one of their favorite holidays because it requires costumes!! One year, I managed to alienate two of my three roommates, Michelle and Becca, because I made out with least three people during the course of the party: Darrin Baggart. I'm pretty sure he was gay. He had a cute pixie-ish face and Becca really liked him, so she was upset when I kissed him. Michelle's ex-boyfriend who was visiting from Houston. I liked him because of his lazy Southern drawl and blue eyes, but I'm pretty sure he wore more jewelry than I did (and it wasn't part of a costume. He...