Return to Reality Monday Musings

It's back to the hard crunch of reality.  After one of the most successful and enjoyable plays I've ever been in, it's back to the reality that I am not a paid actor, or a paid anything creatively speaking, and it's still tax season in a profession that I'm still involved in.  My efforts to pull back from accounting have succeeded.  It just has not been a complete withdrawal.

The Addams Family was a great experience, one that pushed me to the limits of what I thought I was capable of doing.  I was challenged repeatedly to do better, and I did my best to meet that challenge.  My dancing was not great, but it blended well with the character, and I remained cheerily "Fester" about it.  I felt like I sang well, although it was a constant challenge for the band to keep up with my broken metronome.  I did something I thought I would never consider - when it was clear that bald caps would not have the effect I wanted, I shaved my head.  I climbed a ladder every performance, even though I'm afraid of them (both my father and I have had falls from ladders, and we both suffered subsequent chronic pain due to it - mine significantly less severe than my Dad's).

But it was worth it.  I got to perform in a musical alongside my son, Benjamin.  His portrayal of Pugsley was pitch perfect, and he did a wonderful rendition of Pugsley's solo song.  He enjoyed talking and befriending others backstage.  I had to listen to his song from behind the curtain, waiting in position for the next scene, and there were many a night I would tear up listening to him.

We both received raucous applause when we bowed at curtain call, particularly on the last performance.  I hate to sound conceited, but that swell of applause is one of the things that charges me up most about theater. Like many, I am in an applause-free profession, and I do crave approval, so it means a lot to me to hear it.

I think Fester was a fan favorite for many.  Partly, I think, that was because Fester was like the Deadpool of the play, occasionally breaking the proscenium and talking directly to the audience.  He also is a fun, enthusiastic character, the most gleeful and carefree Addams family member.

Often I am told that I was "made" to be a specific character.  That's partly true, but it's also true that I do a lot to make it seem that way.  I am grateful that in my acting career I have been able to play an incredible variety of characters, many of whom I was "made' to be. The range of characters I've been able to play is quite broad, and that has been another great joy of theatre - avoiding being pigeon-holed as only one thing.  Although I must say - Fred Astaire I will never be.

I want to thank Director Pam Fields for pushing me to be the best Fester that I could be.  I want to thank my fellow actors for their friendship and support, especially Cole Hendley, whom often assisted me in checking my movements and lines and singing, and helped me get down from that darn ladder.

We did censor some of the language in the play.  There is one line that I say that was changed from "Look at that son of a bitch go!" to "Look at that son of a gun go!"  It was a self-deprecating line, directed by Fester at Fester.  Yes, that's right.  We showed more restraint than the President of the United States, who used the phrase not to self-deprecate (something he appears completely unable to do), but to denigrate center-right Meet the Press host, Chuck Todd.  He did it to vilely slander another human being.  And yet, some of the same people who would have been freaked over me saying it in a play, are some of the same people who shrug their shoulders when they hear the President say it.

Anyhoo, back to the grindstone.  Meanwhile, I have my delicious memories of a play gone swimmingly well.

And soon, I will have my hair back as well!

Ba-da-da-dum!