Thursday, March 21, 2013

Sneak Preview

  
Three days ago, I participated in Alex J. Cavanaugh's Blogfest, "The Top Ten Movie Countdown".  I visited and commented on dozens of blogs and got a crazy number of comments here on the Back Porch.  Seriously; more than I've ever had on a post before.  I'm still trying to respond to all of them.

The month of April represents two rather large commitments I've made to writing.  The first is the "Blogging from A to Z April Challenge", also co-hosted by the Ninja Captain Alex.  (See the button in the right sidebar.)  The premise is to write on April 1 (a Sunday) on a topic beginning with the letter "A".  Then, on each weekday of the month, write on a subject with the rest of the letters of the alphabet, at the rate of one per day.  There are literally HUNDREDS of bloggers signed up for this month-long event.

So, Mina Lobo at Some Dark Romantic and David Macauley at Brits in the USA, came up with the brilliant idea to have a reveal hop where people could preview the themes they were going to use for the A to Z Challenge.  

I went through several possibilities for themes, but (think) I have settled on:

LIVE THEATRE!

I have loved acting my whole life.  I started out college in a Musical Theatre Program.  But I had self-esteem issues and could not bring myself to actually audition, which considering the line of work, could be a drawback.  At the end of my first year, I was told that I should find something else to do, because I had no future in live theatre.  And I listened to them.  I switched to "business" (which pleased my mother to no end), lost heart for studying a subject that did not fulfill me, and wound up dropping out of college ... for 10 years.

Every job I got, my mother had her brother give me the "you need to do something more important than that" speech.  (They weren't being intentionally mean.)  Finally I had a job in the International Department of a local bank.  I thought, finally they will approve.  *vile buzzer sound indicating a negative*  I decided I would not be able to progress much until I finished a degree, so I went back to college, and eventually did obtain a BS in Finance (magna cum laude).

One afternoon, I saw a sign up on a wall, telling of auditions for the play, "The Importance of Being Earnest".  I thought, "I should go do that."  Then I saw that the auditions were that afternoon.  Immediately my mind came up with all sorts of reasons why NOT to audition:  it's too soon, I'm not prepared...blah, blah, blah.  Then I figured, what did I have to lose?  If I sucked and the answer was "no", I'd be no worse of than I was at that moment.

I went.  I auditioned.  I got the part of Lady Bracknell.

Over the next 5-6 years I was involved with about 25-30 plays.  Half of these probably were acting, the rest in various tech positions (light or sound board operators, stage hands, directing one time, etc).  I still remember sitting at a light board one night before the show and having the stage manager come and hand me an envelope.  "What is this," I asked.  She responded, "Your check."  I was stunned.  "YOU MEAN I GET PAID FOR THIS???"  How cool is THAT?!?!?!

So for the letters of the alphabet have play titles in which I have acted or teched, etc., I will write about those plays.  On letters where I have not been involved with a play, I will write about one in which I would like to be involved, and/or maybe ideas for writing plays.

We'll all be finding out in about a week.  Hope to see you there!

10 comments:

  1. Hey Luann,
    Great theme! I just need to correct you on one important issue, and I kindly ask that you edit your post about it. There is no 100 word limit. We as co-host are totally puzzled where that rumor came from, but it's NOT a requirement. We have suggested that you write short and succinct posts, but we've NEVER said anything about a word limit.

    I'm glad you took the plunge and tried out! I'm totally impressed. You go girl!

    Tina @ Life is Good
    Co-host, April 2013 A-Z Challenge Blog
    @TinaLifeisGood, #atozchallenge

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  2. Sounds like a great theme for the a to z, I just use the letter and that is it at my sea.

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  3. Thanks, Pat, I am looking forward to this challenge!

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  4. Thanks for the heads up, Tina. I am really relieved to hear that, too, because being succinct is not one of my strong points!

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  5. Wow! I don't know how to find such gumption! Congrats on that! And, you also sound like me. I forgot my dream for 20 years...finally, I've been back at it...slowly writing my first novel! It's hard, but I'm managing. I just have to keep positive. So on that note, my sneak peek has been revealed as well over on my blog! Good luck!
    Jamie Dement (LadyJai)
    http://writebackwards.we3dements.com

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  6. Good going that you busted out LuAnn and did for yourself !

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  7. Great theme! My husband works in theatre, so I totally get the whole "when will you get a real job" thing. I look forward to reading your posts. Great theme! I'm bookmarking this!

    Hi from Nagzilla, bloghopping A to Z

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  8. That's a cool story, and a great theme. I'm still trying to make up my mind whether or not to do A-Z. My mind's coming up with all the objections at the moment, especially as I can't think of a theme! Might be time to get my family on the case...

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  9. My dear, this warms my heart more than I'll ever be able to express. I'm so, so, SOOOOO glad you found your way back to your bliss. Really. GOOD FOR YOU! (And to all well-intentioned but totally mistaken relatives, I say, "Hush, now, don't be getting in a dreamer's way.")

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  10. What a great story of courage and inspiration and "never-give-up-edness!"

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