We all know the story of Alice in Wonderland...delightfull young
girl falls down a rabbit hole and meets all kinds of outlandish and
nonsensical creatures and characters. A few would include the
Caterpillar, Mad Hatter, White Rabbit and of course who could
forget the Red Queen..."Off with their Heads!"
I was lucky enough to be cast as the Dormouse in Albany's ACT
Theatre version of this marvelous play. There is a huge cast
and crew of about 30 that have been working on lines,
costumes, sets, lighting and more. It has been a great
experience since I hadn't been on stage in what I would call "many
moons".
Alice, The Cook, Frog
Footman & March Hare
I went into the auditions as any "green" actor would. No
script, no plan, just winging it by the seat of my pants. I
had no particular part in mind...just something fun to start out
with. I was surprised at the huge turnout..about 60-70 for
just 18 parts. It was fun to get on stage again. It was
even better to do something that people only knew me for me and not
as the kids mom or my husbands wife. I was just "me"! I
got called back for 2nd auditions the following night and by the
next morning I knew I got a part.
Mock Turtle, White
Rabbit, Alice & The Duchess
I have to admit my part isn't large...and that was ok with me
and my busy schedule, especially my first time out. But I
have to admit I LOVE my character. The dormouse is the sleepy
little creature that the Mad Hatter and March Hare find in the
teapot at their Tea Party. In this rendition the mouse is
also in other scenes as well. At first I wasn't sure how to
play the character...until I saw my youngest daughter acting silly
one day with an adorable little voice. I have since mimicked
her voice and created a funny little 4 year old mouse who doesn't
like to work but loves to be center stage. In fact, I even
get to have a temper tantrum or 2! All I had to do was look
back at my early mom days to help with that... :)
Yep...that's me!
I am really glad I stepped out and tried my hand at acting
again. It has been a lot of fun. I have met a lot of
new people and learned a lot of new things...I even got a new
recipe from our cast potluck that all 3 of my kids loved...(wasn't
that lucky).
I encourage all you moms to try something that you have putting
on the back burner..something that is just for you! It has
made me feel good about myself that I have accomplished this and
gives my kids a mom they can be really proud of. (Besides,
how many concerts and plays of theirs have we sat through..I figure
turnabout is fair play!)
Alice In Wonderland opens this Friday. Tickets are still
available, but they're going fast. If interested, contact Sid
Stevens Jewelers ((541) 967-8140, 140 SW 1st Avenue, Albany) or
Rice's Pharmacy ((541) 752-7760, 910 NW Kings Blvd. , Corvallis).
Performances are the 10th, 11th, 17th, 18th,
19th,23r...d, 24th, and 25th of this
month.
For more info on this and other productions:
http://albanycivic.org/10-11-alice-in-wonderland.html
Hope to see you there! :)
Melissa