How I Spent My Summer Vacation

As summer approached and my husband was preparing for various theater conferences, I expected to spend time working around my house all summer long. Ideally, I would have had a small part time job, but after the week of GT testing for the school district, nothing else worked out.

Kim and I had been saying for months that we were not going to be in the upcoming BLT summer musical, Beauty and the Beast. He was the production manager for the show as a member of the board of directors. I was going to do my part to help box office with ticket sales, and preparing the season ticket information for the new season coming up.

On the first day of auditions for Beauty and the Beast, I had just sent my grandchildren back home with their dad and was left to straighten up the house. Kim left to attend the first round of auditions, just to be there to represent the Board and to observe. Later that evening I decided that I wanted to watch auditions to see who was trying out for the main parts. As I came into the Lee College Performing Arts Center, I was greeted by friends and saw a lot of new faces as well. There had been a large number of people to audition for the show. As I sat down by a friend to watch auditions, I noticed a group of men with name tags stuck to their shirts, and sheet music in their hands, lined up on the stage preparing to sing. That was when I noticed my husband, who had said all year he was not going to do anything more than production manager for the show, standing on stage with the other male auditioners. What is more, when he finished his song, I had to admit that he was good, really good.

So, Kim was cast as Cogsworth, the uptight clock. Before auditions ended, I had tried out just to be part of the chorus and played a villager and a pepper shaker. Our son, Ryan, also auditioned and got the part of the Beast. Then, his wife, Amy, tried out and was cast as Madame De Le Grand Bouche, the wardrobe. We all got parts in the play and enjoyed performing on stage together. It turned out to be a huge theatrical event for our community and the college where we performed. We played to sell out audiences of around 650 for each of our 6 performances. After it ended, we were all glad we'd been part of such a big production as Beauty and the Beast.

Next summer our theater will produce the musical, My Fair Lady. Kim is already talking about trying out for the play. Don't know if I want to spend another summer at the theater, but even if I don't tryout, I can be certain that I'll get involved somehow in another BLT summer musical.