“Smoke ‘em if you got ‘em”
During high school, I had always enjoyed acting in the school plays. Junior year, my best friend Quinn and I played a couple of bumbling crooks in a silly play that I wish I could remember the name of. We had so much fun with the roles. We played it like a cartoon. Our characters’ names were Derk and Marvin. I think I was Marvin. I was twice Quinn’s size at the time. I was the stupid oaf while he was the wise-guy brains of the operation. The audience ate it up and I ate up the audience. It was fun.. tremendous fun.
The next year, the English teachers (Mrs. H* & Mrs.M***t) who were in charge of it, they were about to pick out another silly play. I was a little bold my senior year in high school… cookey as an 18 year old should be. Anyway, I asked Mrs. H and Mrs. M if we could do a real play this time. That one we had done the prior year, I swear it was a revised Scooby Doo script.
audentes fortuna iuvat. (Fortune favors the bold)
It worked. A backroom deal was made. I wonder if enough time has passed that I can talk about it? I’m going to take my chances… They agreed to get the rights to put on the play Our Town by Thornton Wilder. It was a perfect choice for our little New England village. It’s a wonderful play about the day to day and some major life events of the residents of a small town in New Hampshire village called Grover’s Corners. It’s a play within a play and one of the bigger parts was the role of the unnamed “Stage Manager” who timelessly narrates the events. Anyway, Mrs. H and Mrs. M took me aside and told me they would get the play, but only if I took the role of the Stage Manager. At first I hesitated. We had read the play and that role had so much dialogue, I wasn’t sure I could do it, … but since I was the one that had asked for a ‘real’ play, it was put up or shut up. So, yeah! I did it. We had tryouts and a freshman named Brent tried out for the role as well. Poor guy never had a chance.
Brent, if this story ever gets back to you … Sorry-Not sorry, ..I’m sorry that you were not given a fair audition, but I’m not sorry because that whole thing stands out as one of my best high school memories. Besides, you had a part and you were great as I remember… Anyway… where was I? The play was a complete success!… We all had a blast making it and the audience enjoyed it.
Don’t believe me? Watch it.
Side note:
*I addlibbed the line “Smoke ‘em if you got ‘em” to an uproar of laughter, thereby cementing my ego and giving me the endorphin rush I still chase to this day.
**Mrs. H said it was okay to tell the story.