Drama Queen

I had a nice evening tonight with Julie, who is our Theatre Director at camp. One of the most fun parts of my job is helping out with our theatrical productions. This evening, Julie and I made our annual pilgrimage to Wal-Mart, to buy fabrics and notions to create costumes for our camp play.

I am a total Theatre geek. I spent my middle and high school years putting more energy into the school play than I put into the school work. I smiled my way into musical productions, though I don’t have a bit of singing talent, I hammed my way into community theatre, theatre classes at summer school (no summer camp, by the way!) not to mention choir classes and a musical ensemble group in my Junior and Senior high school years.

These were great times. The friends that I met in theatre were so perfect for me. They were not judgmental, materialistic, snobby or unkind. They were funny, intelligent, free-spirited, creative, not to mention talented. They appreciated my silly sense of humor, my unconventional fashion choices, and my favorite high school motto, ‘Why Be Normal”. It was with my fellow Theatre Geeks that I felt most like…me.

After high school, the theatrical opportunities for someone with the limited amount of talent I had, sort of disintegrated. The fun theatre people I had been so comfortable around were now far away from me, and I quickly realized that those high school years were times that I will never reclaim (nor forget). Having the chance to be involved in a production again (even on the production side), stirs up memories and feelings that I had forgotten about long ago. Spending time with Julie, our Theatre Director and actress from New York, has been a little like those “old days”. Julie has that same brand of intelligence, humor, and free spiritedness that I admired in my theatre friends from my youth. Though she is almost 20 years younger than me, the chronological age difference melts away when we hang out together. It’s nice to feel that youthful exuberance and those flashes of creative energy once more. So thank you Julie, for not treating me like a grown-up. I really feel a kinship with you, and I’m grateful for the chance to work together.

The play this summer is Peter Pan, one of my all-time favorite shows. I got the part of a “Lost Boy” in seventh grade, and now my little Addie is going to be a Lost Boy at camp. Getting to conceptualize the costuming of this show is challenging, but totally exciting. I simply can’t wait to see it all come together, and of course, I’ll post the photos.