Getting Started

Ahhh, here it is, yet again: showtime! After much deliberation, we have chosen a spring play for the high school drama club, Dearly Departed. It's a lot like Greater Tuna, if any of you have seen that play. It takes place "somewhere south of the Mason-Dixon line" and all starts when a man drops dead at his breakfast table in the first scene. The rest of the play they all spend just trying to get the poor guy buried. It has a lot of good "characters" and I'm looking forward to seeing them onstage and presenting it for an audience.

We had auditions and, as usual, we didn't have enough guys try out. I had twelve girls try out for six roles and three guys try out for four male roles. Needless to say, I had to go on a headhunt throughout the school to scrounge around for another fella. We finally found one after many off the cuff auditions in the stairwell and even some begging and pleading on my part (and the part of some drama club members, other teachers and even parents!).

I perseverated all weekend long on the cast list. I must have casted and re-casted the thing a dozen times. There was one role in particular that I'm still unsure about, and quite honestly feel that I've made a mistake in the casting, but we'll see how it will all work out. I was literally sick to my stomach all weekend long about it, and being accosted in the hallway on Friday afternoon by one girl who auditioned didn't help things. She wanted to state for the record (again) that she didn't want a certain part. The problem is that all of the girls who tried out were SO good, but I just couldn't cast everyone. It breaks my heart and I HATE hanging up the cast list. I always feel like a heel, no matter that I made ten other people happy! I know there are some who are unhappy with me, upset, and some that are just downright mad, but I'm hoping that our read-through tomorrow will go well and everyone will gel.

So. Rehearsals start tomorrow and run three days a week. We only have about seven weeks to get this show up and running, so. . . bonne chance to us, oui?