The Show Must Go On.

a song to set the scene // thank you and goodnight by the angels

The universe did not want us to put on this show.

At least, that’s what it felt like.

It all started a little over two years ago.

If you’ll recall, two years ago was 2020.

We had just started rehearsals for The Marvelous Wonderettes.

Things were going good, great even.

But about two weeks into practice, we were shut down by the novel coronavirus.

And everything came to a halt.

Dining in at restaurants became a thing of the past.

Travel restrictions became increasingly strict.

All concerts, shows, basketball games, and social events were cancelled.

And for awhile, the way of life involved just… staying home.

So the show was put on hold.

We ceased practicing our four part harmonies, we stopped studying lines, and two whole years went by before we were able to dust off the old scripts and work on getting the show back up on its feet.

Getting reacquainted with my character, Betty Jean, I realized that it hadn’t only been two years since I started work on this show, but it had been ten years since I had done theatre at all, of any kind.

Ten years!

Wow.

So, I was a little wobbly on the legs.

Lines themselves came surprisingly easy. Studying over my morning bowl of cereal, most of my little quips conveniently came after Cindy Lou spoke, so line memorization got done first.

Choreography was choppy but: practice makes perfect!

Singing, on the other hand, was the biggest challenge. With over 28 songs from the 1950’s and ‘60’s, I very quickly discovered that The Marvelous Wonderettes was the most vocally challenging show I had ever worked on.

So, between work, work, and work, I was now memorizing harmonies for 28 different songs.

On the outisde, the show might’ve looked like an addional burden. Late nights choreographing musical numbers to classics like Lollipop and Mr. Sandman, practicing lines in bed with my gem, and finding D notes instead of G notes was, indeed, additional work.

But in reality, working on the show was one of the few releases from my stressful life. It was a break, something to look forward to.

As opening week was coming around the corner, and just as I was starting to feel confident about finally getting this show up on the stage after two whole years, I ironically tested positive for Covid.

Oh how the the universe did not want us to put on this show.

Well, we put it on anyway.

(upon full recovery from the ‘rona)

And it was a hit.

We sold out every night.

We made the audience laugh. We made the audience cry. We even compelled them to sing along to the classics we were performing.

And all that hard work, all those obstacles, and all those years waiting to perform this show was worth it.

I mean, it always is.

Because despite what the universe might’ve thrown our way, theatre prevailed.

And the show did go on.