Annie-The Reflection

    Well, the show, and all of the hard work is over. I'm already having withdrawals and it has been two days. I really can't explain how happy I am that I took this opportunity I was so graciously granted and what it has done for my outlook on theatre as a whole.
    But before I get into that, I will recap how the shows this weekend went. First, was Thursday night (Opening Night). We were sold out before the doors had opened; no tickets were left to sell at the show. That was such a great way to get the cast and crew hyped up for their first night of showing off their efforts. We all got together as a group in one of the rooms to get each other ready and get the energy flowing. The sense of community in that room was incredible. Everybody stood together thanking each other, hugging, and laughing knowing we were about to put on this wonderful show for people all over the county (as well as others). The show went quite smoothly and although there were one or two small mishaps, nothing detrimental occurred. It wasn't until Friday, which was also sold out, that we started to get a little shaky. While as I was backstage watching my orphans dance their little hearts out, one of the stage crew members was moving a flat being used, which knocked over a painting, which dominoed into kicking in the leg of the prop table. Talk about a freak accident! This caused literally all of the glassware/tableware as well as other random props to come crashing down. Thank goodness it was during a mansion scene, and we all joked that two of the maids were getting into it in the kitchen. Also on Friday night, when Annie comes up the stairs, she is supposed to run through the curtain in a fit of rage. Well on this particular night, the same said stage crew member was holding the curtain closed which caused Annie to become tangled and not get offstage as it was supposed to be executed. Both of these occurrences were corrected for the other two nights, thankfully. Saturday was about half-full, and Sunday was another sellout.
    It was hard Sunday night to sing "Tomorrow" at curtain call. As I walked out with my fellow cast members, I began tearing up. By the time we began singing, I was bawling; literally unable to croak out any words. Knowing that this whole process was coming to an end really hit me. I have met some amazing people that I will surely keep in touch with, and cannot get over the fact that I was able to be apart of such a phenomenal show. One of the directors said that this is the first time in her 12 years that she has ever had a sold out show, let alone 3 of the 4. Even reviews from audience members were so touching. I had several people come up to me after all the shows telling me, "That was the best show I've ever seen in this building!" or "Best show Carroll has ever put on!" But my favorite was when a bunch of the crew and I went to McDonald's after a show and an 82-year old woman (she told us her age) came up to us and said, "That wasn't a good show. That was a damn good show. You should take that thing on tour." I really can't describe the rewarding feeling of knowing someone was proud of your work and thinks so highly.
    This internship has been so much more than I ever expected. Honestly, going in I thought it would be a couple people from my community getting together to put on a youth theatre show with some average acting and singing. But it was so much more. There was a huge cast full of incredible talent from people of all ages and occupations. We had 7 year old girls/boys to adult doctors to a radio host to college kids all wanting to be apart of it. Taking on the roll of "Orphan Director" made me a bit anxious. Mostly because during last year's directing class, I was constantly doubting myself and my creativity. I would wonder how to put scenes together to really get that "AHA!" moment. Putting your own thoughts into something is really quite vulnerable. I love the metaphor Brad Dell used for the art of directing: It's like your baby. You feed it, you nurture it, and you watch it grow. You just care so much about it and you want everyone to love it as much as you do. I couldn't agree more. Putting so much time into one thing can be exhausting, and quite honestly, it was. It got frustrating having to put hours upon hours into something that, at some points, just wasn't working out as I had wanted. But then there were those times that I would sit down with my orphans and run lines and just seeing them get it, just seeing them find their characters was enough. I understand why directors go through the stress and absolute chaos of what they do. It's to work that passion of theirs into others and watch others get it as they have.
    I already miss my orphans so much. They were so good to me and brought me to tears by the end as we all parted ways. Thankfully, I got an email today from a director saying that we will be having a cast party pot luck this weekend and I'm looking forward to it! This internship really has made me realize how difficult, stressful, and manic being a director can be, but how absolutely worth it it really is in the end.