Indy Fringe - Best Post Wins a Night on the Fringe!

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Pat Coyle on July 23, 2009 at 5:17pm

I played Dromio in "Comedy of Errors" in sixth grade. Got to wear the bald cap and try to pull off a cockney accent. I feel sorry for my parents.

▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by roy g. Jones on July 23, 2009 at 5:58pm

THE LONGEST DINNER. WE NEED VOLUNTEERS FOR THIS EVENT. On AUG 13. TIME COMMITMENT is 6:00 to 10:00 pm, For your time you will receive 2 tickets to any INDY FRINGE SHOW, T shirt, Box Dinner. Information or questions. royboy@indy.rr.com or Roy Jones 317-696-3686

▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Valerie Graham on July 23, 2009 at 6:04pm

Arguably my best and favorite theater moment was playing Bonnie in "Anything Goes" my junior year of high school. It was my first lead role and I was scared to death when I had to sing in front of a packed auditorium. I finally felt like I had "made it" though when after the show was over and it was time for curtain calls, and my partner in crime James, who played Moonie, and I got the biggest applause of any of the named characters. It was a major confidence booster and it made me so glad that I had the guts to try out for a major role. That show was such hard work but it was so much fun. Good times.

▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Linda Broadfoot on July 23, 2009 at 9:15pm

In eighth grade speech class, we had to do a lip sync performance as our “final.” To boot, our teacher offered extra credit to those students who did Christian songs or oldies. So, I paired up with a friend with a routine to “Da Do Run Run.” Sadly, this was around the time when my friend started going through her wild phase which included skipping school a lot. When it came time for lip sync day, I was stuck.

On the same cassette tape was the song “Surfin’ Bird” by The Trashmen, a song my 13-year-old self thought was fantastic.

First, when it came my time to go up, I was wrecked with stage fright, a phenomenon not uncommon for me at that age, though hard to picture in me now. I stood on the side of the stage shaking and crying. After class time was over, I finally got up the nerve to do my gig.

There I am, alone on the stage, no costume, dressed in a sweater and leggings, and the song begins. Yep, I lip synced “Surfin’ Bird” by strutting around the stage like a big bird for two whole minutes. The small crowd gave its approval, and I believe I was one point away from a perfect score from the judges.

Embarrassing. Mortifying. BUT, I got an “A.”

▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Mark Brown on July 23, 2009 at 10:20pm

6th Grade - Orchard Country Day School, Indianapolis: 1983

My first play - "The Invisible Man" and I was the Invisible Man. On opening night - the tight black outfit I was to wear didn't come in - and I had to wear a girl's leotard - pantyhose and all. EMBARRASSING!

To give the illusion of invisibility, the wrapped me in Saran Wrap, silver hairspray and white face paint. It was HOT!

The show went relatively well until the end. I was to be shot - and the cap gun failed to go off. I had undiagnosed hearing loss and didn't hear the "click click" as Gillian was pulling the trigger. So finally she went "PEW! PEW!"

The crowd roared with laughter during the climatic moment. I fell over and laid twitching (actually laughing) as I lay dead.

Fun times. :-)

That's the best I could fix the picture.

Attachments:

• Invisible Man.jpg, 119 KB

▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Deb Wezensky on July 24, 2009 at 7:21am

Dewy faced, with a film of sweat and a burgeoning blush of mortification, I fixed my eyes on the daunting steps of the stage set up in the all-purpose room. Beaming parents awaited my acting debut – as a first grader in an oversized nun’s habit.

And, should I be overlooked by St. Genesius, a small paper with my solo line was tucked in my billowing sleeve. Heaven forbid I forget my line as I delivered my pivotal contribution to the show…

What ensued was just a mere harbinger of a later stage appearance that ended my acting career.

As a much more sophisticated parochial school girl 10 years later, I was spreading my wings in the acting world at a big public high school. Marla, an outgoing, flashy friend excitedly shared with her plans to audition in the spring play. She assured me that despite it being a musical, there were speaking parts just waiting for neophyte talents, such as myself.

Basically an introvert, I leaped at the chance to expand my horizons. Trying to blend in the theater seating, I anticipated which part I would play and how the heck I would get it. Rehearsing my self talk to lower my nervousness, I was oblivious to the proceedings.

My name was called, one of the very last. Again, eyes fixated on the stage floor, I bravely asserted my stage presence. Thank God for blinding stage lights, I couldn’t see my fellow actors’ who most assuredly would witness all my unknown talent as I recited lines from the script I was handed.

I blinked. It wasn’t a script. A musical score wavered in my hands, the title of the song totally unknown. Piano music started – “What? I don’t even read music – I’m here for a speaking part…”

And I don’t, oops, can’t sing. Saving face, using the term ever so loosely – I start to sing…I quietly stuttered out a few lines of lyrics. The piano stops. Someone walks over and reaches for the sheet music…I don’t say a word. I scoot off - stage left - eyes fixed on the welcome beacon of the exit sign above the theater door.

Other than that, my mind’s blank. Marla got a part in the musical and she never said a word about my ‘performance’.

Today, I act – occasionally there are roles to play in every day life when you just don’t want to do something…but you have to deliver. You know - “All the world’s a stage, and all the men and women merely players…” And while trying out parts that make me step outside my comfort zone, I have discovered some new talents that have laid dormant just waiting for expression.

Ya never know when you’ll be bitten by the acting bug...and you’ll deliver.

Attachments:

• Acting Debut7.09.doc, 27 KB

▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Jason Williams on July 24, 2009 at 7:40am

I don't remember the exact year, maybe 5th or 6th grade. We were doing A Christmas Story and I was the ghost of Christmas Past, the giant. One of my costome accessories was a ring of Christmas lighs around my head. In one scene, I was supposed to move positions on stage once the stage lights went off. On the headset was a little switch to turn the lights off for the scene. Unfortunately I forgot to turn said lights off and you can see a streak of Christmas lights bouncing across the stage as I ran to get into place. Of course I was a little embarrased at the time, but it was pretty funny when watching the film later.

▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Jerry McColgin on July 24, 2009 at 8:00am

1978 - Westfield High School - Annie Get Your Gun... I was cast as Pawnee Bill (Annie Oakley's faithful sidekick). I spent 4 weeks in shop class modifying my Kawasaki dirt bike to look like a 1920's Indian motorcycle. The goal was that during one scene I would drive the motorcycle in a big circle on the stage with Annie standing on the (retrofitted) back shooting out overhead lights to illustrate her sharp-shooting prowess. We spent literally hours rehearsing this to ensure that we could do this both comfortably and safely. We had it down so well that dress rehearsal went beautifully, even with the addition of full costumes and an orchestra in the pit below us. Everything pointed to a well executed, thrilling scene in a high school play!!!

Unbeknownst to anyone in the cast (or the director for that matter), one of the theater techies noticed that the stage surface did not have it's normal sheen. Taking personal pride in the "look" of the place, he took it upon himself to apply a fresh coat of wax to the entire stage. Being one of the many "behind the scenes" supporters of the theater, he didn't bother to mention this to anyone, he just wanted things to look great on opening night.

We get all the way through the first act with no issues. We're behind the curtain, the techies are helping Annie up onto the back of the bike, and I begin to rev the engine as the on-stage announcer is introducing our final stunt. I roar onto the stage and make the first turn (as I had so many times in practice), but the tires had no traction on the newly slicked surface. As we go into a slide, Annie falls off the back and the bike and I go sliding straight toward the orchestra pit. I could hear the gasps from the crowd over the sound of the engine. We came to a stop half-on, half-off the stage with my hands clamped onto the handle bars. Fortunately, no one was hurt. But to this day, I have the horrified look of the tuba player seared into my memory as we were heading straight toward him!

Needless to say, there were some "safety rules" imposed on the theater department after that evening!

▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Kendal R. Miller on July 24, 2009 at 8:20am

As a majorette in high school and in dance lessons for 13 years (they didn't take and I pray my parents never ask for all their lesson/costume money back) :) I have plenty of performance "incidents" that I could add.

Probably my worst was when I was performing during the half-time show at an "away" football game one rainy night. I was born and raised near Pittsburgh, so by the time football season rolled around it was a little "nippy" (sometimes brutally cold) on Friday and Saturday evenings.

It was "pre" new uniforms days, wearing jumpers that were made of 100% wool and worn by at least ten years of former majorettes. The fabric was rotted in some places and dry-cleaned so often that they all reeked of embedded fluids that will probably come back to haunt us all later in life with some weird chemical exposure medical problem. We all cringed when we did our maneuvers, kicks and dance moves--always listened for fabric tears or waiting to feel a cold breeze in an unusual spot.

Anyway, rain, sleet or snow the half-time show goes on and trying to twirl a wet baton is like (I would imagine) holding onto a greased pig. I did my little tossing and twirling and then went to wrap the baton around my neck when it slipped down a little too far out of my hand and I smacked myself in the eye! Within seconds, I was seeing double vision--not side-by-side-but two pictures of the same scene one on top of the other.

Half-scared and half-embarrassed, I made the split decision to continue on with the rest of the performance as best I could, and not stagger off the football field making a scene in front of the entire stadium. As far as my routine after the incident, I really don't remember much but hoped that having done it many times before that I was able to least make the motions.

While getting nearly 300 people off the field at the close of the show was always a feat, in a daze I immediately went searching for the nurse that traveled with us. Cold and now soaked to the bone I was relieved when I saw both of her :) standing there.

After checking me over and within a half hour, my vision finally corrected itself and I was very fortunate that there was no permanent damage.

As far as the chemical exposure—I’ll have to get back to you on that!

▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by David Frank on July 24, 2009 at 11:15am

During my Sophomore and Junior years in high School, I played drums in the pit band for our school musicals, and by the end of my Junior year I had begun playing professionally. After missing a rescheduled band concert for a gig I had booked PRIOR to the schedule change, the band director kicked me out of band. Then over the summer, he called my parents and told them he would allow me back in band for my Senior year, but as punishment for my "disloyalty", I would not be section leader, and I could not participate in any of the extra bands, such as Jazz Band or Pit Band. So instead, I decided to audition for a role in that years musical. "West Side Story". I got the role of Riff, and gave one of the best-reviewed performances in the entire production, much to the chagrin of my band director, who had hoped that I would feel "punished" by being denied the ability to participate in the school's biggest production of the year.The bonus? The drummer who played in the pit band asked me for help on some of the drumset parts in the book, and he and the others in the Marching and Concert Band drum section treated me as defacto section leader in spite of the director's interntions.

▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Rollie Cole on July 24, 2009 at 11:27am

My junior year in high school, the Drama Club was doing the "play within a play" of Shakespeare's Midsummer Night's Dream, where Nick Bottom and his co-horts entertain the king and queen near the end of the overall play. I had a minor part (the wall) up until the Thursday before we were to perform on Friday and Saturday nights. At that point, we learned our star, the boy playing Nick Bottom, had acute appendicitis, and would not be able to perform. Although he was a much better actor than I was, I had been prompting him through his part, since mine was so small that I had learned it early. Therefore, the drama coach asked if I could step in. My teachers effectively gave me Friday off, and I frantically tried to memorize the entire role by that night. It must have gone OK -- we got rave reviews, and Saturday was standing room only. All through that year and the next, people remembered the story of how "the show must go on" even if your star gets acute appendicitis, and how I was able to take over on 24 hours notice, even though not a formal understudy.

Rollie "Nick Bottom" Cole

▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by John Cannon on July 24, 2009 at 10:34pm

lol, my most interesting theater event isn't publishable on a g-rated social forum. lol

▶ Reply to This

• ‹ Previous
• 1
• 2
• Next ›
• Page