I found myself singing “Bon Voyage” and “I Get a Kick Out of You” in the shower today. Last year’s Anything Goes show was one of the high points of my 2009 and I miss the stage terribly. Live theatre, being in the audience as well as being IN a show…It’s a life I only got a brief taste of during my high school and pre-college days and it left me insatiably wanting more.

I loved hearing the veteran “war stories” from Patrick, Alyissa and Kelsey (@Allomer), laughing at them and with them. That first awkward month at Sir John, I followed Alyissa to the drama room when she signed up to be Stage Manager for the musical that year. Before I knew it, I was suddenly Assistant Manager to her for one of the more extravagant shows the high school’s drama program ever put on, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.

Through that show I learnt the tricks of the trade, the do’s and don’t’s, and how important the tech crew is to a show. I bonded with my best friend as I got an inside view of the part of her life that I knew she loved (and sometimes hated) so much. I felt the stress, the joy, the frustration and the pride that came with putting on a show. For the first time since I came home ashamed from college, I felt like I was ACCOMPLISHING something.

I don’t know if they would ever know how much those three months helped me find a place in the new chapter of my life, how much it really, really mattered and imprinted in my mind, all of it. So when the opportunity to audition and try out for the community theatre’s show of “Anything Goes” appeared, I jumped at it. I la-la-la’d and lo-lo-lo’d for brilliant musical director Mel. I danced as gracefully as I could for cheerfully serious dance choreographer Andrea. I stood awkwardly as intense stage manager Lynn eyed me up and asked me if I’ve ever done this before. A week or two later…I got the greenlight!

Thus began three grueling months of vocal warm-ups, dance breaks, memorizing the songs, keeping in my key (Through Mel’s guidance, I discovered I was an alto, through and through!) and learning the hilarious and heart-warming story of Cole Porter’s Anything Goes. It. Was. Glorious. I wanted more and I finally GOT more. I finally had my OWN stories of the stage to tell. Really SINGING and being recognized for it. Earning my very own character name (Lucy Hawthorne) and saying my one line very proudly (“He doesn’t LOOK like Snake-eyes Johnson…). My *almost* flirting and *almost* romance with my stage husband and dance partner Curtis. And the faaabulous cast-party, dancing away til the wee hours of the morning and taking a hungover Kelsey to crash on my couch.

It’s been almost a year since then and it’s still just as fabulous and fresh in my mind. I want to do more. More chorus line, more acting, more stage management, more EVERYTHING. Can Summer 2010 deliver that to me? I certainly hope so.

~Missing the stage, Vickie