Life as the Reverend Mother

Well, I have taken my sweet, sweet time to blog about The Sound of Music.  I'm not sure why, but it may be fear of getting the words out right.  Of expressing just how amazing the weekend was.  Of not doing it justice.

To put it simply, being in the show was incredible.  Oh, don't you worry, for those of you who know me well, it was also scary.  Terrifying at times!  But in the end, it was incredible.  A few things I have to say about the whole thing:

1.  My husband is a rock star.  He encouraged me from the get-go to try out for the show.  I dragged my feet out of fear, guilt, habit, you name it.  Still, he patiently encouraged me to go for it.  "What if the kids get sick?"  I said.  "What if I can't do it and ruin the show?"  Go for it, he said.  We will make it a priority.   And a priority it was.  Just prior to the show I was gone about 10 nights straight, and he was out of town for two of those nights!  But when he was home, he was all about making my life easier.  He insisted I sleep in almost every morning of show week, made all the kids' lunches, told me to rest whenever possible, and just generally was awesome.  I can't tell you how much I appreciated all he did.

2.  About a week before the first performance, my voice started to get hoarse.  I think it was from overuse, combined with stress.  Regardless, I sang a high note the Sunday night before opening weekend that was not all that good.  And it paralyzed me.  Monday I was a jumbled ball of nerves.  I was petrified I was going to be hoarse for the show and sing terribly, ruin the show, embarrass myself and everyone would pity me (my family and friends) or hate me (people in the show).  Once again, my husband stepped up to the plate, talking me down and encouraging me to go to the doctor/rest my voice.  By Tuesday I was calmer, though still hoarse.  I grew less hysterical as the week progressed.

3.  My family and friends were humbling.  I was overwhelmed with the number of people who came to the show (some from several hours away!).  Everyone was so kind and full of love - I didn't know what to say!  I received flowers every night, and felt covered in love.

4.  We took a million pictures, including this gem below.  It caused a lot of talk!

5.  Being in such a well-done production was oh-so-rewarding.  The caliber of people I was working with was top-notch - I couldn't have asked for a better situation to make my grand entrance (ha!) back into theater.  I hope to try my hand at acting again sometime in the future, and look forward to working with all of these talented people in another production.