“ Why spend weeks rehearsing taking time away from family and friends, potentially missing out on other activities? Why? Here’s why.”

“Blocking got easier each night just as the picture itself became clearer. I have to give credit to my very supportive cast and the experienced crew who have put their trust in a new director. It’s still very challenging but that’s all part of the fun.”

Every odd numbered year, the American Association of Community Theatres hosts AACTFest, a nationwide theatre festival showcasing the best of community theatre around the country.  It is a culmination of months of smaller festivals, starting in the individual states, then moving on to surrounding regions, with the Regional winners being invited to a host city to perform their 60 minute show in front of appreciative audiences of like minded theatre aficionados.

So we’re backstage at the conclusion of performance #10 in a 12-show run of Ken Ludwig’s Baskerville: A Sherlock Holmes Mystery, produced by Big Dawg Productions at the Cape Fear Playhouse down here in Wilmington, NC. We’re in the single, narrow dressing room that accommodates all five of us and our two-person backstage crew, changing back into street clothes.

J. Robert Raines, who plays Doctor Watson, is in the midst of changing his shirt, with a broad smile on his face.

“That,” he says, “was just so much fun!!”

Amidst murmurs of agreement all around, acknowledging that it had taken us a while to reach a performance level that was “fun” for all of us, we stumble across one of the harsh realities of community theater; that by the time everybody literally gets their act together, the run is over.

My mother recently came to see me in a production of Bye Bye Birdie.  I had the opportunity to play the role of Harry MacAfee, the perplexed father of Kim and a role originated by Paul Lynde.  I got to sing “Kids!” and “Hymn for a Sunday Evening” (“Ed Sullivan”) and be bombastic and utterly ridiculous.

I’ve been doing community theatre for about 7 years, but this was the first time my mother made the trek from out of state to see me.  I knew that there was a strong chance she would make the trip, given that Bye Bye Birdie is one of her favorite musicals.  My mother is in her 70’s and travel is sometimes difficult for her.

Are accents important and integral to productions? I say yes.

I recently attended a production of “Titanic” where the vocals were good, the acting good, but the accents required were barely there (if at all) and when they were present, most executed it poorly. In a show like "Titanic", accents are non-negotiable.

Imagine that Hairspray is being produced in a local theatre near you. And after the auditions were completed, you notice that the show has an all-white cast. How would you react? Would you be angered? Insulted? Confused? 

Post Show Depression, some laugh and say it’s not real, but those who have felt it know that it’s very real. The end of a show can hit different people in different ways. It can also vary from show to show, but let me back up for a moment. The final curtain has fallen, strike is complete and you have partied with your cast mates to celebrate the success of your show. You get home and suddenly realize, that’s it, there are no more lines to be said, no more rehearsals, no more performances, it is simply, over!

Depression: To me, it is one of the most destructive and misunderstood diseases on the planet. It is to the spirit what cancer is to the body. Slowly but surely, it eats away at who you are until there is nothing left of you but a miserable, empty shell of a person. The number of victims who lost their lives while fighting it off is countless. It is the worst possible thing that could be inflicted on a person’s psyche, and personally, I wouldn’t wish it on my own worst enemy.

A few months ago, I was working on the set building crew, fussing over a detail when someone came up to me and said, “It’s good enough; it’s just community theatre; it doesn’t matter.”

I wanted to scream in frustration and throttle the individual, but I liked him so I said with a calm that belied my feelings, “Of course it matters. Just because it’s community theatre doesn’t mean I should do less than my best.” He grumbled an “I suppose you’re right” and thankfully left me alone to my fussing.