Just like every year, once the Fourth of July has gone by, summer is pretty much over.
Still lots of hot days to endure, but stores have been filled with back-to-school inventories for weeks, with Halloween already making an appearance.
Kids will be back in school when the Clarkston Village Players’ next show, “Lend Me a Tenor,” hits the stage.
I’ll be there with them.
I auditioned in July for the show and was cast as the Bellhop, one of the smaller roles but bigger than my first one, last May in the CVP’s production of “Hamlet II.”
The Bellhop has a lot more running around on stage, and has lines almost to the end of the show, which will be new for me. One of them is in Italian, which I almost have down. I’ve been told to make it less Spanish, though, which is the foreign language I studied in college. More Don Juan and less Taco Bell Chihuahua, perhaps.
After “Hamlet II” wrapped last May, more than a couple CVPers asked if I would be coming back. That’s probably the real trick, making newbies into returning players.
I actually didn’t plan to so soon, especially because most of the roles in Tenor call for singing. But the Bellhop just sings a little bit (also in Italian), and not so well when he does, which fits me OK.
We have the rest of August and beginning of September to rehearse, with the show opening on Sept. 9.
The play’s a comedy with lots of romantic shenanigans, but the Bellhop doesn’t get involved in any of them so I don’t have to worry about that.
The cast includes two married couples, but only one of the couples actually play characters who pair off in the play (and that’s only most of the time).
That’s showbiz, I guess.
I’m almost completely over my stage fright. My knees barely shake now, which is good because the stage set has two levels with stairs connecting them. My role calls for carrying a tray of coffee, and a bucket of champagne and glasses down those things.
I hope to see folks in the audience in the fall, but not that kind.