Blog

The last 3 months have been quite the experience for me. It all started August 29th. It first auditions for a musical called “The Drowsy Chaperone”. This show is being put on by Garfield Players. In addition, it is the first show in which I am titled, Producer. Little did I know exactly how much work the next 2.5 months would entail. My experience had its ups and had its downs. In the end, I learned a lot. Probably too much. I had a costumer complete no work, and then quit with 2 weeks to curtain. I had internal drama and arguements between members of the production staff and cast. Some people didn’t fulfill their obligations and forced me to step in and do the work for them only to complain about toes being stepped on. I had people complaining about me or others making them go over budget dispite the show coming in UNDER budget. The days were long. The sleepless nights were longer. Will this show open? Will it be a success? Will it flop? Will I fail

Will I fail. That question haunted me for weeks. I ran around touting this show as a guaranteed success. I invited all my friends and family. One could even say I bragged a time or two about growing into the Producer role so quickly. After all this promotion and publicity, would everyone just point and laugh or would it be a raging success? All in all, I learned many things through this experience. I learned that when working at the volunteer level, it’s quite difficult to motivate people to do their “jobs” without their simple response of “I quit”. I learned not to always count on things getting done properly if I don’t plan on doing them myself or directly following up on them. I learned that dispite having doubts in certain individuals or goals, sometimes the people you don’t expect to come through and knock it out of the park. In the end, the curtain opened each night and closed with applause. The show received great reviews and a lot of positive experiences for most of those involved. For me, I learned that being a Producer is not a task I am ready for. It’s a job better left to those who can live with imperfection and potential failure. I expect the best. I always give everything my all and I expect nothing less from the people I work with. It appears that when working with a volunteer group, not everyone is willing to live up to that expectation. That is not something I am prepared to accept.

So, it’s November 14th. Drowsy closes and my next show is already on the cusp of curtain. A Christmas Carol, performed by Garfield Heights High School Theatre, opens December 3rd on the same stage. This leaves me, as GHHS Technical Director, exactly 3 weeks to go from empty stage to opened curtain. Oh what the undertaking this has become. As I write this, the students are preparing for a preview performance in a few hours and the curtain will open to an audience tomorrow. The set is done, for the most part. It’s not what I would like, but how much can you really accomplish by yourself in 3 weeks? The sound effect edits are done. The special effects are in place. The lights are programmed and we’re ready to go. GHHS Theatre used to be my #1 passion. It was where I devoted my time. I regret to say that during this show, that has not been the case. Drowsy ran me dry and took what energy I had left in me. I pushed through Christmas Carol, but the result is not what I expected and I am disappointed in myself. When Spring comes, and a new round of shows are on the schedule, things will be reversed. My students deserve more. My mentor deserves more. The parents and students of the Garfield Heights Schools deserve more, and more is what they will get.

The last 3 months have been an enlightening, eye-opening and educational time for me and dispite the bumps in the road, I am glad to have experienced it. Glad to have been through it all and I feel I have come out a better person.