ACTING IS WORK!

I must say that I never worked harder than I did for AN OLE AND LENA CHIRSTMAS.

The rehearsal process of any show is grueling. You need to memorize lines (and cues...you must do it the same way so others know when they can talk). You have to put words to motion. You have to deal with props and the set. You have to then deal with costume issues. And then the audience -- sometimes they laugh, sometimes they don't.

Is it old age, or perhaps being away from it for awhile...but struggle I did in learning my lines...and the songs.

Learning lines...saying it over and over again, and also developing the character, the person you will be on stage.

Happily, from two weeks before opening when I felt like a blight on the production, paraphrasing all over the place, not giving consistent cues, and being lost in my character direction...it all came together dress rehearsal week. Yes, that was a week from hell, as some might say. We were on set one day before preview. We had no music until preview night. No lights until opening night.

But since we opened, it has been fun, fun, fun. Sure, there are dropped lines now and then (I screwed up the days singing my song just the other night) but your comfort level becomes such that you can do anything on stage to keep the show moving, entertaining and alive!

The OLE AND LENA show has a great cast. We all mesh and are having a wonderful time between the meatballs and tater-tot hot dish, skits from the waitstaff, and lights that don't go off when they are supposed to. Sure, "there's no fish in da hole" at times, but the audience loves it!

I just wish I had the energy to continue runs on the next two OLE & LENA planned shows, between now and Memorial Day. Sometimes I think once a year will be enough.

But we'll see.

And the mind is slowly winning the memorization battle, or so it seems!