No Title Needed: The Play's The Thing

New York
The greasepaint's removed, the set's been struck, the cast dispersed. But the four night run of STOP at the Producer's Club on 44th and 9th is imprinted in my bank of memories--very near the top.
So many things converged during tech rehearsals, dress rehearsal, and then, finally opening night. On the creative side, I was amazed at how the playwright's words came off the page and developed a life of their own. Sure, we were interpreting them but ( unlike high school ) there was really no need to overact ( although my directors reminded me of that fact often ) just be in the moment with the other actors.
The picture above includes David, Michael and me in a wonderful scene that spoofs Shakespeare. I'm the queen ( type casting? ) and found the role terrific fun once I learned the Cockney accent and a little bit of the Queen's English.
It's been a week now since we closed the show. Lots of friends and family came to see my debut. One old and dear friend from college flew in from the Midwest; folks came from Philadelphia; neighbors from my building in New York.
What did I learn from it? That I could do it. That all those memories of creating something on stage out of nothing but a series of words on a page was still magic. And that I loved acting even more than I remembered.

And to end, my final line in the play: Though this be madness; Yet there is method in it.

Yup.
MC