Mamma Mia

So this all started back in February.  I went to see a friend's son in a little local play of Into the Woods.  We got talking and discovered that we were both interested in the opportunity to participate in a play ourselves.  The local Elora Centre for the Arts was putting on Mamma Mia and we decided to sign up and try out for a part.  My friend ended up as Tanya and I became Rosie.  Another friend was chosen for Donna.

Rehearsals began in mid March.  There was enough female interest to have 3 different casts of the main women's parts.  Most of the other parts only had 1 or 2 spares. This meant that everyone would have at least 2 performances, some would have 3 and a few would do all 6.

Is there a man out there?

As we got closer to the time for our performance we started holding extra practices in the park and at a local church.  Nerves were getting to us and we didn't think this would ever come together.  The nights of the dress rehearsals were very nerve racking. Would we ever be able to pull this off?  Would I be able to remember the words to my song in the right order?

The next thing we knew it was opening night.  Our cast was up first.  Surprisingly we weren't as nervous as we had expected.  The excitement was high. Adrenaline was pumping. And then we stepped out onto stage.  A few lines were forgotten but we had a great prompter (thanks Cathy) and the show went on.

What a high it was to hear the laughter from the audience. Especially the cheers from my kids (thanks to Amber for her nice loud voice).  The scenes with Tanya and Donna were sooo fun but I think my favourite scene that first night was my scene with Bill.  As the curtains opened all I could hear was the roar of the audience.  I guess my outfit was a real hit (thanks Cody for bringing the dress home from Africa).  And my song was good too!

We had a whole week before our second (last) performance.  With a whole week off it seemed like it had all been a dream and then once again we were ready to go on stage. Again I had family in the audience.  What a fun night.  It was hard to leave the stage knowing it was all over. GROUP HUG!!!

I met some wonderful people during this experience and made some new friends.  I'm looking forward to the cast party on Friday night. 

What's next?