The Reporter on the Rove
For those of you who do not know me, I have a history with theater that spans back to my early childhood. I had already discovered a love of the stage, having joined my school’s choir from the moment I entered school. I performed in my first ever play in the fourth grade and fell completely in love with the performing arts. At Corsicana High School, I studied under Cranston Dodds, taking the theater elective all four years, with plans to study theater in college. I graduated from Navarro College in 2013 with an Associates of Arts in Theater, guided by the amazing Dr. Shellie O’Neal.
Unfortunately, things in my life took a few strange turns, pushing me in other directions. Other things became priorities, pushing performing on stages deep into the recesses of the past and burying those dreams into unmarked graves. Still, the echoes of longing remained. It was a source of pride for me to be able to say I had studied the art and it’s deep and extensive history while learning from these incredible teachers. However, if you had asked me a year ago if I thought I would be able to rejoin the Theater Community, I very likely would have responded with a tearful “No.” I had drifted too far for too long. It had been eleven years since I had graced the stage in any way. I was sure that my history with theater was in the past now.
Working for the NavCo Chronicle allowed me to reconnect with my past passion for the craft I had spent years honing. I went to see “Red” in August in 2024 and was awed by the remarkable work of both actors. I was introduced to the Youth Company with “A Wrinkle in Time,” a book that had been a childhood favorite of mine, and I had a resounding need to see it brought to life. I was privileged to be able to see “A Christmas Carol: Musical” in December and, truly, that was the one that did it. I felt a yearning to return to the stage.
I auditioned for “Pride and Prejudice” but unfortunately was not cast. I did use the opportunity to continue my studies, learning how to operate the sound booth while Jay Jones talked to me at length about lighting and sound design, an important segment of the stage that I had never cultured. I volunteered to aide with the set pieces and child wrangling for “The Lion King Jr.,” in which my daughter held a small part.
I heard my old high school teacher, Mr. Dodds, was directing “The Elephant Man” and knew I had to try again. I was cast in two small roles in this fascinating play, which is based on the life of John Merrick, an English “freak show” from the Victorian Era. The cast I have had the honor of working with is full of talent and passion. We have all worked exceptionally hard on the show, with our lead actor, Dylan Speaks, who plays the Elephant Man, himself, having to physically contort and maintain a painfully uncomfortable posture for the entirety of the show. We also have the incredible Jarrett Stampes, who portrayed Scrooge in “A Christmas Carol: Musical,” as Dr. Fredrick Treves, the surgeon who saves Merrick from a life of mockery and gives him a place to call “Home.”
The show opened Thursday, May 8th at 7PM on the Main Stage of the WLAC, with eight shows scheduled to follow on the 9th, 10th, 11th, 13th, 15th, 16th, 17th, and 18th. Tickets are available on the WLAC web site. Come say hi to me after the show! I look forward to seeing you all there.
It has been endlessly thrilling to be on the stage again. We have performed four of our nine shows so far, each better than the last. The first two nights, I missed a line or two but the wonderful thing about theater is the ability to make mistakes blend seamlessly into the intentional. Any stage actor worth their salt is able to hide their mistakes with intention and skill and the actors I have had the privilege to work with in this show have skills in spades. It also sparked an interesting conversation backstage during one of the shows: what is more difficult? Stage acting or camera acting?
In stage acting, there are no do overs. If you make a mistake during a show, the only thing you can do is move forward and use your talents to make those mistakes look intentional, whereas, in camera acting, there can be as many takes as needed to get that perfect shot. The perfect theater show is very much like a unicorn. There is very rarely a performance that did not have something happen in a way that may not have been planned. However, you would only be able to spot the errors if you had watched every rehearsal or memorized every line. It takes true talent to stage act, and I am beyond thrilled to be among this cast, one of only ten people who graces the stage to tell an integral part of John Merrick’s story. If you have not come to see us yet, there are only four shows left. What are you waiting for?
Theater has been a kind of lifeline for me. It provided me with an outlet for the different factors causing pressure in my life and provided me with some of my best memories. When I am ensconced in the stage lights or surrounded by those likeminded individuals, I feel a kind of freedom I had not realized I had been missing.
I know the word for it now.
Home.