I'm sitting here typing with my left leg elevated and an ice pack on my knee, all thanks to my latest exercise routine--and I'm pleased as punch about it!
You see, I saw an audition notice go by from the community theatre group associated with the big hippy-groovy Unitarian Universalist church I hang out at, and found myself sorely tempted. I hadn't done theatre since back in my college and immediately post-college days, and I really missed it. Of course, some of why theatre fell off my personal radar scope had to do with my weight--not only that, for better or worse, many theatre groups have a certain "look" in mind for various roles, and fat is usually not part of that look; but also, as my weight continued to rise and interfere with my mobility, I simply was no longer physically up to it.
Plus then I got older, and more involved in other, more "serious" things, and kind of put frivolous things like theatre away in mothballs.
But now, I sat there looking at this audition notice and going "well, why the heck not?" For one thing, this particular group--especially because of its UU social-action headset--has a strong track record of casting actors of "non-traditional" appearance. Plus the play in question--Paul Rudnick's "The Most Fabulous Story Ever Told"--totally appealed to me with its brash humor (it's a humorous take on the Bible and religion from a gay liberation perspective). Plus now, even though I am still a fat broad, I'm not nearly so "broad" -- or immobilized -- as I had been. I could do this! All I needed was to make it through the auditions. No small thing, that--but you can't win if you don't play ...
So I went down and auditioned, and lo and behold I got a really juicy supporting role! (Actually, three roles--the play is structured so that the non-pricipal actors all play multiple roles.) Hurrah! So now all I have to do is actually survive the rehearsals...
The reason I'm icing my knee today is because last night we worked with the choreographer for the first time. Man, you wouldn't think that a mere ninety minutes of intermittent movement could take so much effort, but by the time I got home last night I was definitely a hurtin' unit. Fortunately, none of the moves are all that difficult (though remembering them all and doing them up to tempo is going to take some work), and a couple of hot baths plus that icepack seem to be handling the hurtin' bit.
It's my hope that, as rehearsals continue, my body will rise to the occasion and get used to this heightened level of activity, so that I won't be the walking wounded the day after a rehearsal (or the day after a show, for that matter). And now I'm feeling an additional motivation for regular exercise--getting my body sufficiently conditioned that it'll be ready for each rehearsal and less prone to injury. I may also invest in a simple knee brace from the local big-box pharmacy store or some such.
But anyway--this is my new creative project, and it's not only helping with my bod, it's also an opportunity made possible by all the work I've already done on my bod so far. So I've totally psyched to be doing this, and if there's even the slightest chance that any of you folks out there will be in San Diego the weekend of July 11th/12th, I hope you'll consider coming to the show and watching me be a whacko on stage for a paying audience. More details on the when/where/etc. as I get 'em.
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