Crumble closed on Saturday. Very sad panda. An experience like Crumble is rare. Usually, when the time comes, you are ready to say goodbye to a show and move on. I did not want to say goodbye to this show. I was actually teary during the curtain call. I'm in love with this play, I truly am.
Last winter was when I was introduced to this script. I had just closed We Are Not These Hands, which was also written by Sheila Callaghan. My friend CW came to see it and asked if I had read Crumble. I said no and he said he was going to send it to me immediately because there was a part that I HAD to play. He was in the Actors Theatre of Louisville apprentice program and that place has a room with hundreds and hundreds of plays so he got to read a lot of really cool shit. One of which was Crumble.
So he sent it in the mail and I began reading immediately. And immediately I was hooked. I loved it. I laughed out loud. I cried a few times. By the end, big, fat tears were streaming down my face. Not only because of my deep love and admiration for the script, but also because I wanted to do it SO BADLY!! It's not often that I have such a need to do a part. Usually if I ever get that feeling, I end up not getting the part because I get too nervous and too high strung about it. So I was trying to breath and tell myself that if it was meant to be, a theater in DC will do it and I will have an opportunity to audition. Well, a few weeks later, Catalyst announces their season. And in the third slot, Crumble. AHHHHHH!!! I immediately start emailing to see when auditions will be. Which got a "calm down" and "breath" and "don't worry you will be seen" response from SF. The waiting! The re-reading! I had a lot of time on my hands, I didn't have anything long term lined up until the summer, ok?? Stop judging.
Anyway, long story short, I was offered the part. Then I found out who else was in it and I was ecstatic. I couldn't have asked for a better cast who all fit their roles perfectly. Rehearsals were relaxing and challenging (in a good way). We had an amazing time. And I found so much in common with this character, this very disturbed little girl. Apart from witnessing her father die in a tragic and bizarre accident, and having no communication/relationship with her mother, and the whole building a bomb thing, I did have a lot in common with Miss Janice. We are only children, we did voices for our stuffed animals and dolls (although I hated dolls, but stuffed animals, very correct), we have a single parent, we got lonely at times, we talk to ourselves, we daydream, we had teen idol crushes (hers was JT, mine was Joey McIntyre. duh.), we fought with our mothers, we felt like people didn't understand us, we were outcasts at school, some popular girls were very mean to us, we were hyper.
I will miss her.
And I will miss my Crumble people. So many thanks and love to the Apartment (Gou!), JS, for continuing to be a great and committed scene partner (even though I didn't even get to look at him). JT/Dad/Harrison, EM, one of my best friends who had me cracking up throughout the show and who I can ALWAYS count on. Mom, ER, for being supportive and lovely and funnier than she thinks! Crazy Aunt Barbara, KA, for being everyone's cheerleader, for being witty and understanding and wise and silly. To Sheila for writing a beautiful, crazy, bizarre, moving, hilarious, intense, tragic, hopeful script. To our kick ass stage manager CC and assistant stage manager KJ for having a shit ton of props to set, and lots and lots of sound cues, and who always seemed to be on top of it all and one step ahead of everyone else. To our designers who, let's face it, were in-fucking-credible. I didn't know how the show was going to work design wise when I read it. And they ended up creating this amazing world. And finally, to our fearless leader, City Mouse, who is a truly gifted director and an incredible person who I love to work with and always seems to pull out the best stuff from me and the actors around her.
And, of course, thank you to everyone who saw it. We were either sold out or almost sold out every night. Thank you all for your support.
No comments:
Post a Comment