No Business Like Show Business

“There’s no business like show business,

Like no business I know.”

                              Irving Berlin

Though not very showy, I will lead off with my medical report. My prostate cancer treatments are history - yay. My first bloodwork and follow up with the doctor were spectacular. Hurray! Good news all around. A few nagging side effects are still around, but lessening. That is also good news. I am aware that these pesky problems may never completely resolve, but hey – life is good!

I am fully back to what passes as work for me nowadays. I am directing the high school musical at my old job. Our show is next week. Unlike in years gone by, I am a bit stressed this year. My stress level is much better than it was just a short time ago. A few weeks ago, I would wake up at 2:00 AM and not be able to get back to sleep. At least I am now sleeping through the night. In days of yore, I did not sweat the musical at all one week out. This time around, my shirt is just a little damp.

Dealing with the radiation treatments while holding auditions and rehearsals was more challenging than I expected. The weather has not been kind to our rehearsal schedule, either. We lost five rehearsals from an already tight schedule due to snow, ice and bitter cold with crazy wind chills. Wednesday evening religious education classes used to end in early February when I was teaching. The new director of this program scheduled classes into late March, eliminating almost all opportunities for Wednesday night rehearsals. The usual senior class trip included the juniors this year, and is occurring the week before our show as usual.

Still, the show must go on. We are performing “The Addams Family.”  It is a very funny production with catchy tunes. As you might expect, it is a dark comedy. The kids are doing a very nice job with it and seem to be having a lot of fun with it. We are doing the high school edition, which has been somewhat “cleaned up” to maybe a PG rating. I have further modified the script to avoid controversy. There are a few too many references to intimate situations for a high school show in a small, Catholic community in my opinion, even with the high school edition. I am retired, and I don't need a lot of hassles. Still, this is a very funny and the audiences will enjoy it.

I like directing the musical. I was fortunate to have had a boatload of volunteer help from my unpaid assistant/choreographer/former band student. Still, I find that it is much more challenging directing the show when one is not on the teaching staff.  I can’t interact with the kids in a timely fashion each day, I cannot talk to the principal, treasurer, scenery painter, vendors, etc. as easily as I did when I was teaching. If it weren’t for my assistant, I would still be waking up at 2:00 AM every night. Thanks, Sherri - you have been a true blessing for me this year!

This is the 32^nd musical that I have directed. Maybe 32 shows are enough.