“A Strange Turn of Events” Final Chapter

My Adventures and Short Brush with Fame in Community Theater

Comet Hyakutake is a Comet that passed close to the earth in March 1996. Its passage was called the “Great Comet of 1996.” “Its passage to the earth was the closest Cometary approaches of the previous 200 years.”

Which reminds me of… 

After Louise Van Meters Christmas show back in 1963, my parents and I were walking back to the old station wagon to go home. On our way back I heard a woman say to her family “The show was fun but THAT MOUSE WAS A REAL HAM!” To which I piped up “Hey I was THE MOUSE!” The parents cracked up at this and I felt flattered albeit I had no idea what it meant by being a “Ham” but I figured it was something really good!

Yeah, I guess I was a real “Ham” during Tartuffe.

When I look back I can only surmise that my performance was an act of channeled anger towards past critics and the industry that had rejected me.

So in retrospect – my performance was me giving my middle finger to all critics and naysayers.

Was it good acting?  The answer would probably be no. But was it fun? Did the Audience love the show? Hell yeah! Did I have a good time? You betcha! 

Speaking of critics I ended up getting a copy of the videotape of the show. I sent a copy of the play to some of my fellow acting friends from the Playhouse. Their response to watching it was silence or muted, to say the least.

Even my friend Jimmy was rather quiet about the whole thing – and Jimmy is rarely quiet about anything in regards to acting!

Their response was not unexpected – after all, we had all been schooled that acting was “Acting Truthfully Under Imaginary Circumstances” and my performance was anything but Truthful.

Or maybe it was?

After all, what is really the Truth? And who’s Truth are we talking about? Perhaps I was just “truthfully” revealing the ridiculous side of my personality?

And if the audience was “Entertained” wasn’t that point?

Anyway, my Playhouse friends were all probably horror-f*ckingfied. But I didn’t give a damn what anybody thought – I had gotten in the ring against a Goliath of an acting task and given it my best shot. And not only had I gone the distance but I was carried out in triumph.  The theater was packed every night, the audience enjoyed the show and we all had fun.

So, I remained bloodied but unbowed!

Taking a final bow…

And just like that, it was over. We did our last performance Saturday night and on Sunday we came back to help strike the set. That being done we all planned a cast party for the following weekend. 

The party was on a Saturday and we all gathered for one last time. True to form I ended up with most of the contents of the party splashed or dribbled over the nice white shirt I wore. Hence that night I have stuck to wearing darker colors whenever I go out. 

It was a bittersweet gathering. On one hand, I was greatly relieved to have survived my first foray into Community Theater. On the other hand, I was sad because it was over. I had enjoyed the attention and certain notoriety of being the lead in a successful show. 

During the party, we drank a lot, ate a lot and laughed a lot. Like I said they were a great group of folks to work with. I was sorry that this was it. 

Later in the evening…This where it all ends. 

And as the party was ready to break up – and we were all going to go our separate ways…

The lead actress turned to me and said in parting  – “Charlie, you were so brave onstage. And look you even brought a Comet with you!” And with these words, she led me outside and pointed to the sky. And there it was. 

End of Part 12

Fine. 

About this Story…

Well, damn that was epic, huh? I had no idea that this “short story would turn into this twenty-page single-spaced monster. So if you have followed along – many thanks for your patience.

How it came about?

After a friend from the Neighborhood Playhouse had passed away in the Spring of 2019 – a lot of my former classmates were reconnecting on Facebook. 

Since I was being asked: “Are you still acting, Charlie?

I thought it might be cool to give my friends from the Playhouse humorous synopsis of my life after graduation.

This story encapsulates about a decade of my life. Most of the story is true. Some poetic licence was taken to punch up the humor.

I hope you enjoyed the journey.