On one of the various feeds which now seem to help define my life, there was a posting regarding 'The Fall of Saigon', which occurred at the end of April 1975. And suddenly, virtually unbidden, came a rush of memories regarding a milestone of my life from that general time.
Spring, 1975. Earlier in that school year (my freshman year at Waukegan West High School) I had auditioned for a school musical ( You're A Good Man, Charlie Brown ), in part due to some input from one of my teachers, Mr Contois. He had taken me, the budding class clown, to the side and suggested I look into what I later learned were called 'individual events' (ie: speech competitions, etc). And so I joined with my sister and auditioned. I got called back, but not cast. And while I cannot really recall precisely why, I went ahead and volunteered for some work calls. My first few hours on a crew were spent with a nail puller on a Saturday morning. Then I began working on the electrics crew for You're A Good Man, Charlie Brown which resulted in my being a board operator for at least one of the performances. And this was in a smaller venue at my high school, which had an older (for that day) light control system that involved the classic 'switchboard style patch bay' and a series of large, truncheon shaped handles to control the dimmers. To link the dimmers you twisted the handles into a specific position, which ganged them together. Then you ran the master up or down...
The image below shows a similar, but larger, system at another venue (not one that I have worked):
My freshman year was the last year that both of the cities high schools (Waukegan East and my campus, Waukegan West) would be producing a combined Spring musical. That year it was The Wizard of Oz. I auditioned and ended up being cast in the role of The Wizard. And that role, with its rehearsal process and age makeup and all such things are amongst the memories triggered by the anniversary of the fall of Saigon. In part because of one instance where four of us (the performers who played the Cowardly Lion, the Scarecrow, the Tin Woodsman, Dorothy, and I - we hung out together mainly because one of the actors lived near me and so gave me rides to the East campus rehearsals and from there home, etc) were outside of the rehearsal space and, hearing what I believe was a test of a tornado siren, the Tin Woodsman commented 'Oh no! It's Ho Chi Minh!'
And that incident, over the years, has mingled with memories of running out of hair coloring spray, so the adult tech director came up with the idea of putting 'clown white' greasepaint in my hair to accomplish the required age effect for one performance. And of needing to shampoo my hair upwards of six times, including at least one washing using my sisters 'Bonnie Bell 10 o' 6' astringent as part of the process of getting it out. And that same tech director synching his gesticulating shadow onto the cyc to match my amplified voice and serve as a 'special effect' for the Wizards audience chamber scenes.
As I will sometimes say when I am feeling contemplative: Herrmn.
It seems a more than a bit strange to realize that, with an occasional gap or three, I have been involved with the theatre in one manner or another for ~39 years. And thankfully I am, and hope to continue, learning and exploring every day.
Help Me Continue My Educational Momentum
A portfolio of my various work and projects, both theatrical and otherwise.
More ramblings to follow.
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