Too much has happened recently to go into detail about it all. Tech Week went wonderfully. We finished out Music Man with an excellent matinee performance and a final performance that didn't go so well on stage, but was an absolute blast backstage. My family and some friends went to Colorado. My cousins are down from Virginia. Pretty soon I'm heading off for church camp. But the coolest thing that's happening this summer (for me, anyway) is without a doubt, mine and my fellow JOY members' trip to Joplin, Missouri.
This year, on May 22, Joplin was almost literally attacked by a huge tornado. The entire city was practically flattened in just a few minutes. The hospital was horribly damaged. More than a hundred people were killed, and some are still missing. (Read this blog post for an inside story from one of the survivors)
A few weeks ago, my drama teacher and director, Eve Roberts, her daughter Rebecca, and my friend Julie and her mother all headed out on an impromptu trip to Joplin. While there, they helped clean up peoples' homes, handed out new toys to children, and heard lots of stories from survivors. One thing that both girls were amazed at was the amount of hope the residents of Joplin have.
Case in point.
Meanwhile, back home in Texas, the cast of Music Man was feeling pretty depressed and restless. We missed performing. We missed the fellowship of being in a cast. We missed each other. The people in the cast of a play may not consider each other their best friends, but it is impossible to go through what we went through without really, sincerely loving each other.
I think we all were trying to think of excuses to get together over the summer. The next time we saw each other was going to be in October when we all would audition for "Sound of Music". The ideal hang-out opportunity would be, of course, another play, but Mrs Roberts had said that we wouldn't be doing a play until the spring. Sadness, right?
Well, maybe not. Certain members of the cast -- I won't name names -- *cough cough* Jameson *cough cough* Wil -- are quite diabolical. Within a few weeks of striking the set, they had a plan. And within a few days of them suggesting their plan to Mrs Roberts, we were set to do "The Importance of Being Ernest" -- as a benefit for Joplin.
Only a few of us are in the cast -- the play doesn't exactly require a cast of thousands. I'm playing the wonderfully horrible Lady Bracknell, a stuffy, snooty old lady -- my favorite kind of character to play. It is a bit sad because not everyone I miss will be in the play, but the people that I would have missed the most are, so I'm not too miserable. :P
Actually, I'm quite happy. As we found out very recently, we will -- get this -- be performing in Joplin!!!!
Okay, okay -- so I kind of screamed really really loudly when I found out...
Anyway, if you're interested in hearing more about our performance dates and ways you can contribute, message me on FaceBook or comment on this post. I am incredibly excited about this. We get to bring hope to an already hopeful community. And, at the same time, I get to hang out with some of my best friends. I don't know about you, but I think God's in this; God's pretty good, isn't he?
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