Category Archives: The Tales

This post best pairs with “Tornado” from The Wiz (1975). Summer in Wisconsin is really three seasons in one: lake season, construction season, and tornado season. Tornadoes are scary. There are no bones about it. They are horrific storms that cause irreparable damage. However, when you have tornado warnings every other week, you do getContinue reading “Tale #43: The Power of Manifestation”

This post best pairs with “I’ve Got A Golden Ticket” from Roald Dahl’s Willy Wonka (2004). To produce quality theater at any level can be a very expensive endeavor. Ticket sales and donations make up the majority of a community theater’s income. At VACT, the majority of the operating budget went towards show expenses andContinue reading “Tale #42: Gold in the Garbage”

This post best pairs with “Notes/Prima Donna” from The Phantom of the Opera (1988). A community theater is not truly whole without the existence of a particular group of people. These people directly contribute to the soul of community theater. As much as they annoy us, we can’t deny our theater lives would feel aContinue reading “Tale #41: The Pillar Stays”

This post best pairs with “Driving At Night/Our State Fair” from State Fair (1996). Behaviors are learned as much as they are inherited. When you learn behaviors from the same person you inherited them from, they become cemented in your core. Newsies was not the first massive set we’ve purchased and therefore had to haulContinue reading “Tale #40: The World’s Cheapest Carnival”

This post best pairs with “Toot Sweets” from Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (2005). Throughout my years at VACT, there was always one thing I could depend on being there more than anything else. There was one resource we could always guarantee we’d have at our disposal. There was one tool to improve the show experienceContinue reading “Tale #39: A Giant Box of Chocolates”

This post best pairs with “Come Out of the Dumpster” from The Wedding Singer (2006). Whenever I feel a sense of panic or an overwhelming sense of stress coming on, I immediately lay down on the floor. I find it helps with calming my heart rate, collecting my thoughts, and essentially pulling myself together. ThisContinue reading “Tale #38: Get Off The Floor”

This post best pairs with “Let’s Go Fly A Kite” from Mary Poppins (2006). One way you can surely earn status in the community theater world is to learn how to do jobs that only a select few know how to do. This makes you extremely valuable and therefore, your presence in the theater carriesContinue reading “Tale #37: Stuck in the Highest Heights”

This post best pairs with “Play” from Finding Neverland (2015). Adulthood is burdened by so many unpleasant things: work, taxes, chores, body aches, the inability to get up and down off the floor without grunting We often lose sight of how fun and relaxing it can be to just simply play like children do. FromContinue reading “Tale #36: Playing All Our Cares Away”

This post best pairs with “It’s Five O’Clock Somewhere” from Escape to Margaritaville (2018). The antics of a three year-old can make any level-headed adult crave something with a little kick. The antics of four three year-olds….you get it. Now don’t get me wrong, the majority of the time I spent teaching ballet to threeContinue reading “Tale #35: Pour Me A Whiskey”

This post best pairs with “I Got You” from Bring It On the Musical (2012). A personality quirk, flaw, hiccup, issue, however you want to put it, of mine is that I often try to do things all by myself without seeking help. Now don’t get me wrong, I enjoy teamwork. I love a goodContinue reading “Tale #34: Stuck In My Ways”