Opening Night...Closing Night...Added Show (spoilers haha)

The production came and went, and I have to say that my first college show is one that I will never forget, and could not trade with for anything. The show, Dog Sees God: Confessions of a Teenage Blockhead, was a student-directed production for the 2009-2010 season at WU, and did I mention that it was AMAZING?!?!

It was so different and crazy to actually be in a show where I come in knowing absolutely no one, and leaving with the feeling that I have known these people forever. The cast truly felt like a family where everyone has their souls poured into this show to make it an amazing experience for every audience. And the audience agreed. A few minutes before places was called the night of our second run, our director, David Hutto, told the cast and crew how the Dean of the Department of Theatre and Dance was so impressed, he asked us to extend our run. So, we added a Saturday matinee performance to calm down the ticket sales.

It didn't help much as few people came to see the newly added run time, but every audience left with a smile, a tear, and a thought about what they just saw. Was Beethoven gay? Was CB gay? Was Matt jealous or was their something else? What happens to the kids now? Their lives have been thrown for a loop by the death of a dear friend, and no one got to say goodbye. Though, hope comes to all in a letter of hope written by Charles Schultz.

Using the peanuts gang for this show seems necessary as much as it seems that it isn't. Try to imagine the show without the peanuts and just using the same characters but in a generic fashion. The point doesn't come across as hard. This is because the peanuts gang is a group of kids everyone grows up with, be it the newspaper every Sunday, or watching the Christmas special on CBS. To see these genuine hearts be torn into pieces in one fell swoop is shocking but makes the message that this happens. This message is something that the director was trying to stress. That these issues are faced all the time, and even in what we think is purest, the peanuts, its still there.

On a happy note, we sold out 5 of the 6 performances, with many returning audience members. It just shows how impacting this show can be. Especially for the actors, themselves. It was the first time I had played as the antagonist for any show, and I really had fun with it. I hope I don't get type-casted as the average douche-bag from now on.

All in all, a show so good, words can't fully describe.

At least I'm in another show right now.

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