Some 36 years ago, I took part in my first production of Take 5. This, as I have probably explained at some point in the last five years, is a traditional show at East High that consists of five one-act plays, entirely produced by, written by, and directed by students. Romney took part in them her freshman, sophomore and junior years, and this year it was Emma's turn.
Back in my prehistoric days at East, the theater department used to make scrapbooks. It was our only form of social media. I have been trying to get good scans of the yearbooks from the years I was there for a few years now. I tried a couple of methods which failed miserably, and last spring I tried once more. I didn't fail miserably, but it wasn't a huge success either. Part of the problem is that the old photographs themselves just aren't that great. But I'm going to not let perfect be the enemy of good enough - I finally made a collection of photos to share with anyone from my high school years that want to see them. I wish there were more of them, and I wish they were higher quality, but I'm happy I got to share.
In that collection are a precious few photos of me in my freshman production of Take 5, in a wonderful show called "Ice Fishing," about two brothers who go ice fishing together and have talks about their divorced parents and the things they're going through. It was beautifully written, and I got to play the younger brother, a 6 year old boy. I ended up winning a "Florrie" for my performance. That was my teacher Carter's version of the end-of-year Oscar awards, named after the teacher he replaced, somebody named Florian I think. Anyway, I won for best character actor as well as another one for best surprise performance, which was a funny back-handed compliment for the best new-comer. I have always treasured those awards.
I'm going to be a little brutal here, and say that I am sad that the Take 5 plays are no longer a project for the creative writing classes at the school. They were often really remarkable pieces of writing. Now....they can still be a lot of fun but in all honesty don't have quite the level of quality they used to. Please forgive me for saying that. I was actually pleasantly surprised by the play that Emma was in this year - it was called Bad Dreams and was like a Behind the Music documentary about a band called Bad Dreams. Emma played a gal from Ireland and wow can I just say how awesome she is at accents? Her show was really quite funny. I don't have photos from the show itself, only from the afterparty! I'll check with Emma's director - our dear gal Anna - maybe she has some. (Epilogue - I just texted Anna. She has none.)
Emma was fantastic. It's so fun to watch her. I'm grateful for the theater department and how involved and happy she has been and how many friends she has made. Happily Emma got a bunch of photos from the end of year banquet, where she was the lucky recipient of 5 "wills" - tokens that are passed down from seniors to younger students. I think her gregarious attitude and willingness to get involved has really been a benefit to her.
Not only is she excited for the theater department next year, she's ecstatic about taking a more active part in the music department. She loved being a part of the orchestra this year and also the ensemble choir. She loved choir so much that she auditioned for the top tier choir for next year and was thrilled to find out that she'll be an alto in Madrigals. She's so happy about it, and even put her name in the hat to become a general officer to be part of the organizing team. I love how she is fearless about getting involved. What a great year it's been. Emma, I'm so proud of you and impressed with who you are!
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