lessons learned: alice in wonderland

The show has been over for more than a week now.  Life has calmed down.  Things are getting back to normal.

And I miss being Alice terribly.

I can’t even begin to describe the feelings of exuberance and pure JOY that I had while playing this role.  I kind of fell in love with her.  As with all of the shows, I just had to write a “Lessons Learned” post.  These posts help me to remember WHY I love performing and help me to reflect on the experience.  I have the worst memory ever, so I have to write this stuff down.

Some things I’ve learned from Alice in Wonderland:

It’s fun playing a child!  And not that far of a stretch.

I thought it was fun playing a mean old lady in Wizard of Oz.  But wow – I think I’ve found my niche.  From now on, I’ll only take roles that involve acting naïve, confused, and just a little bit stupid.   I’ve loved it.  I think more than anything though – I loved portraying someone so INNOCENT.  It was quite refreshing.

Alice In Wonderland is a weird flippin’ play!

A magical cat that can take his head off.  A caterpillar that dances and acts a wee too much like a gigolo.  A deck of playing cards that march around and paint roses.  I’m sorry if you knew Lewis Carroll personally (which is highly doubtful as he died in 1898) or are related to him or are offended by pot jokes….but that guy was smoking something when he wrote Alice In Wonderland.

The key to success is REPETITION.

As with exercise and healthy eating, repeating the same positive behavior over and over will produce positive results.  You have to KEEP DOING it – keep going to the gym, keep choosing that salad over the fries.  Little by little, you’ll see results.  The same with memorizing lines.  The key to my success was most definitely REPETITION.  Every day, I stood in my kitchen and said those lines over and over and over.  Repetition saved me onstage.

We’re all destined for greatness.

You just have to find those couple of things that you were born to be great at.  And then put in the work it takes to really make yourself shine.  Not only are we all destined for greatness, I think we all really crave at least one time to be in the spotlight.  This was my one time.  And it was truly so much fun.

The “bug” bites HARD!

Now that Alice is over, all I can think about is the NEXT show – how I could manage it, would it be too much to take on right now.  Actually, auditions for Annie Get Your Gun are TONIGHT!  I’ve asked Travis if I can audition and he’s still praying about it.  Whatever he decides is best is what I’ll do.  So right now, I’m just waiting on his decision.  More than anything, I really just love being around all the PEOPLE that do these shows – they’re so creative and smart and fun.  My show family is like no other. :)

More “Lessons Learned” posts:

Lessons Learned – Wizard of Oz

Lessons Learned – New Job

QUESTION:  Have you learned any lessons lately??  Do tell.

splendid…lindsay