Tech week is long and grueling.
Hours standing, hours waiting.
The lights that need to be adjusted. The sets that just won't get where they need to be.
Tech week is also my favorite.
(after actually performing that is)
It's where the magic begins.
It's where all these little quirks about the show begin to develop
and the closest bonds between people begin to form.
What I like about theatre is the fluidity and continuity.
Unlike a movie that is shot out of order and then edited for months before it can be viewed,
stage actors tell a story to your face.
It adds a sense of urgency, a need to get it right and to give every audience a good show.
In theatre, we give you a frame.
The stage.
You see everything on the stage, but there is more that you don't see and that is everything outside of the frame.
You don't see the lost boys/girls offstage doing a dance to "shake off the girl" and get into character right before Act 2.
You also don't see us grasping hands and praying right before we run on stage.
You don't see Tom, down in the pit, literally blowing the smoke from the fog machine out of the mushroom.
You don't see the pirates nicely handing the lost boys their gags and hand ties right before they lead us away captive.
Before the nursery scene you don't see fifteen sweaty bodies piled on top of each other behind the Darling window.
You don't see the stage manager calling the shots or the guys pulling the ropes to fly Peter, Wendy, Michael and John.
You don't see us running offstage and guzzling down water bottles or any of the quick changes.
You don't see us warming up and having dance parties to Uptown Funk.
There's a lot more you don't see, but I can't give away all our secrets.
The night of the very first Peter Pan performance, when I arrived home, I got out of my car and stared up at the sky. As I looked up at the stars in that vast expanse I felt as if my heart might burst. Thankfulness, awe, and wonder that I was getting to do the thing that I love doing the very most.
The Neverland state of mind is believing that adventures are waiting around every corner and that fun is the most important. Somehow staring up at the night sky helped me to believe that.
Adventures are waiting around every corner and fun is important.
While I waited for my car lights to turn off (it takes sixty seconds - weird I know) I was thanking God that not only did he put this desire to perform and entertain inside of me, but that he was letting me do it. That He didn't put it there for nothing, but with a purpose. He gives gifts to be used.
Then, directly after my car lights turned off, the biggest fattest shooting star went rolling across the sky. It didn't shoot. It rolled and dragged it's gleaming golden tail all the way across and I watched it the whole way.
I cried a little because I'm emotional like that and I knew God put it there for me.
Neverland is not just a nice place we pretended about for a few months while we rehearsed for a show. Neverland is a place we keep in our hearts always- even as we inevitably grow old. It is the place that takes joy in the smallest occurrences, the place we belly laugh from about nothing in particular, and the place we hope for almost impossible things from. Neverland, is the part of our hearts that longs for adventure and fun.
While we are "leaving Neverland" we never have to fully leave.
We keep looking for adventure, for good friends that are more like family, and for a life.... lived fully.
So I made this video.
For the memories.
For the cast and crew that is so in my heart.
And for Neverland.
