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Serving Our Seniors is someone to call when you need help.
Auditions for “Calendar Girls” were held
the end of February 2016, rehearsals
were held three days per week and lines
had to be memorized by April 11th.
Everyone has their own technique
for memorizing lines. Some of the
performers record the lines, others write
the lines down, Kate said she rehearsed
with her husband on long car rides. “He
would quiz me as I was driving.”
Barbara was in theater when she
was young. “I stopped and raised
a family, then took care of my
husband. When everything was
back to ground zero – no more
kids, no husband, no job, I went
back to it. Harlequins happily took
me in at my age. I enjoy it, totally,
but I do find that I have a harder
time memorizing the lines,” she
said.
She recalls, “There was one night that I had
a complete senior moment and could not
remember my next line. I couldn’t have told
you the name of the show to save my life –
on stage,” she said as she smiled.
Tabetha was quick to commiserate, “I did
that too, my last couple of lines of this
show!”
They all agree, forgetting lines happens all
the time, which is what makes live theater exciting and
fun to do.
Jim, who worked on the sets, said “Tonight I heard
some lines that I never heard before.” Everyone
laughed in agreement.
Then Jennifer confessed, “Tonight I said a line on stage
that I never said before. After I said it, I was thinking –
Shoot! I was supposed to be saying that line all along.”
The room busted out in laughter.
When trying to produce the show, it took some
engineering to strategically hide body parts to give the
illusion that the Calendar Girls were nude - although
they weren’t. “It was important to do this right. We
wanted to feel comfortable and just as important, we
wanted the audience to feel comfortable,” Jennifer said.
The performers said that they
have not received any negative
feedback about the play. In fact, the
comments have been very positive,
such as, “I laughed and I cried, It
was fabulous!, I loved the show!,
This was wonderful!”
When the show is done, they
celebrate with a cast party and then
they tear down the sets – everything
goes away. They move on to
producing the next show.
If you are age 60 or better and never had
any theater experience, here is what they
have to say to you – “Come on out”! They
will welcome anybody at any time in any
capacity. If you are afraid of the stage,
there is still a place for you. Best of all, no
experience is necessary.
They need help with props, lights, sound,
recording, painting, costumes, sewing
and they need people to help build sets.
If that doesn’t appeal to you, come to see
the shows! It is such an intimate theater.
After the show, guests can come back
stage and they will take you around and
give you a tour of the behind the scenes.
Lori shared that she was drawn to
Harlequins when she saw an ad that
Harlequins put out. It said something like…
“All you have to do is breathe”. So she responded and
loves every minute of her volunteer experience.
As a proponent of successful aging, I will close with a
great couple of lines that Barbara says in “Calendar
Girls” “… The danger, girls, of age, is what you think
age expects of you… Why? Because the small
incidents of life will expand to fill the hours you allot
them and the saddest thing on God’s earth is those
with the fewest hours left allowing less and less to fill
more and more.”
To explore how you can become
involved in Harlequins Theatre,
call
419-621-1311 or go to
419-624-1856 800-564-1856
Lori Demres
Ann Marie Muehlhauser
Tabetha Sarkkinen
