#THROWBACK THURSDAY, OCTOBER 2020

I TOOK A WALK DOWN MEMORY LANE THIS MORNING. ONCE UPON A TIME I WAS A PROFESSIONAL ACTRESS AND YES, IT SEEMS LIKE A LIFETIME AGO.

I STILL HAVE THE BEST MEMORIES FROM THOSE DAYS THOUGH .I ACTUALLY MET MY HUSBAND, TERRY, ON STAGE IN THE WINDSOR LIGHT OPERA!

4 CHILDREN, SOON TO BE 6 GRANDCHILDREN LATER THIS MUM AND ‘NONNY’ IS VERY HAPPY TO BE OUT OF THE THEATRE BUSINESS BUT MISSES THE MUSIC PERFORMANCE BUSINESS QUITE A LOT. COVID HAS MADE IT VIRTUALLY IMPOSSIBLE FOR MOST PROFESSIONAL ENTERTAINERS TO SUPPORT THEMSELVES FINANCIALLY RIGHT NOW AND MY HEART GOES OUT TO PEOPLE LIKE MY DAUGHTER , EMILY, AND HER PARTNER, GEOFF, WHO LONG TO PERFORM LIVE THE TUNES FROM THEIR VERY FIRST AND BRAND NEW ALBUM (BAD BUDDY) !

SO TODAY I WAS LOOKING THROUGH SOME OLD PHOTO ALBUMS AND FOUND SOME FUN REVIEWS OF A COUPLE OF THEATRE SHOWS I DID IN THE ‘OLD DAYS’.

IN ‘SPINOFF’ I HAD THE JOY OF PLAYING VACUOUS ‘VICKI WICKEY’,A TRUE ‘AIR HEAD’ WHO BROUGHT OUT THE LAUGHS IN THIS ABSOLUTELY SILLY PLAY. THE STAGE WAS ABOUT THE SIZE OF A LARGE TABLE…HA HA…AND THE DIRECTOR CRAMMED THIS FAIRLY LARGE CAST ONTO THAT THING EVERY NIGHT. AT ONE POINT,ONE OF MY FELLOW LEADS ACTUALLY FELL OFF STAGE RIGHT …RIGHT INTO THE TABLES AT THIS DINNER THEATRE. OH MAN. I TRIED UNSUCCESSFULLY NOT TO LOSE IT AND IT JUST HAPPENED TO BE THE ONE ‘SERIOUS’ MOMENT IN THE SHOW.

WHEN I LOOKED OVER AND SAW T.LAWRENCE CLIMBING BACK ON STAGE I ACTUALLY HAD TEARS ROLLING DOWN MY CHEEKS FROM LAUGHTER (HE WAS NOT HURT…JUST HIS PRIDE) AND THE WHOLE CAST JUST HAPPENED TO BE ON A COUCH FACING THE AUDIENCE …SO THEY DIDN’T MISS A THING AND LAUGHED ALONG WITH US!

I DID QUITE A FEW PLAYS AT THE PLEIADES THEATRE AS WELL. WE DID SERIOUS MURDER MYSTERIES THERE SO MY CHARACTER IN ’10 LITTLE INDIANS’ WAS THE OPPOSITE OF VACUOUS. I WAS THE CLASSIC CO-PROPRIETOR OF AN ENGLISH COUNTRYSIDE INN WITH ALL THE ENSUING MURDER AND MAYHEM THAT YOU COULD IMAGINE IN THIS CLASSIC SHOW.

ON THE WEEKENDS WE DID A MATINEE PERFORMANCE…. I WOULD BUZZ HOME TO SEE TERRY AND THE FOUR WEE ONES, HAVE LUNCH, AND THEN BACK TO THE THEATRE FOR THE EVENING PERFORMANCE.

MY FAVOURITE SHOWS TO DO WERE THE MUSICALS BECAUSE THEN I GOT TO DO IT ALL : SING, DANCE ,AND ACT. THEATRE BROUGHT ME MY HUSBAND AND SOME OF MY BEST FRIENDS IN THE WORLD TO THIS DAY I MET ON STAGE. I KNEW I WANTED TO BE AN ACTRESS FROM THE TIME I GOT MY FIRST LEAD ROLE…IN GRADE SCHOOL !!! IT WAS CALLED ‘SHIRLEY HOLMES AND THE F.B.I.’.

I MET TWO OF MY BEST FRIENDS THROUGH THE DRAMA CLUB IN HIGH SCHOOL(BARB AND MARY)AND WE STILL GET TOGETHER EVERY WEEK ON ZOOM(WITH ROSEMARY…WHO LET US ACT OUT IN GODSPELL GARB ONCE UPON A TIME)

ANOTHER SUPER CLOSE FRIEND, MARIE, I MET WHEN WE MOVED TO CALGARY. THIS IS WHERE I DID MOST OF MY ACTING WORK. MARIE, A FELLOW PERFORMER IN MANY ‘M & M’ FOR KIDS SHOWS ENDED UP TAKING CARE OF ME WHILE I HAD ONE OF MY HIP REPLACEMENTS. WE STAY CLOSE FRIENDS TO THIS DAY AS WELL.

SOME OF MY ALL TIME FAVOURITE SHOWS IN WHICH TO PERFORM ARE (THE CANADIAN PREMIER) OF CHICAGO AS ‘ROXIE HART’ ,ONE OF THE KIT KAT GIRLS IN CABARET , AND AS A ‘LUCY’ IN RAT RACE.

I’VE DONE MANY LIVE STAGE PERFORMANCES, COMMERCIALS, JINGLES, MOVIES, AND MURDER MYSTERIES TOO. I’M SO GLAD I HAD AN OPPORTUNITY TO ‘TREAD THE BOARDS’ WHILE I COULD. AND I AM BLESSED BEYOND MEASURE TO HAVE ANOTHER CAREER WITH SPIRITLINE, WRITING ORIGINAL MUSIC, RECORDING IT(WORKING ON MY 4TH ALBUM NOW), AND TOURING ACROSS CANADA A FEW TIMES.

2020 IS A CRAZY, SCARY YEAR. BUT AS ALWAYS, I LOOK FORWARD TO SEEING THE BLESSINGS THAT CONTINUE TO FLOW IN LIFE…YES, EVEN DURING A WORLDWIDE PANDEMIC WE CAN FIND GOODNESS AND INCREDIBLE HAPPINESS.

PEACE.