Was I Ever That Young?

[mrdreamjeans]

The 34-member cast of "Wonderful Town" includes 8 interns. The octet (four young men and four young women) ranges in age from 14-19. They're an eager group and their excitement at being part of a major production, touches everyone. They are doing excellent work, though one of the young guys needs to focus and cheer down:) I find it interesting that three of the youngins (male) identify themselves as Gay and are out to family and friends. They all came out at 14! I was speaking to one of the other actors, expressing my surprise at this fact. He's a college theater professor and said that while it's admirable that the Gay teens are so assured and certain, the lack of a closet door actually hinders them in in their acting studies. Because they haven't struggled with coming out or experienced any hardship, they have no frame of reference to play straight. I'm pondering that ... I've never played Gay for pay ... Interesting point ...

Part of the interns' charm is their desire to fit in ... to be fully included in the process of putting the show together, to have the same level of professionalism expected of them, to not be isolated because of their age. They want to be treated the same as everyone else. I agree. Though there are boundaries. They are, after all, teens and inappropriate behavior with them is verboten. Sometimes, their naivete comes shining through and leads to funny moments. During yesterday's tech, I was sent upstairs to the hair department. Chris, the young bearish hair assistant, gave me a close cropped hair cut and shaved parts of my beard. I'm now sporting a mustache and muttonchops and to my surprise, I really like it on me:) When I came back to the stage, the interns came rushing up to me and the following exchange occurred:

15-year old female intern eager to show her knowledge): "Wow, Neil, I really like the pork chops!!!"
Me: "Ummmm...Thank you?"
17-year old male intern out to prove the female intern wrong : "Silly, they're not pork chops, they're lamp chops!" LOL!

Oh well, they kept getting closer ... Was I ever that young? Regardless, I had a picture taken with the new look, wearing my police hat. I'll post it soon!