Monday, February 13, 2012

The Dixie Swim Club and our Fifth Wedding Anniversary

Before tomorrow arrives, and it becomes-- gasp!-- three months since I've posted in this blog, I'm getting a few words on here.
I auditioned for Gypsy Theatre Company's stage production of "The Dixie Swim Club"..... And I got cast. In a great role in this hilarious, yet poignant comedy from Jones/Hope/Wooten, the playwrights who penned "Dearly Beloved", and many other, what I'd term "Southern-centric" plays.
I was cast waaaay back in December, and then we began rehearsals in January. The Cast consists of five women, and the Artistic Director, Mercury (he goes by one name only), is a marvel at combining the physicality the play demands, along with providing precise direction to us in making the very witty banter we are given, clear. So far, it's been fabulous!
We had an "Author's Night" where all three playwrights joined us on Friday, February 10th, which also happened to be my fifth wedding anniversary. (More on that in a second).
The most thrilling aspect of doing live theatre is the incredible "communion" which occurs between the actors and the audience. It is immediate gratification, and it actually feeds the process of fleshing out the character-- the human being-- we (actors) are all focused on creating.
I play "Lexie Richards", and I get to go from age 44, to 49, to 54, to 77, during the course of the show. In fact, ALL of us women age in the show, because we are all swim team members who are seen on selected weekends as we reunite every August in North Carolina's Outer Banks.
I am blessed beyond belief to get to act alongside such incredibly talented women as Debi Tenyck Hamm, Carlene Archer, Tracy Lee Holden, and Danielle Gustaveson.( who is also the Producing/Managing Director of Gypsy Theatre Company, and Mercury's lovely wife)
The audiences have been very rapt in their attention, generous in their laughter and applause, and quiet when the moment asks for it.
The show runs two more weekends, at The Cumming Playhouse, and information is here:
Http://www.gypsytheatrecompany.biz

So, five years married. Hansoo Kwon and Lisa Nanette Allender have known each other for nearly 17 years, and we have worked to make our marriage stronger and better. I've learned patience, and God knows, Hansoo has learned patience.
Here's to many more years of health and happiness for us. We are grateful for loving family, kind, supportive friends, and great food and our duet of cooking/baking, novels, poetry, music, film and theatre for the creativity it inspires in both of us. And prayer.
Peace, kids.

2 comments:

Don't Feed The Pixies said...

good luck with the play - well done you

Lisa Nanette Allender said...

Pixies-- thank you, dear! :)