May - September: A reunion

PLAYMILL CAST 2013

Max Benson

John Bidwell

Joseph Bidwell

Lesley Bidwell

Trudy Bidwell

Jacob Chapman

Liz Chapman

Jerry Costner 

Justin Dabell 

Joseph Galati 

Misha Jenkins 

Mason Lucero

Eliza Merrill 

Maggie Merrill 

Scott Michelsen

Tanner Morton 

Sydney Wise 

Camilla Martinez 

David Martinez 

Justin Maxfield 

Nicole Maxfield

Taylor Regen 

Jacob Squire

Stacey Starke 

Hannah Thompson 

Amanda Van Orden 

David Walker 

Anya Wilson 

Boyd Wolz 

So Jacob and I have talked about auditioning before. (And apparently, we met and spoke at callbacks for the Playmill in 2009, which I have no memory of.) But this year we went for it.

And we're in.

WE'RE IN!!!

And I gotta tell the story of getting cast, because it's kind of amazing.

We auditioned on Saturday, and got called back, and felt we did really well. We were told we would find out if we were cast by a phone call sometime in the next two weeks. I spent all day Sunday and Monday alternating between despair, ecstatic hope, and complete terror. My prayers during the last week or so have been something along the lines of "Please bless us that we will be cast at Playm--*sigh* Please help us to accept thy will."

By Monday night, I was a wreck. I had a tech rehearsal for The Tempest, and Jacob was at home doing homework. My siblings-in-law Dave and Camilla were also in The Tempest, and had also been called back for the Playmill. Watching them at rehearsal, I began to convince myself that they had been cast. My instincts are often right on this kind of thing, and since Jacob and I hadn't gotten a phone call, I began to lose hope that we were cast. We had heard rumors earlier in the day that the Merrills were making phone calls, and since we hadn't received one...well...

So I got more and more depressed throughout rehearsal, to the point where others were asking me what was wrong, and finally sent Jacob a text message:

"I'm at the point of anxious despair when it comes to Playmill. I've convinced myself that everyone we love was cast and we weren't."

And then I went onstage to do a scene, trying to concentrate on Shakespeare and not my cell phone.

Meanwhile, Jacob was at home, taking a break from his homework. He decided to trim his hair and take a shower. While in the shower, he started daydreaming about the Playmill. He imagined that when he got out of the shower, he would find that he had missed a call from Roger Merrill, offering us a position at the Playmill. He got swept up and carried away by the vision, until he finally reminded himself to chill out and not get his hope up too high.

When he got out of the shower, he heard his cell phone. It was making the noise that signifies a missed call.

He ran to the phone, and checked it. An unknown number. But he had a voicemail. So he dialed it.

"Please enter your password, then press pound....you have one new message...first unheard message...Hi, this is Roger Merrill, just wanted to talk to you about the Playmill..."

Jacob called him back right away, and when Roger offered us positions at the Playmill, he accepted. Then he hung up and laughed out loud for five minutes, occasionally jumping around the room in excitement. After his celebrations were complete, he noticed he had a new text message. It was from me, explaining my despair over Playmill. He began composing a reply.

Switch back to my perspective. I got off stage, and picked up my cell phone to see that I had a new text message. Oh good, I thought, Jacob is offering me some words of comfort. I checked the message and found this:

"I literally just got off the phone with Roger. We're in."

I gasped and ran in circles for about 4 seconds, then dashed out into the lobby to call Jacob back. He confirmed that it was true, and I danced for about five more minutes, and then went back into rehearsal, attempting to contain my glee.

When I got home that night, the two of us hugged each other and laughed and danced and talked. We told each other our experiences, then kneeled in prayer to thank our Heavenly Father for this incredible blessing.

Neither of us could really accept that it was real until we saw the cast list. Also note the presence of family and good friends, like Dave and Camilla, Nicole and Justin Maxfield, Jerry Costner, Scott Michelson, the Bidwells, the Merrills, Dave Walker, and Stacey Starke.

We're both thrilled. THRILLED THRILLED THRILLED. We also both have a few fears...Jacob's worried about his voice holding up, and I'm worried about trying to repeat the past instead of letting things be what they are, and we're both worried about maintaining a strong marriage under the stress of summer stock theatre. But we feel armed against whatever may be...we've got love, friendship, patience, service, a love of theatre, and a whole lotta excitement. =)

See you in West Yellowstone this summer!