Peter Pan

THEATER 13
-summer 1986
The summer before college, i returned to the Pennington Players for another show at the Park. Judi again directed, and our student/mentor relationship continued. She introduced me to "Respect for Acting", by Uta Hagen, which became the teaching i would use most as an actor. I was cast as a lost boy, Nibs. The cast was a good group, with plenty of old and new faces. We had an actual pirate ship in the pit, and had a professional flying system brought in from New York. For a while, Judi had been threatening to make a dancer out of me. Not that i had been hopelessly clumsy, but, well… Most of the lost boys were younger. The dancers were closer to my age, and i was hitting it off with them (including Kathy Guthrie, my little crush from the year before). Early on, one or two male dancers dropped out, and Judi gave me the option of being a dancer instead of Nibs. Understand, my whole history up to this point had been in some ways a process of "How do i get more lines?". The idea of giving up lines, and a named character…anyone who knew me (including myself) would have thought, "No way that happens". But that's what i did, and sensed that Judi was proud. During an early rehearsal, a dancer named Dave suggested we oil up our bodies to make girls notice us more. He seemed the kind of attractive and popular i had never quite been in high school, so i went along with it. But i realized it was silly, and did it only once. Another dancer was ex-Youth Clubber Doug Russell (Beau from MAME), a friend of Judi's. We became friends, and it was a little amazing to become a peer to someone i had looked up to. That summer, he developed a monumental crush on Kathy. I was still a little sweet on her, but he was deeply smitten, so i put aside my crush. I went out with them a couple times, my presence taking the pressure off it being a "date". I was proud of being a dancer. I was slower than many, but i worked at it. We played indians, and they put body makeup on me called Texas Dirt. It clung to everything it touched, but i loved it. Our run had more trouble with rain than any i've ever done, we lost several performances. The wonderful Jim Patton returned, as a pirate. John Kling and Betty Henninger were a pirate and Tiger Lily. Jill Kowalski (goofy, bright, and my age) became my buddy. Pam Jerde and Lydia Brock nicknamed me Robishk and/or Throb. We visited Pam the following spring, when she was sadly preparing to move to Texas. She was so open and sassy and sexy, i would have been happy with any direction our friendship took. One of the coolest guys was Mark Lavinthal, on the tech staff. He never wore shoes, and did a fantastic impression of Jim from "Taxi". I once again had a special child buddy, Ariel Moule, daughter of Jan, who played Peter. The best moment of the show came in rehearsal. At one point the dancers played trees who come alive, and the costumes kept not arriving. We needed to know how we'd be able to move in them, and concern was growing. So one night, i went outside and returned wearing huge branches i had found on the way to rehearsal (the costumer called me a smartass). Dave and i received a note from two girls in the audience one night, saying that they thought we were cute, and could they meet us (see http://unboughtsoul.blogspot.com/2009/06/tracy-tessie-girl-pam.html). The final night brought a poignant moment. I had a huge crush on Kathy's best friend, a brunette dancer who was so attractive it was almost hard to look at her. I'd never had the nerve to tell her. At the cast party in an old schoolhouse, i was one of the last to leave. I said goodbye to Mark, and he happily told me that she was waiting for him inside. I drove away, and watched the lights go out.