And You'll Be Glad If You Do...

Wow, what a wild time. I typically try not to let what’s happening in the real world get in the way of what I write or think about too much. You can find that kind of noise anywhere, and I don’t want my turf to be just “anywhere”. The things I like to do (such as directing theatre) often serve as nice distractions from real world problems, but wow! It’s certainly a challenge right now to put yourself in that bubble when we've been mandated to put ourselves into an almost literal bubble! 

Several days ago, the difficult call was made to cancel the first show of Corn Stock’s season this summer, fresh off the heels of needing to cancel their spring children’s production which was already quite far into its rehearsal process (with a set even already built). It’s disheartening to think of these productions that won’t happen, and what does that mean for all the remaining shows coming this summer? Well...heck I know as much about that right now as as you do. It’s difficult to see things as far away as June being canceled; your initial thoughts become “are we going to be stuck home until then?” I don’t have that answer, but we must remember that the reason some of those things can’t happen is because of the time being lost right now; by looking out for each other and staying home now (Right? You are doing that I hope) means a show meant to open in May or early June loses the critical time in March and April necessary to prepare. Even the Tony Awards in June have been postponed, not necessarily because we will still be stuck at home in early June, but because the Broadway shows that were supposed to be opening right now can’t do so.

So anyways, I’m happy to reinforce that Mary Poppins is STILL on the schedule for August, and auditions are STILL scheduled for the middle of May. That’s all the information I need in order to (what?) keep moving forward. Today I re-watched Saving Mr. Banks and I was originally going to sort of review and give my thoughts on that movie, but I think I’ll wait until my next post for that in order to share something different now. 

Yesterday I got roasted (not really) on Facebook because out of boredom I answered that movie survey that’s going around, and on the question MOVIE YOU’RE MOST EMBARRASSED THAT YOU LOVE I answered Pollyanna. You know, that Disney movie from the early 1960s that starred Hayley Mills? Yes, it’s true. I grew up loving that movie. One of its most memorable elements was how Pollyanna would play what she called “The Glad Game”. This was a simple optimistic philosophy she lived by in which she encouraged others to find something positive in EVERY situation, even if it seemed like a hopeless one. In light of this week that seems so bleak, guess what? We’re going to play the “Glad Game” right now. And I have not one, but TWO things to share.

First one: my wife Jenny and I have for several years joked about getting a third cat. I’ve always been the one holding out, thinking we had our hands full with the two we already have, but she brought up that since we were going to be at home quite a bit for a while, there was no better time to introduce another cat into our household. And she has a birthday coming up where we won’t be able to do much fun because we’ll all still be stuck at home. I feel bad about that, so I caved and said let’s do it. 

That was Friday night and by Sunday we had brought home Dottie, an 8 year old rescue from PFS Shelter here in Peoria. This is a wonderful place and getting to see their cozy friendly shelter and the love and care they give their animals made me fall hard for this organization. I encourage anyone who needs a pet to seek them out. Here’s the “glad part” of this situation: Last week, they placed 12 cats (a VERY high number for only a week) into new homes and on Sunday Dottie was just one of TWO cats getting a home that day. It seems lots of people had a similar idea as we did. So in this difficult time, a LOT of animals that need homes have been getting them. I’m glad about that.

Here’s the second thing I’m glad about this week: yesterday I was holed up in one room (with Dottie at my side) doing a training course for class...in fact it's the same class I started this blog for! (Hi everyone from BUSMM reading this) It was taking quite a while, and about 75% of the way through I decided to give myself a break and just walk around my house for a minute. I happened to glance out our front window for a split second, and managed to see this: across the street I noticed it was our little neighbor’s birthday; the pink balloons and “Happy Birthday Addison” sign basically gave that away. Obviously for a little kid (or anyone really), it’s sort of a bummer time to be having a birthday. Well, the very second I looked out my window, which was the ONLY time I looked out a window at all yesterday, I saw another little girl, maybe five or six years old, running down the street and up to Addison’s door. She placed an envelope in the door, knocked, and after a moment, waved from the yard and ran back home. I’m so glad that if I was going to take just thirty seconds to look out my window yesterday, that it happened right at the time I was able to catch this little moment. Remember two posts ago when I said “Feed the Birds” teaches us that little gestures can mean a lot? There it was. And I'm not even talking about what the little girl did for Addison on her birthday. I'm talking about what it did for me.

If you were planning to audition for Mary Poppins, I’m GLAD because I still plan on seeing you there in May! Until next time, think of something you can be glad about and remember that good luck will rub off if I DON'T shake hands with you.

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