Success comes in many forms

This has been a wild weekend. With 8 performances of the Secret Life of Girls and the kick off of the Ghost Tours with a party and Trolley tours everyone is ready for a quiet Sunday evening.

Last night we had 90 people who took the trolley and heard the legends and lore of Paducah's Downtown and Lowertown ghosts. First I want to thank Lew Jetton and the Paducah Transit authority for working with us to offer the trolley tours for the kick off. In addition we want to thank Big Top Popcorn for helping us with Popcorn for the tour attendees. Board President Cindy Miller made a great deal of food and brought in flowers and decorations. Board members Barbara Allen, Heather Dorr, Jennifer Hughes, Melisa Mast, and volunteer Kim Yocum also helped provide food and flowers for the event. A thanks also goes to the spouses of the board members and volunteers who also helped set up and take down and clean up after the event. Maria Miller helped set up the event before going across the street to perform in the Secret Life of Girls. Mary Kathryn Dorr, Katey Miller and Landon Baker also helped during the evening to replenish food and make popcorn. Marsha Cash volunteered her time as well to help with the ticketing and trolley boarding.

We had about 1/2 of our tour guests waiting for the theatre doors to open promptly at 6 pm. We had arranged for the trolley to show up at 6 pm so we could do a sound check with the trolley microphone and talk with the driver about the stops along the way. Our first tour was scheduled for 6:30 pm. When Our trolley hadn't shown up by 6:10 pm I called and was told the trolley driver was still out on her daily route and would be back to the garage soon. In addition our trolley was still charging for the evening. I began to panic slightly, worrying that we wouldn't have time to fix any problems with sound or route before loading. I also knew we had several 6:30 tour guests who had tickets to the symphony at 7:30 pm. At 6:20 I called again and was told the driver should be leaving any moment. At 6:40 I called again and they were surprised the trolley hadn't arrived yet. The trolley showed up at 6:45 and we hustled the guests aboard to start the first tour. As the first tour was boarding we found that there was no microphone that could be used on the trolley. Our tour guide would have to try to project his voice to 30 people over the sounds of the trolley. Many tour guides stand in the middle of the trolley to give tours. This was going to be difficult to allow everyone to hear. Phil Counts has been the coordinator of the tour guides for both the kick off and the walking tours. Phil's job last night was to help guide the bus as it went on the route. Jody Smith was going to be our only story teller for the evening. A big thanks is owed to both Phil and Jody for the efforts last night.

There is a story that went on behind the scenes last night. Jody Smith, has performed in several plays at MHT and WKCTC. Jody has a wonderful vocal delivery and sense of humor. He is someone who loves to perform. Those of us who know Jody, know that he has been dealing with an illness and treatment that makes him physically very weak. Jody can no longer stand or walk for extended periods of time because of the medication he takes for his illness. Jody refuses to be negative about this or to give up. When Phil Counts and I discussed guides for the tour Jody's name came up and we both thought that Jody would do a terrific job as the trolley guide but also this would be something meaningful for Jody as his stage opportunities have become more limited. Those who boarded the trolley for the tour had no idea how much effort Jody made just to be there. In addition he was going to have to project his voice, without a microphone, to people sitting behind him while trying to also tell stories that required him to get loud and soft at certain points in the stories. Jody did 3 tours without a break. As we helped him off the trolley he was totally exhausted but in high spirits. The tour on Saturday night raised almost $3,000 for the theatre but also allowed Jody the opportunity to perform for an audience (including his parents) which is something that he loves doing. It meant a great deal to Phil and I that Jody was able to guide last night. Thank you Jody and Phil for adapting to the difficult situation with almost no notice and for a job well done.

In the future, if we do another trolley tour, we will know to provide our own sound system for the trolley and to ask for the trolley at least an hour before our first tour start time to build in any problems with its arrival... well, maybe and hour and a half ahead of our first tour time:)

Every director has moments when they are helpless to do anything but watch and hope that everything works out. As the door closed on the trolley and they headed off for the first tour I felt this. That's thing about live theatre. You never know what is going to happen. No matter how much you plan. You work as a team and count on team members to come through when things don't go as planned. I knew that we had rehearsed the stories 3 times that day and built in ways to cut and stretch the stories if we needed. I had faith in Jody's ability as a performer.

On Friday evening during the performance of the Secret Life of Girls, April had one of those moments. In the middle of the show Chandler Emmons- Smith was onstage and typing when blood suddenly started dripping from her nose. Chandler did an outstanding job of continuing her performance without missing a beat. At the end of her scene she exited the stage. Two scenes later cast member Nicki Caturano was supposed to be onstage but wasn't. Nicki came on for the last scene. After the show we found out what happened. Chandler developed a nose bleed out of the blue. Nicki being very alert got ready for her scene early and then went to help Chandler with tissues and costumes. Chandler stuffed tissue up her nose to try to stop the bleeding trying to disguise it and then ran back onstage for her next scene. Unfortunately Nicki changed her costume a little too early and forgot she had to go back onstage in her other costume. Nicki was stuck offstage until the scene she had dressed for started. Afterwards we all laughed about it. I don't know that most of the audience even realized what was going on.

The Secret Life of Girls has a talk back session at the end of each performance to help teenage girls deal with the effects of social bullying. We will have performed to over 500 girls when this run is completed. A person associated with the Four Rivers Behavioral Health last night told April that no matter how many lectures or pamphlets they give to girls to help them cope with the effects of bullying, nothing is as powerful or as helpful as what the theatre is doing with this show to get that message through.

This weekend reminded me of what MHT is all about, We don't just entertain.... we change lives! With the trolley tour, Jody Smith's limitations weren't what defined him. What defined him was his talent for performance. Chandler's bloody nose came in front of a large group of people as she was performing, but she managed to deal with it in stride and do a great performance in spite of it. Nicki Caturano jumped in to help out a fellow performer sacrificing her own scene to do it and everyone onstage covered for her. Young girls learned how to be defenders when they are faced with social bullying. Theatre teaches you to deal with challenges and not let your circumstances define who you are.

Over 30 people performed, made food and helped the events this weekend, all as volunteers. They did things that made the community proud them.

Success comes in many forms. This weekend we had lots of it.