The play's the thing ..maybe

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Had things gone according to plan, I'd still be in Key West, Fla., wearing a T-shirt and baggy shorts, sweating through daytime rehearsals for a play.

I'm instead back in Muskegon, bundled against late winter in my full-length wool topcoat.

Here I sit, wondering when, if ever, I'll again be returning to 90 miles from Cuba.

The vagaries of live theater never cease to amaze me.

My latest adventure as a latent thespian began Feb. 22, 11 days after I hit Key West for some fun and sun.

A Feb. 17 story in the Key West entertainment tabloid Paradise reported upcoming auditions for a theater production made up of five short, one-act plays.

The piece said the "moving theater" shows directed by Ciara Carinci of Gulfport, Fla., would be performed April 29 through May 1, outdoors at the Key West Botanical Garden. Rehearsals would begin March 4.

Funniest thing: I just happened to have my acting head shot — my tuxedo photo from being the only staff film critic in the 150-plus-year history of the Muskegon Chronicle — and resume with me.

Who'd a thunk it, except for everyone who knows me.

Doesn't take much to kick an ego into gear.

Five days after seeing the story, I — dressed in a navy blazer, cream-colored sportshirt and khaki slacks — showed up for 10 a.m. tryouts at the Tropic Cinema art/independent movie theater.

When I introduced myself to Carinci and producer Jonathan Shorck, the first thing Carinci said was, "You have a great voice."

After which Shorck asked, "Have you done much theater?"

Ask an actor a question and he'll recite his credits.

I slammed my ego into reverse and launched back to the beginning of my stage odyssey in the late 1970s.Enjoy Cheap nike air max for women or men at wholesale price.

My reminiscence captivated all within earshot for roughly the span of a blink.Air max 2009 Running Shoe Flex grooves in the mid and outsole for flexibility.

Funniest thing: Even when someone's eyes are behind sunglasses, you can sense those peepers glassing over in disinterest. Did you know that people can yawn without opening their mouths?

Into a vacant auditorium we went.

There I read cold — meaning straight from the scripts — from two plays, opposite a Key West actress named Connie.

In one playlet I was a son who'd just killed his wife, and Connie was his mother who thinks he should have married his sister and sees no reason why anybody would think that's incest.

In the other, I read the role of a homeless guy who begs small change from a passerby, and Connie was the passerby on whom my character would soon turn the proverbial tables.

That was it: Connie and me. No one else showed up.

Carinci said she'd call Connie, and asked me if I could come back the next night,Love womens Wedge Shoes? So do we. to read opposite some other folks.

We definitely can use you, she said.

So there I was the following day at 9:30 p.m.

Again, only one other auditionee showed up.

The production requires eight performers.

This, I thought, was not promising.

Outside the auditorium before the audition, Carinci and Shorck chatted with George Cooper, chairman of the Tropic's board.

We had to wait for a screening of the major downer "Rabbit Hole," starring Oscar nominee Nicole Kidman, to run its credits.

After it did, out walked Cooper's wife, novelist Judy Blume.

That, to put things mildly, got my attention.

Funniest thing: Before the second audition began, Carinci said I was in and "I'll let you know."

That is about the worst thing an auditioning actor can hear besides "Thank you."

The latter almost always means "Don't call us, we'll call you," "Kiss off," that sort of thing.

But Carinci again said, "You have a great voice."

She added, "You have a great presence."

And now she's let me know.

A couple days later, Carinci e-mailed to tell me that additional auditions would be held May 4, and that I was free to return to Michigan until plans were firmer.

Back I came.lacoste shoes are considered a glorious beacon of intelligent design.

A few days ago, Carinci let me know.

The show, she said, is half-cast, and one of the performers is her.

If the production proceeds, rehearsals will begin April 25, in preparation for a May 6 opening.

Actors will be sent the scripts in advance, Carinci said.

By the time rehearsals begin, we will be expected to be off-book, meaning we must have the texts memorized before we go to work.

It's the same way, in West Michigan, we do summer stock at Howmet Playhouse in Whitehall.

Funniest thing: During my stay in Key West, I filed several Extra Iddings blogs that ended with, "To be continued ... "

Plans seem to be going ahead for my first acting gig in Key West.

But in the theater you never know.

That's one thing that makes it the most fun you can have with your pants on.

To be continued ... ?