Why do I do it?

I’m spending today in Thibodaux, working on the set and props for our upcoming production of “All the Great Books Abridged.” Some may ask, given the fact that I do work a full-time job and I start most days on Twitter complaining that I woke up too early, why I devote so much of my time to theatre productions like this one – community theatre productions at that, shows where any “payment” for your work comes in the form of the Playhouse providing the sodas at the pot luck cast party.

And the truth is, more than anything else (except Erin), it makes me feel ALIVE.

When I’m on stage, my aching back stops aching for a while. I stop feeling tired. I have more energy and vigor than I do anyplace else in the world. Maybe it’s adrenaline, maybe it’s the fact that I can lose myself in someone else, maybe it’s all psychosomatic. I don’t know. But the fact is when I’m on stage I feel better than I do almost any other time. I may never win an Oscar, but I don’t care.

That’s why I’m willing to spend my Saturday with like-minded people making things like this set and getting ready for two intensive weeks of work that I won’t get famous for, won’t even get PAID for, and which many in the audience will forget by next week. I do it for myself, the rest of my cast and crew, and the awesome few that will remember.