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I killed Frangelica for the last time on Saturday, but what a bumpy road to get there!

First I was down an actor, for a tragic reason.  I share this because I feel it is important to shine a light on the issue.  The actor lost a good friend to suicide.  Even to type the words makes me feel pain over so many lives lost, and I feel we must do whatever we can to help.  We can’t always help everybody, but we can do what we can do.  So I mention the issue here, and I hope to find more to do; raise money, raise awareness, walk in a march, be there for anybody who needs someone to listen.

Back to Frangelica, I was able to find another actor to step in last minute.  He rose magnificently to the occasion wearing an excellent costume and bringing all his acting chops to the character.  He read from the script, of course, but that scarcely mattered.  Afterward he said he only did it because I am a friend.

“No, you did it because YOU are a friend!” I told him.

But that was not the end of the bumpy road.

The show was at Acacia Village in Utica, NY.  I had gotten a ride to our one rehearsal there, and we had gotten a little lost, so I allowed extra time on Saturday.  Good thing I did.  I miscalculated backing out of my driveway and got hung up on a snowbank!  Oh no!  I grabbed a shovel and started to dig.  A car had stopped in the street, unable to get by me due to a parked car.  A young man got out of the car and started to help me dig.  I found another shovel and we both dug, then he pushed while I gave it a LITTLE gas (being uncomfortably aware of that parked car), repeat process.

A neighbor lady came over with a shovel and helped.  The young man’s mother got out of the other car and helped too.  The neighbor brought over some salt she pushed under the wheels.  Eventually I tore pieces off a cardboard box I had in the back seat (it’s been there for weeks; I meant to bring it into the house to aid in my organizational efforts) and put those under the wheels.  Finally with the cardboard and the three of them pushing, the car moved!  And it didn’t hit the parked car!  I maneuvered it very carefully to park it on the side of the road while I put away the shovels.

The neighbor lady and the young man were busily shoveling down the lump of snow I had gotten hung up on (left over from my inadequate shoveling job that morning).

“I can get that,” I told them, feeling bad that they were making such an effort on my behalf.  I guess they did not want me to get hung up on my return home, because they continued.  I thanked them profusely, feeling so happy that there are such nice people in the world.

Heading on to Acacia Village, I did not exactly get lost, but it took longer than expected, while my cell phone dinged away with text messages.  I do NOT text and drive!  When the phone rang, I pulled over and answered it.  My replacement actor was lost.  I advised him as best I could and hurried to the venue.  When he called again after I had arrived (which I knew he would, because I was sure my directions were inadequate), I handed my phone over to another actress who was more familiar with the territory.  He soon arrived, and we all breathed a sigh of relief.

Of course things did not go smoothly after that.  We were using two cordless microphones, because some of our audience had hearing problems, and we were unused to them.  We got confused a couple of times over entrances and lines.  However, the audience enjoyed it and we actors managed to have a good time too.

My weekend was enlivened by a few other mishaps, which I will perhaps cover in future blog posts.  In the meantime, I see this has been a longer post than usual and with no illustrations to break up the narrative.  If you have read the whole thing, I thank you most sincerely.