Out of my head...

Hello everyone! Especially those of you who have been waiting forever to hear from me.  I've discovered I'm one of those writers who does a lot of writing in my head.  It's sort of constant, actually, thinking of how I would word this or that, and how I could make it colorful or funny or poignant. And then I just move right on to the next thing I start writing about... in my head.  If it weren't for my murder mysteries, maybe I wouldn't get anything down on paper at all! I guess that's not exactly true.  Every other month I write an 800-word essay for a local magazine under a fictitious name.  I've been doing that for 7 years now, so I guess I am at least disciplined enough to do that. And my murder mysteries. I'm working on #33 now.  Kind of stuck on the title but I'm leaning towards SLEIGHING THE RED-NOSED REDNECKS.  Hmmm, not bad.

Anyway, I've written a ton of stuff for this blog, in my head, for the past 8 months or however long it's been.  But Saturday night, October 15, I had to manage one of my shows, and it was such a great experience I decided to get out of my head and put pen to paper.

But let me start at the beginning. I say "had to manage" because normally I don't.  My second-in-command, Chris Manson, manages all the shows, leaving me to write, direct, produce, book, advertise and take care of anything else that has to happen to keep our business going.  But Saturday night I had booked two shows. It wasn't an accident - I have the casts needed to perform two shows on one night, it's just that they have to be very particular shows, shows that have unique casts to both.  I had done this, but that meant I would need to manage one of the shows, as Chris would be performing and managing the other.

The show I had to manage was a fairly good-sized show for a group calling themselves the "USS MILLS Reunion."  I figured it was a ship of some kind, so on the day of the show I spent about half an hour reading up on them.  The USS MILLS was a Navy ship built for World War II.  WWII? I started worrying we may have some trouble projecting loud enough where people who served on a WWII vessel could hear us. I sent out an email to my actors - BE SURE TO PROJECT TONIGHT! But then I saw the ship had continued working after WWII, and was involved in Operation Deep Freeze in the late 60's. My Dad was in his 30's in the late 60's, and is 83 now, so he does have some hearing problems, but with his hearing aids in he generally does OK. I stopped worrying.  My audience might be older but we'd make sure they could see and hear the show!

When my daughter and I got there (she was working as my assistant because of the number of people who were going to be in attendance) we found the walls lined with silent auction items, most of them having to do with WWII, Operation Deep Freeze and/or the USS Mills.  And the guests, who were supposed to arrive at 6:00, were already beginning to arrive at 4:30, checking out the items and visiting amongst themselves.  We noticed there was a big variety of ages, too, not just older veterans, but younger people, even kids.  And there was this warm, friendly feeling in the air - a feeling of familiarity, continuity and family.  

My part of the evening was supposed to start at around 6:30, so I didn't have a clue why they were all there so early. Turns out they scheduled a Vow Renewal for a couple who had married years and years ago. And then they had what is called the "Two Bell Ceremony," honoring crew members who died this past year, followed by a haunting recording of Taps. After that they put on their party hats and played a rousing game of Trivia, then the professional photographer they had with them started lining them up for group photos. And then finally it was our turn.  I didn't know how they'd receive this crazy murder mystery, but I shouldn't have worried.  They laughed all night long, and after the show, were effusive with their compliments.

The thing about this night that made it worth writing about though, really had to do with them, not us. Talking to the organizers afterwards, they told us that they had a crew of 175, and that every year they get at least 100 people at their reunion. That it's not just the crew, but the crew and their families that attend. And that in doing so, they've grown into a very large family of the USS MILLS. And I can't say I have ever met a warmer group of people.  They served their country, are proud of themselves and their country, and they are hell-bent to keep that family AND their country intact.  God Bless You, “USS MILLS Reunion!”  And thank you for choosing us for your entertainment this year.  My amazing cast and crew of DECKED OUT FOR DEATH, Joe Chase, Jim Downum, Kay Yarbrough, Susan DeJesus, Kristi Morris, Jessika Kelsh and I, will never forget tonight!

Act4 Rocks First Show of 2016

Many of the Act4Murder cast have participated in large scale stage productions, and I like to think of those groups as something akin to orchestras while Act4 is more like a rock band. Meaning - with our minimal props and small casts - we can adapt to last minute changes (in other words, crises) better than, say, the local production of Mary Poppins or whatever.

For our first show of 2016, we had planned to do our old tried-and-true redneck wedding show Podunk Pandemonium at La Paz in Destin (a great venue, and all you Destin residents should throw your support behind Chatham Morgan's just-announced City Council bid). We had an informal rehearsal the Tuesday prior (okay, we drank and ate a lot and might have gone over some of the script) and everything seemed fine.

Friday, as my job description as the Act4 Ninja specifies, I got the Podunk props, along with my guitar, harmonica, costume and finally-broke-in cowboy boots together early so I could work on my other job as editor of the local entertainment publication The Beachcomber. I planned to arrive at La Paz around 5 p.m. to get the show ready prior to the guests' arrival around 6:30.

At around 3, I received notification that one of the cast members had been rushed to the hospital and would obviously not be able to perform. Since we didn't have an understudy for this particular role, we freaked out for a while and then decided we'd put on our go-to show Decked Out for Death. This show was written by Act4 founder Paula Hilton with the idea that we could switch out any or all of the characters and actors and still make sense.

Phone calls were made, and two of the actors not in Podunk graciously came in at the last minute, while the remainder of us had to brush up on completely different characters and dialogue.

And somehow that first show of the new year went off without a hitch. Literally. Because nobody got hitched, because we didn't do the redneck wedding show.

Anyway, big thanks to my cast mates Joe Chase, Sally Whitesell, Cynthia Bergquist and Kay Yarbrough for your spectacular hoop jumping. The cast member that had to go to the hospital is doing fine by the way. 

We're excited to be back at La Paz Friday, Jan. 22, for A Condo to Kill For. Or maybe something else depending on how things go.

Because you just never know, do you?

- Chris