Last week, I auditioned for The Magic Ring Dang Do at the Company Onstage. At the time, my voice sounded worse than puberty and I was only read twice.

But, I guess I was good enough to land the part of the King. Not that I have any idea if that's a big part (I doubt it) or what the character is like. All I know is that there's something about an friendly, misunderstood ogre, a used-armor salesman, and the plot revolves around saving a princess (my daughter) from a dragon. I don't have a script yet; rehersals start in the next two weeks...

Here's the weird part... The Queen is about 15 years older than I am, in reality not in the play, and my daughter, the Princess is actually a few years older than I am. Looks like I'll have to age myself a good deal.

Of course, most people at the theatre assume I'm in my early-to-mid thirties. It must be the beard and the long hair. In reality, I'm probably not as old as you think I am. But, who cares about my age. Age isn't important...perhaps maturity-level is a better jugde of age (that made sense to me)...

Still, I am looking forward to being on-stage again. There's a few actors and actresses in the show that I've been hoping to work with. Their talent and professionalism astonds me and it's great to be able to work with such folk.

Yet, the attitude at this theatre seems to be "eh, it's only a children's show." I'm sure they think the shows they are putting on for kids are wonderful. But, backstage you can hear the whispers of how awful and embarrassing the shows are. Could you listen to a musical where the leads and supporting actors and actresses can't sing? Stuff like that brings the entire show down.

I'm going to have to try hard to bite my tongue at rehersals. The cast is made up of a "clique" of people who've been there for years and I have to invade that circle. Many hoity-toity people and me...

Hopefully, I and my fellow performers will be able to rise above the mediocricy and put on a quality show for the children...