the (8th grade) boyz (girls) next door (in fox valley christian academy's multi-purpose room)

my 8th grade drama class put on the production of "the boys next door".

you should be falling out of your seat laughing right now. if not, you don't know what the play is about.

alright, i'll tell you. it's about mentally handicaped men who live in a halfway house. in itself is not funny. but when you imagine ten, 13 year old girls playing the male leads...it becomes a whole new mockery.

i really do not understand how we were allowed to put this show on. annie, oliver, our town...all much more suitable for amateur 8th graders. we never even made our way through rehearsing the 2nd act. i remember standing backstage after intermission and wondering out loud "what happens next?". somehow, our lack of memorization carried through to spellbinding performances.

my grandmother, wo never compliments me, raved to all her friends about how good i was in my role. i played norman bulanksy. "a middle-aged retarded man who works at a doughnut shop. The doughnuts at his job have caused him to become overweight. He has a girlfriend, Sheila, a woman from another group home. He is very proud and possessive of a large ring of keys."

thanks grandma! type cast, i'm sure.

all this to say, i'm thinking about auditioning for a community theater performance. i know when the director sees i played the difficult role of norman, i'll be a shoe-in for whoever the most complex character is. crossing my fingers it can be a woman.