From Backstage to Front of Stage

I have been seeing this view from the backstage at my church for the past two and a half years. However, since I have now hit the 20 week point in pregnancy (as of Christmas Day!) and am really starting to get to the point where it is easy to misjudge the amount of space I take up, it is time for me to move on to other things. Two weeks ago I had my final Sunday backstage and the Christmas Eve services were officially THE END of backstage for the time being. Thankfully, a guy named Shannon has been apprenticing with me for a couple of months, and he will do a fantastic job taking over backstage.

What I didn't expect was to be asked to be asked to move to other side of the stage. Since graduating college in 2002, I think I've only been on stage two other times, and one of those times was a last minute substitution because the person who was supposed to play the role had to back out of the part. Even in college where part of my made-up degree was theatre, I only got on stage for classes and for All Night Theatre, a once a semester gathering where anyone could sign-up to perform whatever they wanted. Otherwise, I stuck to assistant stage managing, dressing actors (my favorite!), stage managing, and producing. I've basically always been known for doing good work backstage but not so much for performing so when I was asked to be a part of the drama in the church's Christmas program, I was more than a little surprised.

I have to say that I really enjoyed it though. I had two small pieces to perform with 3 other actors. Also, because of where my pieces were staged, I got to sit in the front row of the auditorium and watch the whole show minus my pieces. It was such a fantastic show that I watched it 6 times (2 rehearsals + 4 performances) and enjoyed it every time! My favorite parts were where the LifePoint Painters were painting huge canvases behind the choir during Little Drummer Boy and Waiting Here for You.

If you would like to see the show, here it is:

Christmas at LifePoint 2011 from LifePoint Church on Vimeo.

(If you only want to see my parts, open the video in Vimeo. I am in "The Hope" and "The Answer". Honestly though, the whole thing is worth watching. To me, the dramas are the least impressive parts.)