Correcting an Earlier Lie

some other Annie -- not I

I lied in an earlier post when I said that my very first experience on stage was the time I played Chava in Fiddler on the Roof. My parents thought it very bizarre of me to have lied about such an inconsequential thing, but I was not yet ready to admit that I had been a last-minute fill-in for the lead roll in Annie when the originally-cast Annie's mother had a colossal fight with the director of the community theater production. I was the only person anyone involved with the production knew who could learn the lines in the three remaining days before opening night who also could be lifted with ease by the guy playing Daddy Warbucks.  (There was afar superior singer and actress of about my age, but she weighed probably more than twice what I did, and the choreographer thought it was too late to re-do all the moves.)

It wasn't an optimal casting job. I didn't then, nor do I now have that bowl-everyone-over sort of Andrea McArdle voice that everyone associates with the character of Annie. I could even then sing audibly without being miked, but my voice was a little too dolce for the role of Annie. Still, with three days' notice, the local community theater was damned lucky to get what they got. The dresses were more or less the right length, as my predecessor had been height-challenged as well, and only needed to be taken in a bit so that I wasn't totally swallowed by them.

Someday I may post an actual picture. Neither the few pictures I  possess nor the entire experience are something of which I'm particularly proud.

Exactly why I needed to get that particular lie off my conscience at this odd hour is a mystery even to me, but there it is.