Thursday, August 27, 2015

As Though i didn't have enough to do just being in medical school . . .

I'm not exactly Olivia Newton-John, but them, she wasn't the world's greatest ctress, either.


Class today went as expected, and I assume that the same will be true tomorrow, but I was thrown a  curve ball after class. I receive a note summoning me to the office of some dean with whom I was not particularly familiar. When one receives such a summons, even if one kknows one hasn't done anything inappropropriate,  all sorts fo things go through one's mind. Then, after the initial fear that someone was still mad at me for killing the fake patient and not crying about it last spring, I began to fear that I was going to be asked to tutor the offspring or relative of someone important who perhaps did not catch on to the content of med school all that quickly. Neither scenario was exactly enthralling to me.

I was hit witha major surprise-- though not necessarily the good kind-- once i got there. It seems that this dean's wife is a major benefactor and someontimes participant in a local commnity theatre program. As has happened to me before, a role fell into my lap because someone else couldn't fulfill te terms of it. In this particular case I believe the problem was creative differences between the actor and the director.  For some reason word has gotten out that I can memorize lines in a fraction of the time it takes the average person and that I can sing  and dance on stage acceptably well. My acting skills are minimal, but some lead roles are rather flat roles in terms of the acting skills required. In this particular case (I've been asked to portray Sandy Dombroski in Grease) the acting skills demanded for the role are almost nonexistant. If a person can sing and dance her way through the oart, she's home free.

Obviously no one could force me to take this role, but I wish not to incur the ill will of anyone important in the department. The dean in question told me if I would get through the run of the sshow (just two weeks) he'd owe me big time. He also said he would guarantee it would not hurt me academically, as in if I need to take a test multiple times to reeive an acceptable score, he'll see to it that I get the opportunity. I'm too Type A to need to take a test multiple times, but it's nice and it takes the pressure off with the opportunity being there.

I  did not attend tonght's rehearsal because I needed to tie up loose ends in terms of my studies, but I'll attend rehearsals on Friday night and Sunday. We open Tuesday. There are eleven performances I believe, and then I'll be finished. It's Grease, not Les Miserables, so neither the lines  nor the singing nor the choreogrsphy should be exactly neurosurgery.  Ine nice thing about this is that once i finish, i wil feel extremely good just to be dealing with medical school. I suppose such is similar to saying one should pound his or head against the wall multiple times every day because it feels so good when one stops banging one's head, but that's neither here nor there.

The costume crew iss supposedly having to do a rush job to take the costumes up for me. The actress I replaced was taller and larger. 

I've been told that the guy playing Danny looks about ten years older than I do, C'est la vie. I'm still not crazy about this whole idea, but it's nice to have someone in the department indebted to me.

8 comments:

  1. Well... that is a surprise! There could have been worse ones!

    I loved Xanadu when I was a kid. I think it would be more fun to play Kira than Sandy.

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  2. My mother would have adored you. She died at 46 due to a stroke. Come on! It is a big honor to be the female star of Grease. You need more of the acting spirit. In your subconscious mind maybe you are doing cartwheels. I am so proud of you for getting this part without trying out for it.

    I know that you got it since you learn parts very quickly but someday your reputation may be well known and an emergency may arise and they will need you for a major part on Broadway. Also you have said that you well know your mortality. You could die right after your 11 performances and you will be remembered for being in Grease not for being in medical school.

    Also if you believed in God (not saying you do or you do not) then you could look at it that He wanted you to play Sandy in this play. Why not have some great fun playing the part? Forget that you are a medical school student. Be Sandy and people will love you for it. You know medical doctors make a lot of money. But actresses that people love, like Olivia Newton-John, make a lot more money than doctors. Try being crazy about this whole idea.

    To sound like a broken record, "To make the best of this test and don't ask why. Its not a question but a lesson learned in time. Its something unpredictable but in the end its right, I hope you had the time of your life." Also people will have a great time being able to see you act out a part. You and them do not understand how great an opportunity it is, but some day you and them will know. Pretend or act like you are the greatest actress ever! Also don't say that someone is not the best actress ever. It would be like me saying that you are not the most beautiful woman ever. But don't worry, I think that you are. I once made a girlfriend cry by saying that, but have learned my lesson.

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  3. Clarification! I once made a girlfriend cry by saying that she is not the most beautiful woman in the world. Don't ever say that. It hurt her very badly.

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  4. Have you ever written a post on crazy laws? They are so funny. Like as far as crazy laws still on books, they are too lazy to repeal them. Crazy laws in Massachusetts (just read article) include Quakers and witches banned, all men must carry a rifle to church, children may smoke but cannot buy cigarettes and no gorilla is allowed in back seat of car.

    William Penn was a Quaker. A giant statue (not statute-- thinking of Seinfeld TV show) of him is on the city hall of Philadelphia. You used to be able to walk around in his hat.The king of England owed his father a lot of money. So instead he gave him all of Pennsylvania (means Penn's woods). He owned all of Pennsylvania-- all deeds go back to him. Quakers follow Jesus's belief that only God, not man, can punish man. Therefore they do not believe in laws that punish man. Of course Quakers do not fight in wars.

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  5. I looked up Quakers in Wikipedia. Mormons do not allow women or blacks into priesthood. Quakers allow everyone into priesthood. Wiki says; 'From its inception, the Quaker emphasis on family and community relations gave women spiritual power." They were known for "refusal to participate in war, plain dress, refusal to swear oaths, opposition to slavery, and teetotalism" (not drinking any alcohol). I guess some Christians liked slavery.

    "In the USA, Joseph Moore taught the theory of evolution at the Quaker Earlham College as early as 1861[41] and was probably one of the first teachers in the Midwest to do so."

    In business they were known for Lloyds Banking Group, Barclays PLC, Backhouse's Bank and Gurney's Bank; life assurance (Friends Provident); pharmaceuticals (Allen & Hanburys); chocolate (Cadbury,Terry's, Fry's); confectionery (Rowntree); biscuit manufacturing (Huntley & Palmers); match manufacture (Bryant & May, Francis May and William Bryant) and shoe manufacturing (Clarks)."

    In education they created top private colleges in nation like Haverford College, Swarthmore College and Bryn Mawr College (a top women's college that my girlfriend worked at (all in Philadelphia area). Philadelphia is known as the "city of brotherly love."

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    1. Mormons have allowed blacks into the priensthood since 1978, but still do no allow women. I don't thnk the time they will allow women to hold the priesthood will ever happen, although I certainiy could be wrong.

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    2. Thanks for that information. What would I do without you? Let us apply math to this situation. They freed the black slaves in 1863. Then the Mormons allowed them to join the priesthood in 1978-- 115 years later.

      The women of the U.S. were not given the right to vote until 1970. Just kidding! They were given the right to vote in 1920. So if my math is correct, then they may allow women to join the priesthood in 2035-- 115 years later. And someday, (I have a dream) women from all over the world can keep their clitoris!

      "Female genital mutilation (FGM) is a practice that involves altering or injuring the female genitalia for non-medical reasons. It is internationally recognized as a human rights violation. Globally, it is estimated that between 100 million to 140 million girls and women alive today have undergone some form of FGM."

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