The entire cast from ACS was in Shrek, so the laughs we started before Christmas continued into the new year. Mallory was cast as a fairy tale creature, Gretel, from Hansel and Gretel, and I was cast as a Happy Person and a Dragon puppeteer. I ended up being the person who brought the head of the dragon to life, while my dear friend Dashona voiced her, gave her soul and a human body, with major attitude! It was A BLAST playing the yin to her yang, the dragon body to her dragon soul. And this lady can SING! I was in awe of her each time we went through the song Forever. I adore Dashona and her darling children, and am so glad to have found her and been able to share the stage with her, twice. And hopefully more to come!
Mallory posing with our Dragon puppet at the Valentine's Day Promotional event.
Team Dragon! These fun gals brought an 18foot, 75lb puppet to life each night for a week. Truly a team effort and they were a joy to work with and get to know better.
The traditional afterglow for the FCT group is to go to Applebee's following the Saturday night show. We showed up in full force! Make-up and all. We almost broke into song, but decided to save it for the Sunday show. Here I am with Dashona our amazing Dragon and my dear friend, Tracey, in the back who was Humpty Dumpty, Neoshea in the front with the darling rosy cheeks was a Duloc Dancer and the beautiful and talented Ms. Abby was Mama Bear.
Donkey and Dragon meet for the first time.
Our Donkey was a scene-stealer each time he walked on stage. Pastor Ryan Gage was the funniest, most comical actor on the set, with our Pinocchio coming in at a close second. Ryan had me dying in rehearsals with his reaction to a Dragon head that wasn't there, to the point I'm sure I and our directors were fearful how this would really turn out! He was a HOOT and a joy to share the stage with.
I love this pic and how our Dragons expressions mimic each other. We named our Dragon Peaches, and she ended up being such a blast to play. I was able to give a Dragon body to Dashona's soulful human Dragon and it was fun each time. I learned how to make a puppet flirt. How's that for a resume builder? 
Peaches, in all her menacing glory.
Having family and friends in the audience makes a show even better. We were thrilled that Macie and Hollyn came out to watch the show. Macie, pictured here, was also there to see her favorite Pastor don a Donkey suit. I'm sure he didn't disappoint. :) It was also very special to have Grandma, Aunt Mica, Uncle Britain, and Grandpa make the drive south to see us perform. We love that theater is a common thread in our family, from Junction City to Hutchinson, and Mal and I love watching Mica and Britain perform, too.
Now that the show is over, we have the traditional mourning period. So much time, energy, emotion, and effort goes into these activities that when they end its almost like a death in the family. A death of the character, the circumstance, the special environment that a show creates. Sure, we *might* do that particular show again, highly unlikely though, and never with those people, at that special time.
But there will be others. Different casts, different story lines, scripts, roles, and songs, and each one will be special. The nerves of auditions will (hopefully) change to excitement of roles, which will lead into the fun of rehearsing, the exhaustion of tech week, the euphoria of opening night, and the cycle will end with the mourning period of the show ending. Then we start the cycle again. And again, the good Lord willing.
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