I Did It! I Did It!

I can't believe I did it, but indeed I did! (Apologies to Lerner and Loewe)*

Anyone who knows me at all well can tell you I'm not a party person. I don't know what to do, where to stand, who to talk to. I need an anchor -- someone I can cling to who is either sensitive to how uncomfortable I am or equally uncomfortable themselves. Last night, I didn't have one, but I went to the party anyway.

I expected to go for a short while: make an appearance, become wallpaper, feel utterly hopeless, and exit unnoticed. For me, it's standard operating procedure at parties. An MO. So why bother? Piddle and diddle, wait and debate, I'd almost made my mind up to stay home... but something happened. Nausea. That sickening feeling in the pit of the stomach that tells you when you're making the wrong decision. I hate that feeling, but I trust it. And so, four hours late, I made a literal gut decision to go.

People who have "real" lives that don't involve theatre folk might find it rude to arrive at a party four hours late. And if it were any other party, I'd agree. But theatre parties are different. They are events. Festivals. Fairs. They don't "start" as much as they "open."

The first few minutes are always the worst. Where do you stand/sit? Are you stealing someone's chair? Who do you talk to? Are you interrupting? Do you have anything to say? It's horrible. I'd rather enter a dentist's office than a party. But at this one, something interesting happened. Something heretofore unheard of. People came to me.

The party was full of actors and directors from around town, and a number of them had seen The Odd Couple. Apparently, I made quite an impression. I must say... parties are a lot more enjoyable when they come with lavish praise and exciting rumors. In fact, by the end of the night, I was so comfortable with the company I was keeping that I did something else unbelievable -- I sang karaoke.

If you know me, I hope you were sitting down for that one. If you don't know me... well... let me paint a picture. I'm a person who's scared to death to walk into a party because I don't know where to STAND... would you expect me to SING? Uh uh. But by night's end my producer/agent-to-be mandated that I polish up a rendition of Blue Bayou, which she deemed perfect for my voice.

Though I'll be returning to Nashville soon after my show ends, there are reasons to believe that staying in San Diego through July was a wise decision. I'm keeping a lid on that right now -- don't want to jinx anything -- but I may have some exciting news before the month is out.

*From My Fair Lady, the lyrics are actually "You did it! You did it! You said that you would do it and indeed you did." ... but, after all, I DIDN'T say I'd do it!