My turn: Drama students deserve recognition

Last week I was back in the Portales High School theater, enjoying students on a stage singing and dancing. I love attending plays and musicals for so many reasons. Obviously there’s a story taking place on the stage … but the entire event is filled with drama. Will all the lines be remembered? Will the audience laugh and clap in the right places? Will there be magic in the air?

I know those questions well, even though it’s been years and years since I was on that stage, asking the very same things. From a blind woman frantically making a phone call, to a bossy old aunt at the box social, I knew that stage well. I’d been attending plays there since I was a small child, dreaming of the day it would be my turn.

Just a couple of months ago I was randomly called up on a stage to play the part of “Sherry Baby” in a Frankie Valli musical act. Amazing how the stage can make a woman pushing 50 feel like she’s 17 all over again. I would definitely call that magic!

To the teenagers who gave us “My Fair Lady” … I wish you a lifetime of good lines, moments in the spotlight, and well-timed applause!