The Show Must Go On....

...even if it hasn't for nearly two pandemic-beset years. 

In March 2020, Darren was three days from tech-week kick-off for SPARC's production of The Robber Bridegroom. Initially, hopes were high COVID-19 would prove to be less a threat---and horror---than it actually was. Playing Big Harp, a mastermind, disembodied head in a suitcase, was simply not to be.

Graduation from high school and heading "off" to college at VCU (albeit for only three weeks before classes shifted online, and fiscal wisdom mandated a return to home-based studies for the remainder of freshman year) aged our young actor out of SPARC. We'll forever be grateful for the experiences, growth, and lifelong friendships Darren---and I---made in that incredibly special corps. 

Then, like a welcomed sprinkling of pixie dust in Mark Zuckerberg's too-frequently dark wasteland, I spotted this posting on my boy's actor page...

Knew I'd missed seeing my boy---okay, young man---on stage, but the maternal glee this post ignited was beyond expectation. 

After playing a string of semi-, if not fully, villainous characters in sequence, to come back as a nerdy  romantic? Un-anticipated, un-predicted, and SO much fun. Plus the joy of a first experience with the locally lauded/loved company, The Broken Leg Theatre? Getting the opportunity to not only perform again with long-time friends (yes, Jesse Taylor, aka Gomez, talking to you) but the chance to meet and perform alongside a new array of wildly talented actors? Priceless. 

No apologies for being indulgent, Double Daddy and I went to every single show...and full disclosure, wished for more.

Abundant thanks to all the treasured family and friends who came out---and masked!---to see the show in the gorgeous new Perkinson Center for the Arts. 

The show must go on....but safely. Thankfully, with ongoing good judgment, it seems we may be able to see increasing amounts of live theatre soon. God-willing, more with my boy---young man---in it. 

-Cheryl