An Unexpected Dream Role Come True

Remember last year when I took that "Which Disney Princess are you Quiz" and was Sleeping Beauty? And that I have a Sleeping Beauty costume (and a Sleeping Beauty snowglobe, bell, and plush doll) because she's my favorite?

Yesterday I checked my e-mail and found one from Jana C, a theatre friend I hadn't seen in awhile. She said that she is directing Sleeping Beauty for the Childrens' Theatre and asked me to call right away. My heart stopped for a second. I thought "what I wouldn't give to play the princess!" But I thought it more likely she'd ask that I play the Queen, or the good fairy.

I called Jana, and she asked if I would be interested in playing Sleeping Beauty.

Sleeping. Beauty.

I was stunned! I'm 31! I had sort of given up hope of having the chance to play the young princess. And yet, here Jana asked me to play my favoritest princess of all!

Of course I said "Yes." Absolutely I was interested. Jana said that when producer and mutual friend Joanne asked if she knew anyone that might make a good Sleeping Beauty, my name popped into their heads. I haven't seen either of them in awhile, so I know that it was Heavenly Father, knowing that I need a creative outlet. Jana told me she needed to confirm with Joanne, and it wouldn't be official until she had, so I waited 24 hours and hoped no one would change their minds.

Jana called me today, said that Joanne is thrilled that I want the part, and officially offered me the role of Sleeping Beauty. Squeeeeee! I accepted, and the six-year old girl in my head who bought that princess paper doll book last month started crying for joy. I'm going to the audition on Saturday to read with prospective princes. The cast will have about a month of rehearsals, then we'll perform every weekend in November, closing the weekend after Thanksgiving. The timing really couldn't be better.

I can't express how very excited I am about this. Lately I have desperately wanted to do a play. Preferably a non-musical. I love musicals, but I haven't done a regular play in about 5 years, and I want to flex my acting muscles a bit. I haven't done a non-musical audition in years and was nervous, so the fact I didn't need to do audition this time around is icing on the cake!

Getting to do this at the Children's Theatre, where I spent so much time during my teen years and who taught me so much of what I know of theatre is really cool! They did this play the fall I went to college, and I wanted to audition, but since it was my first semester and Mom wanted me to do well, she said "No" and put her foot down. I was incredibly upset at the time. Here I have a second chance! I feel like Heavenly Father is looking out for me. He knows how bored and frustrated I've been lately and has given me an opportunity, through old friends, to both stretch in new directions, return to my roots, and live a personal fantasy. I hope it's as fun as I dreamed it would be!

(Actually, in my dreams, I'm usually thrown into this kind of part an hour before the show and have no idea what I'm actually doing. This reality is likely to be better than that.)

My worry now is whether they'll find a man to play a prince who 1) looks good with me, 2) isn't a lot younger than I, and 3) won't be creepy. After all, the kiss is written into the story. If any of you know of talented, nice guys who might be interested in auditioning, let me know and I'll email you the information.

I'm going to play Sleeping Beauty! Wow! Is that awesome or what?!!