So we’re running a contest. And we had some rules. But we got so many strong entries that we decided to change the rules. We’re allowed to do that. After all, when you set the rules, you can break them, right?
The contest is “The Play That Changed My Life.”
Early this month, we at InPlay Capital Region -- your best source for theater in the area -- asked you to shine a light on the theater during these dark times. We asked you to write a 400- to 500-word blog about a play or musical that changed your life. The deadline was Monday, and the prize was going to be two free tickets to a show in the region after theaters re-open.
We were going to pick the winner this week, but based on the terrific response we received, we had a better idea: We selected finalists, we decided to run one entry a day starting today, and we’re going to let YOU the readers choose the winner (who still will receive two free theater tickets).
Even though we asked for 400 to 500 words, we aren’t being picky about this. If you're in the ballpark, we're good.
Each finalist entry will be posted on our website on consecutive days, and YOU will vote for your favorite entry on our Facebook page after all of the entries have been posted. That will be in a few weeks. (We’ll remind you of the voting procedure when we get down to the last entry.) The winner simply will be the blog that has the most likes; you just have to like our page to be eligible to vote.
So there you have it. Same contest; different rules. Every entry will be posted as it was written -- minus a possible expletive or two.
Thanks to everyone who entered. May the best blogger win!
Today’s entry is from Pat Brady:
By Pat Brady
For InPlay Capital Region
When I was 45 years old, I finally got the chance to enter the world of live theatre. I had had a fire in my belly to do this from the time I was a young girl and now the time was finally here!
I was lucky because my parents loved theatre and music and ballet and took me to many productions, one of which was “Stop the World, I Wanna Get Off” by Anthony Newley. I was completely spellbound by the music, the characters, the costumes, the outrageousness of the story. The fire began to smolder then. I had seen other musicals before but this one affected me like no other up to that time. From that time, when I was a teenager, to the age of 45, life kind of got in the way, and I had to keep this fire at a slow burn for quite a while.
One morning, one month after my second and last child had left for college, I read the paper and saw that Schenectady Light Opera was having auditions for “Annie”. I thought about it for about a second and decided to try out. I knew the entire score so I did no preparation -- just grabbed my guts and my flaming belly and walked into the theatre. Amazingly enough, I was offered the part of Lily St. Regis, which is the part that I was trying out for, and my golden retriever, Sadie, got the part of Sandy.
WELL, as you can imagine, I was on my way, having been bitten badly by the live theatre bug. Now, thirty years and greater than fifty productions later, my fire is still burning and in reviewing my life, I find that Anthony Newley’s Littlechap blazed the way for me.
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