All the world’s a stage…

It is quite accurate that all the world is a stage.  I hope that y’all recognize this quote from a Shakespeare play.  In the last couple of weeks, this was something resonating with me while thinking about some things that I was looking forward to.  Granted I have always had a flair for the dramatics, this is not something that I think of all that often when I am at work.  That is, until I was asked to be a part of a project that would show case just that.  There was a television segment being done about the men and women that I call coworkers; however you will never see my face on the screen.  I was asked to play the part of the citizen on the other end of the phone.  I can tell you that in my years as a Police Dispatcher (our real title is Police Emergency Communications Officer, since not all of my coworkers have the ability to both take calls and dispatch them to the Police) I have spoken to a plethora of all sorts of people.

In the segment, you will see my wonderful friend as a call taker, and she speaks to three different women in a series of dramatizations of calls.  The secret, that wasn’t really a secret to anyone I knew, is that all the women in the calls are me.  In one call, I even use the name Sarah Waters for a woman that is abused by her husband.  For anyone that doesn’t follow that…its the name Julia Roberts takes on when she escapes her husband in Sleeping with the Enemy.  How’s that for thinking on my toes?!  That was something cool about this experience. I was told  not to prepare anything, to just do it all on the fly.  I was set up in a room away from the call taker, and away we went.  With me even shedding real tears of panic, and getting the type of actual attitude we do hear from some callers, it was quite a difference for me to be answering questions I am trained to ask.  I can say that if I were to be on the other end of this job, having someone like her answer my call would make me feel more secure.  I of course had to throw a curve ball at her and tell her in another call that my last name was Pterodactyl-common spelling!  The other folks in the segment are people that I have actually never worked on the same shift with.  They are pretty new and work days, however they did amazing as well.  Kudos to all that participated and shout outs to my friend at the news station for getting me the link so I could share it with all of you!!

In a strange turn of events, the other thing that I was looking forward to also has a Julia Roberts reference to it…I’m not even sure what I should make of that.  Anyone that knows me pretty well can tell you that I LOVE the movie Steel Magnolias and will randomly spout quotes from it.  I even have it on both VHS and DVD format, you know..just in case.  Well here in lovely Jacksonville, FL we have a place called the Alhambra Dinner Theater.  It has been around since 1967, making it the oldest continually running dinner theater in the US of A!  I have wanted to go for a long time, and just never was able to make the time and to find a show that I knew I would love.  That is until now.  Y’ALL.  They had a production of Steel Magnolias, and it was out of this world.  From the beautiful theater, to the themed meal, the great company, and of course, a superb play.  The food really was amazing, and they tailor the menu to suit many dietary needs and preferences.  You have a series of choices to make as you can see in the pics below, and I chose to end my meal with some red velvet cake- thankfully not in the shape of a giant armadillo!  Starring as the character Ouiser,  was Ms Dawn Wells. She played Maryanne in Gilligan’s Island, and I got to meet her!!  During the sadder parts of the story, we all followed Truvy’s strict policy that no one cries alone in her presence.

I totally enjoyed this evening, and would love to go back and see other plays there.  I took a theater class a couple semesters (ok maybe a year ) ago, and thought that I would be able to have some FAB story to tell from that.  All I did was end up in a cramped church house for a play and watch a Streetcar named Desire on my laptop while taking notes. Alhambra really pulls out all the stops, and was able to make the picture in my mind of me at the theater a much better one. Check out my review, as always, on YELP!

If all the world’s a stage, and all men and women are merely players, I like to think that we all have ever changing roles.  Maybe today I am evolving and learning, so I can move onto the next greatest thing ever.  I invite you all to take a look around you, and see what you have on your stage, and who you have as your players. As you contemplate that, I really have to dash…I think I hear my curtain call!