"A Christmas Carol" Closing Night

One of the Most Amazing Weeks of My Life

PART 2

Wednesday December 22, 2010 was my final performance at Rodgers Memorial Theatre. It was one of the most emotional days of my life. All day long I was preparing myself by thinking about all of the memories I had there, and everything that theatre had done for me. I got to the show super early so I could be there alone for a while. As other people began to arrive, we actually didn't talk as much as we usually do. This was the hardest closing night we'd ever encountered. See, usually when I close a show at Rodgers, I miss it a lot, but I always think there will be another show, so it's not too bad. This time, we knew there was not another show.

At cast meeting, Michelle, as usual, asked who wanted to pray. I was about to volunteer, because I had been wanting to say this prayer all day, when Mike beat me to it. When he volunteered, I knew that he should be the one to say it because he grew up at this place. About a gazillion tears were shed during this prayer as he thanked God for the building, the memories shared there, the friendships made, and the talents developed there. It was beautiful. Our word for the night was "Ralph" (as in Ralph Rodgers, the founder).

The show itself was wonderful. We were all very focused, which is not always the case for a closing show. I enjoyed every moment I spent on stage, or waiting backstage, or changing costumes, etc. I wanted to remember everything.

Then we arrived at the last seen. Sally (me) and Fred don't come onto the stage until the very last moment of that scene, when Scrooge comes to beg for forgiveness and acceptance into this family. Dallin, who was playing my husband, and I stood backstage waiting for our entrance, and we both talked about why RMT was important to us. I will share all of my feelings for RMT in a later post. Anyway, I told myself I could not cry during my lines and singing. I cried too much on stage during the closing of Les Mis and it made my singing not as good. So we walked out on stage for the last time, and said and sang our little piece. It is such a touching moment in the show, and while I didn't cry, I was still very emotional, as was Dallin and Nick (Scrooge)and I knew the audience was touched by this moment too.

Then the cast sang our little finale, which is a happy song, and I cried a little. Then we bowed, and the applause was wonderful. Then after the bows, this show has another song. Here are the words:

Let the stars in the sky
Remind us of man's compassion
Let us love til we die
And God Bless Us everyone

In your heart there's a light
As Bright as a star in heaven
Let it shine through the night
And God Bless Us everyone

Til each child is fed
Til all men are free
Til the world becomes a family

Star by star up above
And kindness by human kindness
Light this world with your love
And God Bless Us everyone

Talk about a perfect message for the last song sung on that stage!
We all really lost it while singing that song. I mean, it's so beautiful that sometimes we'd cry just because of the song. But this night, there were tears everywhere. A lot of the audience was crying too.

After the song, The whole audience stood, and clapped for a long time. The lights were still on the stage, and so we didn't leave, we just stood there extremely humbled. And crying the whole time of course. Finally we walked off, and the show was done. Most of the other cast was in the audience watching, and they said the show was amazing.

We went to Applebee's karaoke night and had so much fun. It was a beautiful day.

Now remember, that was the closing night for our cast, the other cast closed the next day, and I was working the show. The story continues....