Just like riding a bike....

On Sunday, I had the privilege of being on the stage with 13 amazing women.  My fellow cast members and I participated in the 2014 Listen To Your Mother, Washington DC show at the Synetic Theatre.

I was tingling with electricity throughout my body. I was going to be on the stage again for the first time in 17 years.  I woke up in the middle of the night before utterly excited about being on the stage again. I was confident and elated as the day went on.

When we walked backstage to the green room and the dressing rooms, I smiled from ear to ear. There was a part of me that was very much at home in that dressing room with the big round bulb lights and the green room with the old yet comfortable furniture.

Despite that I rarely wear makeup anymore, I quickly applied my stage make up. 17 years ago came flooding back. How to apply the eyeliner, the concealer. It went on quickly and effortlessly.

I chatted in nervous excitement with my friends and cast mates and anxiously awaited the tops to tails rehearsal. When we went to the stage for the rehearsal, we walked in the darkness, eyeing the few glow in the dark tape spots so as not to trip on the stairs to the stage. A black curtain came back and BAM there I was 17 years earlier.
But I was not a character. I was myself. My 36 year old poised self. And it felt awesome. The lights blinded me and it was awesome. My heels clicked on the stage floor and it was awesome. The mike boomed and it was awesome.

I got up to the podium to rehearse the beginning and end of my piece and I was home. Just me, for a moment, in the light.

In the actual performance, I searched for my family and friends, and located them moments before it was my turn to speak. The lights were warm and the audience was warmer. I was a storyteller, a person who needed to share her story to an audience. I had something to say and it was important to 250 people that day.

It was electrifying.

And in so many ways completely comfortable.

Like riding a bike.


Thank you LTYM for reminding me a part of myself that had been hiding for a while. Thank you to my cast members for helping me to feel so comfortable back on the stage.  Thank you to the women in the cast for inspiring me in so many ways.

The video of my performance will be on You Tube this summer!