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"A Convention Of Actors and ... Hidden Talent"
It was a little cloudy for a sunny day in Gary, Indiana. I had just hitched in from Connecticut. My last ride was with a crazy trucker -- but that's another story.
I had come to Gary, Indiana to see my younger brother, Den, perform in a starring role in a feature presentation at the annual Convention of Young Thespians. He did not know I was coming.
I met my older brother, Mitt, at the train station. Den didn't know Mitt was coming, either. Our presence was supposed to be a surprise. I almost didn't recognize Mitt, never having seen him come off a train before -- but that's another story.
Mitt and I went over to the college to see the schedule of performances. We found some kids who were from Den's school, and they pointed us in the direction of a cluster of buildings. He was either in rehearsal or getting make-up, or something.
When Mitt and I arrived at that cluster of buildings we beheld the largest gathering of thespians I had ever seen, outside of the TV broadcasts of the Academy Awards.
They smelled like normal people, so Mitt and I put our disguises on (a cap and sunglasses each) and proceeded to meander around the crowd.
A fellow with a megaphone yelled for everyone to take positions. They were going to take a group picture of all the Young Thespians of the Midwest. And, don't worry, everyone'll get a copy.
Mitt and I made our way up on a little hill to see if we could spot Den. Certainly, the star of a feature performance would be in this picture.
There were too many thespians all over the place, and we couldn't see Den. So we came down the hill. Just as we were peering at the building where the play was supposed to be in, the guy with the megaphone said, "..three! Okay, thank you." And then everyone went to milling around again. . .
A few months later, I was with Den when he got an album from the Thespian Convention. There were pictures of him in his performance. And there were pictures of a lot of other people and a lot of other things.
At the end of the album, there was a big group photo of all the thespians of the midwest.
"I wasn't there," said Den. "I had to work with the lighting guys at that time. . . . Who are these two guys with the baseball caps and sunglasses?"
"That's another story." I figured.
Jerry Waxman is an
adventurer, writer, traveler, educator, and wannabe online marketer
(starving, by the way). He currently lives in Sderot a small town
in the western Negev region of Israel. Jerry would like to introduce
the world to the value of travel and alternative high quality
audio entertainment.
This author of this Article has choosen to make this article available with free reprint rights. Click here to copy this article.
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