Reconciling Childhood
Dear Smirkus Family and Friends,
We’ve been enjoying our brief vacation in the Cape and are ready to move on to Waltham today. While we’re setting up here, I’ll tell you a funny story.
A little girl and her mom came up to me after a show the other day looking very nervous. Her mom however was very excited. “Can you tell me- is your House Manager… is that Joy?”
Joy from a recent blog post with her plants.
Our House Manager is in fact Joy and I told them so. “I told her!” she said excitedly, “We’ve seen Circus Dreams so many times. It’s one of her favorites!”
Circus Dreams, as many of you know, is a documentary by Signe Taylor that was done of Smirkus’ 2006 season when Smirkus was in slightly dire straits and it’s triumphant return.
Circus Dreams (2011)
“I’m sure she’d sign something for you if you’d ask,” was what I said in response and they hurried off toward her. When I spoke with Joy about it later, she said, rather red-faced, that they had indeed gotten an autograph from her.
“I’m never sure how to react to that sort of thing,” she said, “[Her and production manager Josh Shack] did a residency a few months ago and all the kids had watched the movie and recognized me.
It reminded me of when I was younger and watched my older sister perform in plays at her high school. The kids in the shows look to me to be impossibly talented and older than myself. Looking back, I think that’s when I knew I wanted to work in the arts.
I’m privileged to work for an incredibly professional show full of talented young performers. It’s easy to forget that these kids are still learning to be performers and how to handle the adulation of little kids who see them as celebrities.
We’re setting up in Waltham right now where we’ll be for a seven show run until July 25th. We’re about halfway through our tour now and, for me at least, it’s speeding by.
Take care,
Jane
Filed under: Big Top Tour 
Source: Big Top Tour Feed
Reconciling Childhood