Missing Sunsets

Those of you who've been with me for a while may remember that my sister, Laura, was a performer like me. Actually, all of the Donnelly children were no strangers to the stage, but Laura and I took that next step and each chose theater as our major when we entered college. Laura attended the prestigious Northwestern University near Chicago, I honed my craft at Syracuse University. But each summer during our college years, both of were reunited in Warsaw, Indiana to perform Summer Stock at a terrific theater named Wagon Wheel Playhouse. There we are at "The Wheel" in the picture to the left.  I'm the one sitting, revealing my enormous thighs, Laura's standing behind me.

Wagon Wheel was an awesome place to apply the skills we'd been honing all year in school.  And we put on some really fantastic, high quality shows, if I do say so myself!! During my three years there, I appeared in musicals such as "Annie," "Music Man," "A Chorus Line," "Girl Crazy," and many, many others!  It was hard work, but we truly loved every minute of it.  To this day, I'll never be able to figure out how we managed to rehearse a show all day, break for dinner, then perform a different musical that evening.  Each show ran two weeks, and we did about six shows every summer.  Ah, the energy of youth!!

At the end of the summer, I'd tearfully hug my sister and fellow performers goodbye and we'd all head back to our respective schools to begin the next collegiate year.

But after all three of the summers I performed at Wagon Wheel, I confess I never got used to that first day back, sitting in my dorm room, gazing out the window, and experiencing twilight again.

When you're a performer, your call times are usually one half hour before show start.  However, if you're a girl, and you have make-up, hair, false eyelashes, and spandex tights to deal with, you arrive at the theater at least one hour before the curtain rises.   Hence, for the entire summer, I had not witnessed one single sunset.  I was always in my dressing room at the theater.  You know that awesome time of day when the daylight is just starting to fade, when the fireflies are beginning to warm up, and the birds are hanging out at the feeder for one more pre-nightfall snack?  I missed ALL of that for three solid months.

I never even realized I missed it until that Fall, back on campus.  Then, I couldn't get enough of it!  Even now, all these years later, when I start to see the light outside start to fade, I always think of Wagon Wheel Playhouse, and the fantastic job that inadvertently made me appreciate sunsets!!

What's your favorite time of day? Early morning with a cup of coffee? Afternoon nap time?  Tell me!  Let's bond!!  And, of course,

Thanks for Reading!!