Shakespeare, college, and a little black box theatre

Back in the day most of our friends at DBU were the theatre majors.

Theatre majors take a lot of flack (as compared to programmers, med students, pre-law or engineers), but regardless of the economic viability of acting as a profession, theatre majors are a heck of a lot of fun to hang out with. I've recently learned via Facebook that some 20 years later most are still working in their craft. (Take that you smug business majors who have changed careers six times!)

Some of my best memories are in the Room at the Top Theatre that once existed at DBU. (It was converted into something else when the theatre program got the ax in 1990.) As it turns out, one little show there was sort of responsible for my whole family...

The show was As You Like It in 1986 (I think). Troy joined the cast so he could be close to Rhonda-of-the-Comic-Strip-Pantyhose. They eventually started dating, got married, and had four amazing girls (my nieces). A girl quit the cast a few days before opening (allegedly she might have dated Troy and been annoyed that he was crushing on Rhonda), and Prof. Erickson asked me, an R/TV major, to step in (I believe the criteria was that I fit the dress).

He promised I had no lines, only had to learn blocking, and that it was easy.

What he didn't tell me was that I had to spend six hours at a tech rehearsal playing across from my ex-boyfriend--the completely exasperating John--Troy's brother. (We had just gone through the "Big Brownie Breakup" a couple of months prior to the show, but that's another story.) After six hours of looking down said dress (as John tells the story), we went on to do other shows together, fall in love, marry, and have two kids (the amazing Chase and Bethany).

Troy, Rhonda and John are now in business together. Though not officially employed at the firm, I insert my Marketing Diva self into the process periodically just for fun.

And all because of Shakespeare and a little black box theatre. Hmmmm...