Meeting Mark: Moriah Take 4
Story
I think I can assemble a half-baked argument for going back so many damn times, besides the fact that this play is so pleasantly infectious. I am really quite new to the theater; I took Theater Arts in high school, but I was never given the opportunity to see a show until now. Movies and TV are one-track media--you see it once, and that's enough, because you know it'll be the same all over again. But theater is the polar opposite.
No matter how much the actors rehearse and enact it, the factor of live performance makes for something different every time. And that dynamic quality is what keeps me coming back. I can't help wondering, "What surprises are going to unfold tonight?" So I think you know where this is going by now. Let me tell you, the best part of this show didn't happen until it was over. The entire audience, a very large one, gave a unanimous standing ovation. It buoyed me up. And yes, he screwed up all over again in the exact same place--just couldn't shake the giggles again.
One of the plastic footprints Mark uses as his teaching props wound up flying into the audience. A boy perhaps between 12 and 14 caught it and later had Mark sign it. Upon seeing it Mark jokingly yelled, "Security! We want it back!", but he was delighted to give it away. He said it was the first time he'd had the pleasure of signing away a prop. And I spread a little love to that family when I overheard them debating whether or not to attempt physical contact with him. "You know," I said, "if you ask him you can get a hug, a picture, and anything else that comes to mind for you." They almost didn't believe me. But what happens? Out comes Mark, and they get that hug. "I told you!" I shouted to them.
Nice to know I can cheer people up for a change.
One of the folks standing around for Mark was a youngish man who works part-time as a dance instructor, so when he said this aloud Mark affected a look of horror and humiliation. He felt ashamed by the fact that he might have just been evalutated by a REAL dance instructor! He named off several old dance film classics that had helped him learn the moves for the play. Guess which dance he said wound up being the hardest to do? The Pony! "You can't pony with dignity!" he bemoaned. Har har.