11-26-2012, 01:46 PM
Funny you should mention that. I actually played Lincoln as a kid. It was in the 7th grade, and we were doing the play, Lincoln Dodges a Bullet, but Not So His Paramour, one of Shakespeare's lesser-known tragedies.
It was a tricky part for me, because I was the smallest kid in the class. The morning of the day of the play, the teacher panicked, because some parents had seen one of our practices and called attention to how short I was. In their opinion, Lincoln needed to a towering figure. So the teacher begged me to go get some stilts and learn how to use them. Which I did, but there wasn't time to shop around. They were eight-foot stilts, and when I walked on stage, all the audience could see were these two sticks scissoring about. Nor could anyone hear anything I said, because I was addressing the rafters. I didn't see much of the play, even though I was in it. I remember running into these spiderwebs all the time. Eventually the audience was treated to the sight of my beard falling to the stage, and that brought a standing ovation.
It would be great to get an opportunity to reprise my role. I've grown a bit, I've got a real beard now, and I've finally memorized the opening phrase of the Gettysburg Adress.
It was a tricky part for me, because I was the smallest kid in the class. The morning of the day of the play, the teacher panicked, because some parents had seen one of our practices and called attention to how short I was. In their opinion, Lincoln needed to a towering figure. So the teacher begged me to go get some stilts and learn how to use them. Which I did, but there wasn't time to shop around. They were eight-foot stilts, and when I walked on stage, all the audience could see were these two sticks scissoring about. Nor could anyone hear anything I said, because I was addressing the rafters. I didn't see much of the play, even though I was in it. I remember running into these spiderwebs all the time. Eventually the audience was treated to the sight of my beard falling to the stage, and that brought a standing ovation.
It would be great to get an opportunity to reprise my role. I've grown a bit, I've got a real beard now, and I've finally memorized the opening phrase of the Gettysburg Adress.