tbt: Where it all started

So, every Thursday, or those Thursdays which I remember to, or those Thursdays in which I'm feeling particularly nostalgic, I'd like to write a little "throwback Thursday" blog and take you on an adventure into the past of my acting career! These few may start out a bit like high school creative writing essays. I'm still trying to find my voice, but here goes!

The Dry Gulch. The dinner theatre where my parents, Maureen Gordon and Dave Gordon worked when I and my twin sister were little girls; located at 9351 W. Ivring Park Rd. in Schiller Park, Illinois. My Mom directed the show and my Dad played the emcee, the master of ceremonies, Sheriff Bob.

It's the late 80s early 90s, all of the parents are young and have 9-5 day jobs and fun night jobs, they own houses, white-washed jeans are in, hair is big and so are themed restaurants and dinner theatres! They're fun for the whole family!

My Dad would work daytimes at First Chicago bank in Chicago or Oak Brook Terrace, then at night come home "change into cowboy boots, strap on a holster and assume his other identity" as described in a Chicago Tribune article by Hugh Hart about my dad playing the role of Sheriff Bob at The Dry Gulch titled Taming The Wild, Wild West.

Mr. Hart described my dad's life as "the kind of life cartoonists used to dream up for Clark Kent/Superman." and to me, he WAS Superman. He still is, but now he' s a King, too. And it's amazing to me that an article was written about my Dad in the Chicago Tribune- thus far I've only been in the Tribune ONCE and it was for a crappy review of a play I was in at the time.

My Mom was and is still her own version of Superman, too. During the day she was Super Mom taking care of twin daughters, both with type 1 juvenile diabetes, and both whom would never stop bickering and would "never stop singing." Then at night, she'd be off to "the gulch" for rehearsal!

I remember going to "the gulch" when we were little girls with my Mom and Dad and we'd sit on the stage with the dance hall girls and help them make feather hats before the show would begin. I remember always feeling so special. Like I was one with the in crowd, the one who knew everyone's secret identities. I remember always being spotlighted and called out at the end of the show by my Dad, the star ofthe show was calling ME out! And he'd say we were his daughters, his little dance hall girls in training! Ever since then, I've wanted to perform.

My parents have always been a huge inspiration for me. My Mom and Dad used to write sketches and shows together for The Dry Gulch and before that for their dinner theatre they owned and began called Reminiscing- housed in Lakeside Bowl in Roselle, Illinois. They're the ultimate theatre inspiration- want to do theatre? Ok. Just do it. Open your own. Write your own material. Do it!

I like to think I got my good taste from my Mom. While we rarely agreed on what dress I should wear to the 6th grade dance, my Mom has always had excellent taste- she was a director with an amazing attention to detail, fun and was intune with her audience. She knew that an 80s, 90s audience wasn't looking to hear country western songs from the Country Western Era, she knew they came here to have a good time and hear the music they knew and loved sung live and in a fresh, new, fun way. One of her specialties was the murder mystery they would perform at The Dry Gulch!

I'd like to think I got my comedy and charm from my Dad. My Dad has always had amazing comedic timing and knows how to connect with an audience. In the Tribune article he talks about having to be able to improvise with the audience because there is no fourth wall in dinner theatre and he excels at just that- he is so quick witted and always charming and ready with a good joke, only slightly at your own expense. He was also always ready to give a wonderfully honest performance.

Thanks to my parents and their excellent child reering skills, I've got what people in the industry, or at least the dinner theatre industry, call the "acting bug." I can't stop! I am so incredibly grateful to both of my parents for the creativity, the love for theatre and performing arts, and the tenacity they instilled in me and continue to inspire in me every day.

Some images are just imprinted on one's brain and the one below is definitely one of those for me. This was painted on the back wall of the Dry Gulch stage and I will probably always remember her.