acroyear | On Festival Performers Switching Jobs

edited to fit corrections from the comments below

Even the most die-hard constants of the festival have hardly been constant at what they do year to year.

On Saturday's pub sing, we had a moment honoring Capt Moone's 20th year, with Jack explaining how he wasn't actually a pirate (or even Fletcher Moone) when he first arrived. Brad (and Tim) were attending the court cast (though not actually in it).

Peg: The Pyrates were formed by John Struchen to basically give them all a place to channel their youthful enthusiasm and hilarity. Beefeaters are really supposed to "guard the Queen"...as in, shut up, stand there, look menacing. But, with Tim and Evan in attendance, they were a walking, talking, breathing Monty Python skit waiting to happen, sometimes at less than opportune moments...like when Mary Queen of Scots is being led away to be beheaded :::snort!!:::

This is much like the 20th anniversary a year ago for Lynn, aka Peg, who wasn't a pirate but instead a gypsy when she first joined the cast all those years ago.

Though things seem more stable now than before, the idea of staying in a single "act" and character at the festival is still rather rare. People move around quite a bit. Some reglar cast people become street-characters they stick with (Magoty Mullet and Sinius Vice being the most famous), but many others have changed their street role over the years but remain predominantly street (Mrs. Pugh, once Sister Mary Margaret Mercy, once Phoebe the shephardess). Others went from core cast to stage shows only (most of the current Skum line-up, for example).

Consider that I've been a member of *6* different shows on an official capacity over my 10 seasons working*, and 2 others unofficially, plus being a regular of rat pucking, pit orchestra for 2 shows, add in privy duty, info booth helper, dancer at other groups' shows (like the Rogues back in the 90s), occasional messenger and whipping boy, and my moments of street sillyness, and the wandering whistler bit that I've been building up this year...

some performers either spend time polishing their work into very tight, rehearsed, shows (puke&snot, hack&slash). others let other shows pass into history and move on by introducing entirely new shows and concepts every few years. I personally see myself in the latter -- there will be a time where Cat&Fiddle will go into semi-retirement due to other (likely family) commitments and we'll come up with something else to do that'll be less stressful.

geeze, just recalling the sheer number and variety of acts that performers like Liz Demery, Jim Frank, Stephon Walker, Jim Neib, and Jennifer & Bob Garman have done over the years boggles the mind.

Some of our YAEs have gone on to leading roles (J. Dickson), others have found niches of performance that they adored and moved into full time (Sexton the fool, Gigi the mime). Still other actors have taken to other talents backstage as directors or stage managers.

Heck, we even had a security head become a bartender...

* the six: Three Left Feet, Charm City Rapper, Irish Music and Dance with the Ditties (Cathy and Bill Palmer and family and friends), Morning Musical Merrymaking, Cat & Fiddle Morris, and Pub Sing '99. Yes, 10 seasons, starting 1995. I'm half as old as Capt Moone ;-)