On September 19 and 20th Nancy had the honor of performing at her Alma Mater, Kettering-Fairmont High School in Kettering, OH. Returning to the theatre that gave her a start, Director Ross Taylor cast Nancy alongside six highly-gifted young actors and filled out the cast with narration in the story provided by local television celebrity and anchorman for FOX 45, Pete Scalia.
The show, which benefited the local literacy group, Project Read, was a staged reading of the pulp-fiction era short story, If I Were You, by L. Ron Hubbard. Complete with background and cue-specific sound effects, the polished performance brought to life words from the age of popular fiction in America, circa 1930. If I Were You, set in a circus, focuses on the dream of Little Tom Little (Nancy’s role) and his dream of being the Ringmaster in the big top; fat chance for a midget. But when circus palm reader and despised misanthrope, The Professor, dies and bequeaths to Tom all his books on black magic; Tom discovers the art of exchanging bodies with anyone. At first he is excited to discover what it is to be big but he quickly finds it is what is “inside” that counts.
The young performers, who delivered a truly professional quality performance, included Kevin Erman as the evil Professor; Caroline Grogan as Tom’s loyal Maize Little; Jay Kain as the arrogant ringmaster, Mr. Schmidt; Allie Dyer as the lascivious circus owner, Mrs. Johnson; Katherine Ygbuhay as the trapped Betty the Trapeze Artist; and Tim Green as the courageous lion tamer, Jerry Gordon.
Local NPR station, WYSO, recorded both performances as well as interviews with Nancy, Pete Scalia, Ross Taylor and the cast for later broadcast in the Dayton, OH area.
An experience like this is not easy to top but the biggest highlight of her journey back home not on the stage but on the playing field. Nancy was invited by the Fairmont Firebirds marching band to “dot the i” in the pre-game Homecoming festivities. Following the run on to the field to a standing ovation from her hometown crowd, Nancy remarked. “I was in band in high school and even though I was squad leader my senior year and got us into so much trouble, nothing quite compares to “dotting the I” when you are into your 6th decade of life! What a hoot!”
