A Voyagette in Vietnam

I love it when my worlds collide, or at least overlap.  I have a favorite Japanese wood block print of the cherry blossoms surrounding the Tidal Basin with the Washington Monument in the background. It’s a reminder to me that though Japan was a different chapter in my life, it is not boxed up and put away in a mothball-filled drawer for safe-keeping, but always will be part of who I am.

And so it was when I joined an amazing group of people known as the Washington Revels.

I should let you know, dear reader, that all of this is leading up to the explanation behind my blog title.

I was on a rebound, but not in the way you might imagine. I was looking for the next show, as the Hot Mikado (a fun jazzed up version of Gilbert and Sulivan’s “Mikado”) folded due to lack of available males in the area who could sing AND tap-dance. I was crushed, as I had a role that involved some solos, great dances and…I actually had a real character name (Peep-Bo). One that was in the script! I didn’t have to make it up myself as an anonymous member of the ensemble. But alas, the good director finally cancelled the show and I was heart-broken. I picked myself up and turned to the internet—to find any and all auditions and there it was—the Washington Revels, that very week.

I made it to the audition with a very poorly timed margarita coursing through my bloodstream and proceeded to forget the French lyrics to my song. No worries, they let me hold my music and I began again and was actually cast in the French-Canadian Christmas show of 2008. Again, my worlds were colliding—this time my current world of DC with the world of folk music, French (I minored in French at university) and a story about voyageurs who trapped and traded furs in Minnesota and to the north.

My stage husband, Gaston the Voyageur, and sweet stage daughter little Sylvie

(In)famous rendition of Lord of the Dance at the cast party

The Eight Voyagettes

Rehearsals and time back-stage and in the dressing room brought eight of us women closely together so much that we started calling ourselves the “Voyagettes”.  We certainly left our mark with our silly rendition of the Morris dancers’ “Lord of the Dance” at the cast party. No offense intended to the Real Lord of the dance, of course. 

The village of Trois Rivières

Though we’ve embarked on other journeys, crossing paths at times, I look back on the sweetness of our time together as we shared our struggles with life beyond the magical world of Trois Rivières on stage.

In the story of our show, a group of voyageurs (voyageux?!) left their home, their families and their friends to go out into the world of trapping and fur trading to earn a living. 

The parting scene was a tender one and each of us on stage had a moment when our eyes teared up, even though we knew the joyful return that was to come. The voyageurs were gone quite a long time, but it was Christmas that made them long to be home with their loved ones.

And that brings to this present moment with me, a Voyagette in Vietnam, answering the call to be out in the world, but missing her friends and family with all her heart at Christmastime. I look forward to a joyful return of my own.