Stagestruck: Curtain Up!

Stagestruck: Curtain Up! — page 1 — Hello The story you are about to read really did happen Well not everything exactly the way it’s written but in 1995 I did create the Random Farms Kids Theater And it’s still around today Only now it’s become this internationally recognized organization If you had asked my younger self if I ever could have imagined that happening well I probably would have said that I could imagine it but I’d never have believed it would actually happen You’ll read in this book how it all worked out but let me skip to something you won’t read about In a local newspaper article that was printed a few weeks after our first show it said Though her directorial debut was a success Anya said she is unlikely to again take on such a responsibility in the near future Of course reading that now makes me laugh Running Random Farms became my

Stagestruck: Curtain Up! — page 2 — career And now I see Random Farms kids everywhere when I turn on the TV see a movie or my favorite go to a Broadway show They make me proud and it gives me the chills when I remember our humble beginnings When I was growing up I wasn’t the smartest or the fastest or the most popular I didn’t have any special skills besides just really loving theater I just made stuff up as I went along even when people thought I was kind of crazy or told me it was impossible I hope you will be inspired when you read this inspired to do whatever it is that you imagine Because that’s how things do happen Curtain Up Anya

Stagestruck: Curtain Up! — page 3 — 1 CHAPTER Anya look out I spun around just in time to see the black-and-white comet barreling toward my head I dropped to the ground hearing the whoosh of the soccer ball as it zoomed over my ponytail A split second later it landed with a thud in the grass about ten yards beyond me Great I thought I may have avoided a concussion but I just made a total fool out of myself in front of the entire soccer team As if to confirm it someone from the sidelines started to giggle then someone else said Shhh but I could tell the shusher herself was trying not to giggle That would be Daria Benson the rising team captain and without a doubt the coolest girl at Chappaqua Middle School Daria was one of those girls who matched her lip gloss and eye shadow to 1

Stagestruck: Curtain Up! — page 4 — Stagestruck Curtain Up her soccer uniform Meanwhile I didn’t even know it was acceptable to wear lip gloss and eye shadow with a soccer uniform What am I doing here I wondered Because seriously I had absolutely no delusions about my athletic ability I liked sports and I wasn’t completely uncoordinated but I was definitely not a natural-born jock The only reason I’d agreed to try out for the soccer team in the first place was because my best friend Becky Mezan who was a natural-born jock maybe even a natural-born superjock had talked me into it And to be honest if a person were going to be stuck in middle school with the Daria Bensons of the world wouldn’t it better to be on their team literally But as I reached up to remove a clump of dirt from my hair I realized there were about a zillion other places I’d rather be right now My first choice would be New York City at a Broadway theater watching Aladdin or Newsies or even Wicked again I’d already seen it twice but so what I would go again in a heartbeat Across the field somebody asked Is she alive I opened my eyes and saw Becky staring down at me looking pretty concerned She was the one who’d shouted the warning that had kept me from being decapitated by the speeding soccer bomb As she reached down to help me 2

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