Arts and Science: Theatre Thursday

When I lived in Los Angeles I had the pleasure of doing shows for children at the California Science Center. I was first hired to do a one woman show about Rosalind Franklin and her role in discovering the double helix shape of DNA (among other things). I went on to do a shows about how the brain works, about how building structures support so much weight and two magic shows to complement the limited time magic exhibit.

Here I am as the geeky, over enthusiastic (who me???) Magician's Assistant

It was a great job, paying by the hour for rehearsals, performances, and all the time we spent in between. If we had a show in the morning and not again until the afternoon we were paid for the time we sat around waiting. I saw every IMAX movie that came through the theatre there - not only for free, but I was paid to sit and watch. Our passes got us into the other museums (natural history and air and space) and we would visit those. I sat with a friend in the parking lot and he taught me some tricks on the guitar. When we arrived first thing in the morning we'd run through the exhibits, and any of the ones that took pictures, etc we filled with us doing silly things. We read books. We played endless games of Big Booty. We ate lunch in the rose garden. The directors of the program were trained theatre professionals, so the shows were well written and directed. They held us to a high standard. But they knew how to have fun as well.