The Big New York Writer Author Dude



Timothy McDonald (courtesy of Google)

     So today the cast of The Musical Adventures of Flat Stanley cast had three performances. We had been looking forward to today for a couple months because of our special guest. Our director, Jacob, invited founder of iTheatrics and Music Theatre International (MTI), Timothy McDonald to come check us out.
     Our director made sure everything was perfect. The night before we had a rehearsal (we hadn't had one in a while because we had been performing already for weeks) and we went over our harmonies. This morning my whole Twitter feed was filled with tweets about Mr. McDonald coming ( #RockHisSocks ), and motivational stuff like that. Like we needed motivation! Him coming was motivation alone.
    So he flew in from New York that morning and caught our early show. We saw him as we did our meet and greet with the elementary school kids. He was pretty nice, from what I saw at least. I didn't talk to him but he talked to parts of the cast. He also wore cool Tom's. I'm pretty sure a guy with Tom's like that couldn't possibly be that bad.
     So soon we went back into our dressing rooms and began to prepare for the next show. Belle, our stage manager, came into ours and asked what we thought of the "Big New York Writer Author Dude". The younger girls giggled at Belle's new nickname for the usually respected writer.
     We did the next show, our meet and greet, and then, while still in costume mind you, went to go sit in the first two rows of the empty house. Mr. McDonald stood on the stage and commended us on our performances. We all wore smiles too big for our faces and Jacob shined with pride. I sat in the front row near the center (and in perfect view of those Tom's). I was seated next to Cris when McDonald complimented him and let me tell you, I thought I was bad when Taylor Lautner rips his shirt off in the Twilight Saga but Cris was ten times that. He (and I could tell) tried hard to hide it, but on the inside he was freaking out.
     McDonald also mentioned half a line of music from the show and the whole cast finished it for him. He responded with "I wrote it. I don't have to remember it." and we all laughed. The real funny part was when he complemented Belle on her stage managing skills. Belle blushed and we all looked at her thinking "Mhhhmmm...Is he still the Big New York Writer Author Dude, Belle?". After he mentioned working on James and the Giant Peach and we all ooooh-ed and ahhhh-ed at the mere idea. Needless to say we were all bummed to see him go.
     Belle ushered (more like herded) us into the dressing room and we asked her, "So did you like the Big New York Writer Author Dude?" and she responded with "Yes, Mr. McDonald was a very pleasant man." Okay, I see how it is Belle, a little sweet talk and suddenly he's a "very pleasant man".