My Stage Debut

My Stage Debut

I couldn’t believe it the day that my girlfriend, Lexi, told me that she wanted to try out for a play at our local theater. She sat me down and told me all about how it had been a childhood dream of hers. When she was a little girl, her parents took her to see many plays, and musicals in New York City. She told me that from that time on, she had had fantasies about being onstage under the big lights. To be on Broadway you have to dedicate your entire life to acting. You have to take classes, get an agent, and go to countless auditions. This wasn’t possible in our little suburban corner. Lexi was the receptionist at a BMW dealership.

When a community group started advertising open auditions for a new play, it seemed like a good way to fulfill a longtime dream. It seemed harmless enough. I was amused, and quietly supportive, as she told me of her intentions. Lexi signed up for an audition, and drafted me to read opposite her as she practiced her lines. I couldn’t believe it when I even found myself having fun with it. I guess that I was getting in touch with my “inner ham”. We only had a brief outline and a few pages of script. It seemed that the play was about a social protest of some sort of injustice. The outline wasn’t exactly clear. Our practice scene was about a young woman (Lexi) arguing with her male best friend about taking part in the protest. She was passionate about it, but for some reason he was worried about her. When we got to the last paragraph, I could see why. Her line was, “I don’t care what you say. I’m going to do it.” With that she pulled her shirt over her head, and stood defiantly in her bra.

As we got to that part, I was aghast. As far as I was concerned, she simply couldn’t do it. To appear on stage in her bra was unthinkable. Ironically our argument nearly echoed the script. I finally backed down when she walked into her bedroom and came back out wearing my favorite bikini top. “Which one covers more?” she demanded. I had to admit that the bra that she had chosen was a lot less revealing. She capped the whole thing by telling me that she was auditioning whether I liked it or not. What could I do?

After a lot more discussion and some cooling off, she suggested that I go along to the audition and see that it was all, ok. I agreed, and comforted myself with the thought that she had no acting experience, and that there was almost no chance that she would get the part. We practiced the scene until both of us knew the lines by heart. I still got really tense every time she pulled her shirt over her head, but she was right. The bra did cover a lot more than her swimsuit top. I guess that it was just the idea.

Finally the fateful day arrived. We went on down to the civic center, and signed in. I couldn’t help noticing that there were a lot more women on the audition sheet than men. I knew from the outline that there were approximately equal numbers of parts for both sexes. I took this as a good sign. Lexi would have a lot of competition. All of the hopefuls waited in a lounge area, and were called in one by one. By the time Lexi’s turn was called, there was only one other woman left, and no men. When Sheila, the assistant to the director called her name, we both stood to go in. She gave us an inquisitive look and stood in the door, waiting for an explanation. “Uh, I’m her practice partner. Can I come along?” I stammered. With her look turning to amusement, she told us that she didn’t see why not, and led the way in.

As we stepped onto the stage, the director was sitting on a stool, looking at a clipboard. Without looking up, he spoke out, “Are you Alexandra Portoy? My name is Berg Johnson, I’m the director.”

“Yes, that’s me.” She responded. With that, he looked up for the first time.

“And who might you be?” he asked, with a nod in my direction.

“Oh, I’m Pete.” I replied. “I’ve been her practice partner, and I came along for moral support.”

After a moment of thought he looked at me and said, “Well, that’s rather unusual, but were nothing if not flexible here. In fact, if you don’t mind, I’ll have you read the male part, since my throat is getting dry.” I wasn’t ready for this, but how could I argue? I was the extra wheel. I nodded my assent, and Sheila showed us where to stand.

When we were in place, Berg told us to go ahead and read it the way that we pictured it. “Really get into it.” he added. We ran through it, as we had practiced, with neither of us needing to look at the script. I could feel my tension rising as we got close to the final line.

I could tell that Lexi was nervous as well. She began to stammer over lines that she knew well. As we got to the final dialogue, she seemed to pull her resolve together, and at the right moment, she stomped her foot, and said, “ I don’t care what you say, I’m going to do it!” With that, she grabbed the bottom of her sweatshirt, and swiftly pulled it over her head. I nearly fainted when I saw that she had not worn the matronly heavy bra that she has used for practice, but rather a filmy little wisp of lace proving all over again that Victoria has no secrets.

I was totally dumbfounded. It was a good thing that the scene was over, because I couldn’t have continued no matter what. As I stood slack-jawed, Lexi held her defiant pose; breasts thrust forward, hands on hips, and eyes burning. Finally Berg ended the moment by clapping his hands and saying, “Oh, well done. Can you two wait around while I attend to one more reading?” Then, he added, thoughtfully, “In fact would you be so kind as to read again with the last young lady?” I realized with a start that he was talking to me.

I never had a chance to respond when Lexi piped up, “Of course he’ll help out. Your voice must be really tired.” I turned to look at her in surprise, and once again realized that she was wearing nothing above the waist, but a little bit of designer imagination. My brain kicked into gear and I realized that by agreeing, I could get her to put her shirt back on so that she could step out. I nodded to Berg, and watched as Lexi started toward the stage exit. She turned the corner and was out of sight with her shirt still in her hand.

I was still contemplating this as Sheila ushered the next hopeful onto the stage. Her name turned out to be Tonya. After the briefest of introductions, we launched into the scene. In order to try to regain some sense of composure, I really threw myself into the part. Tonya’s interpretation was different from Lexi’s. She started a lot more demure, and built her defiance gradually. By the final moment, she was almost ablaze with defiance. The final line came, “ I don’t care what you say, I’m going to do it!” With flawless timing, she yanked her shirt off over her head, threw it into the wings, grabbed the front of her bra, pulled it up and away from her breasts, and with single motion yanked it off, and threw it at me. Reflexively I caught it, and stared dumbly at the bra, and then at Tonya. She held her defiant pose for a stunned moment, and then let out a long breath.

Quietly, she turned toward Berg, and said, “I guess I got a bit carried away, I’m really sorry.”

Berg stared at her for a moment, and replied, “Young lady, you were magnificent. If you will accept the part right now, you will save me from having to do a lot of tiresome callbacks.” Still topless, Tonya replied that if she didn’t want the part, she wouldn’t have tried out. She then looked at me, and at the bra in my hand.

“Next time, I’ll try to keep myself in better control. I’m so glad that you aren’t angry at my impulsiveness.” Eyeing the bra sheepishly, I held up the broken clasp. She wasn’t going to be able to wear this one again anytime soon. “Seeing my point, she said, “Oh my, I had better find my shirt.” With that, Sheila stepped forward, and handed her the shirt. While we were talking, she must have found it in the wings. Without bothering to put it on, she looked at Berg, and asked about the next step. He handed her a rehearsal schedule, and sent her with Sheila to sign some papers. As they left, I couldn’t help noticing that she still hadn’t put her shirt back on.

Now, Berg turned to me and asked me to go and bring Lexi back in. I put the bra down by his stool and went to get her. She was in the waiting area, and I was glad to see that she had her shirt back on. When we were back on the stage, he studied us both for a moment. “First I want to say that you did a great job with the part.” He said to Sheila. “It was a tough call, but I’m offering it to somebody else.” Lexi nodded in resignation, but before she could show her disappointment, he continued. “On the other hand, I still want you to be in my play. Would you accept another part?” After a moment of reflection, Lexi named off a couple of supporting parts that she thought would work for her. With that on it’s way to being settled, Berg looked at me, and said, “Now, how about you?”

I was so relieved that Lexi wouldn’t be on stage in her bra, that I missed his point entirely. I tried to cover my feelings, by saying that I was sorry that she wouldn’t have the lead, but glad that she would have a part in the play. Berg looked at me for a moment, and continued, “That’s not my point. I had four men read for the male lead today, and none of them could do it. I want you.” I saw Lexi’s eyes wander down to the torn bra on the floor, and back up to me.

A smile darted across her face as she exclaimed, “He’ll do it.” The question must have been all over my body language as I turned fully toward her in shock. “Don’t you see, honey, this is something that we can do together now. I know what a great job you did helping me practice. You’ll be great.” Just then, Sheila came back into the room holding a clipboard. I never stood a chance. Shortly, Lexi and I were signing release papers, and getting rehearsal schedules. We were committed to being in the play together. Finally we were given full scripts, and we headed back to her place.

Once home, we dug into the full script. We were surprised to learn that it had been written by Sheila. The further we read, the more intrigued we became. It seemed to be a story adapted from news stories that we had read. The play was about what happened after a woman was arrested in a medium sized town for taking off her shirt on a hot day in a secluded part of a city park. She was with a couple of male friends and they were shirtless. It seemed that as she got hotter on a sweltering day, she decided to take her shirt off and just relax in her bra. She was seen by a zealous officer in the park patrol and arrested for indecent exposure. This set the scene for our play. The story then picked up with our lead couple arguing about the woman taking part in a protest at the sexist law that allowed the men to be bare-chested, and arrested the woman for stripping to her bra.

Tonya was to play the female lead, named Julie. I was to be her boyfriend Brad. Brad agreed with her in principle, but didn’t want her taking risks, and taking her shirt off to protest. I was deeply chagrinned to read further into the play to a scene where Brad took his pants off during an argument with Julie, and stood in his underwear, asking her how she liked it? The scene takes place during a meeting of female protesters at Julie’s apartment. I was going to be expected to strip to my underwear not only in front of a group of women, but onstage in front of a full audience. I knew that I couldn’t do that. I would have to get Berg and Sheila to change the scene.

The next day was our first practice. Lexi was assigned the part of the prosecutor in Julie’s trial. I could tell that deep down she was disappointed at not having the lead, but it was still a good part. We started practicing the early scenes first. The arrest scene was very short, and after a lights out scene change, the next scene was the argument between Tonya/Julie and myself. True to her word, she wore a very sturdy bra, and restrained herself from taking it off after her shirt came off. Perhaps it was because of this restraint, that her speeches seemed less passionate than they had during the audition. I could tell that Berg was trying to get more, but her performance was quite good. The story then developed with news stories about the trial and plans of protest. My next really major scene was one in which I walked in on a meeting of the women planning a protest in Julie’s apartment. One thing leads to another and my character gets pulled into an argument with the women, with Julie trying to make peace. She finally looses her temper with my character.

The script called for me to pull down my pants in front of everybody and to kick them off in a fit of anger and ridicule. The script notes said that I was to wear bikini briefs. I pulled Berg aside before we got to that point, and convinced him to let me do it with sweats, and to keep gym shorts on. We practiced it that way a few times, and I could tell that nobody was satisfied, and that Sheila hated seeing her script watered down. After many long discussions with Sheila, Berg, Tonya and myself, they convinced me to try it with boxers instead of gym shorts. I agreed to try it if the fly was sewn shut. To my comfort the boxers seemed to cover as much as the gym shorts, and everybody said that it had more impact.

The next scene is in front of the courthouse. Julie and her friends march in protest of the trial, and one by one, led by Julie, take their shirts off leaving only their bras. I was secretly pleased that Lexi wouldn’t be one of the protesters. I wanted her to stay fully dressed. Shortly they are arrested en masse. The final scene is of the trial of the protesters. In front of the judge, Julie makes a fiery impassioned speech and takes off not only her jacket and shirt, but also her skirt as well. As she stands defiantly, her fellow protesters follow her lead, strip to their underwear, and toss their clothing away . As the courtroom freezes in shock, I stand with the women, and strip to my boxers. One by one the trial spectators stand and applaud. Finally, the prosecutor looks at the judge and throws up her hands. The play ends as the judge bangs his gavel, and announces case dismissed.

We practiced each night until all of us knew our lines flawlessly. With each new practice Sheila and Berg worked to bring out more depth of emotion. Early on we just walked through our parts and read the lines. As we got more into it, we left our scripts behind, and worked to make it real. Two weeks before the dress rehearsal was when we started actually throwing off our outer clothing as the script called for it. It was difficult, but I was managing. By the last week, we could do it smoothly.

The problem was that everybody could tell that it somehow seemed hollow. We needed more passion. It wasn’t that we weren’t trying. It just didn’t have any spark. Two days before the dress rehearsal, I saw Berg quietly talking to Tonya. Her eyes showed shock, and dismay at first, but eventually, a smile crossed her face, and she nodded knowingly. I knew that something was in the air, and I hoped that it would make the difference. As we began our practice, Tonya had a lot more passion and life than I had gotten used to seeing from her. As we argued our way through the scene I could feel myself being swept along by her passion. The scene felt much more real to me. I should have known what was coming. Just like the audition, she threw off her shirt, and continued by flinging her bra into the audience seats.

The cast members, who were watching, broke into applause. It was obvious to all that this run through had a lot more passion and depth of emotion than the previous times. Berg asked Tonya what was different. She explained that knowing that she was going to bare her breasts, seemed to add a lot of nervous excitement to her performance. The rest of us could tell that it was true. I knew that I had responded to her increased energy with a lot more passion in my part. On discussion, there wasn’t a single cast member who didn’t want Tonya to perform it just this way on stage. She didn’t commit to performing topless, but she did agree to think about it.

After that, Berg asked us to run through the rest of the play as we had done it so many times before. As we continued, the energy seemed to be running high. The next scene where I stripped to my boxers started high, but ended low. It seemed that the energy was draining away. This trend continued into the protest scene in front of the courthouse. It was obvious that we were losing our momentum. As the police officers were rounding up our bra clad protesters, one of the women with a non-speaking part, stepped away from the group and shouted, “This isn’t right, and I’m not going to accept it without a fight.” With that, she grabbed the front clasp on her bra, unhooked it, and shrugged it to the floor. It was obviously a double act of defiance. She was defying the police on stage, but in the bigger picture, she was defying the lack of luster in our performance. After a moment of stunned silence, two other women followed her lead, and pulled off their bras.

In the final, courtroom scene, about half of the women, including Tonya, pulled their bras off. The rehearsal finished with an almost palpable buzz in the air. It was as if everyone was holding their breath in anticipation. Berg pulled us all together, and called a short meeting.

“First, I want to tell each and every one of you how proud I am. You have done a magnificent job of preparing for this play. We’ve reached the point where this is no longer my play, or Sheila’s play. It’s your play. We saw a transformation today. The play came to life. It’s obvious to me what we need to do to achieve our goals. I’m canceling practice for tomorrow, and I want each and every one of you to make a decision. In two days, we have our dress rehearsal. Come prepared to play your part the way you think it should be played. No matter what you decide, I will be proud to have been associated with each and every one of you.”

Over the next couple of days, I thought long and hard about the ramifications of so many of the women playing their parts topless. It was definitely NOT what I had signed up to do. Of course, I knew that I was going to keep my boxers on, but what about Tonya? I also knew that She and Lexi had spent hours talking and discussing how to get the most out of their roles. I was also comforted by the fact that Lexi’s character was in the group opposing the shirtless women. I liked the fact that she would be keeping her costume firmly in place.

When the time for the dress rehearsal came around, there was a palpable buzz in the wings and backstage area. I had my boxers all ready with the fly double stitched shut, and I felt like I was ready for anything. It was obvious to me from the very first line where Tonya was headed. I had seen that light in her eyes twice before. She was planning to play her part to the fullest. I couldn’t help but respond. The passion was obvious as Tonya reached the conclusion of the argument and ripped her bra off and stood defiantly glaring at me with her hands on her hips and her breasts outthrust.

The rest of the dress rehearsal built from that point with the majority of the protesters baring their breasts in the final courtroom scene. A couple of the courtroom spectators even got so caught up in the energy of the scene that they stood and took their tops off as well. It was obvious to all of us that by taking it to the next level, we had a lot more passion and commitment in the performance. We practiced the curtain call as well. Berg suggested that since there wasn’t much time for a costume change after the final scene, that we could bring robes to put on to take our bows. We could hang them on hooks in the wings. He also made another short speech about each of us playing our part as we saw fit.

A couple of times in the evening, I tried to call Lexi, but her line was always busy. I’m not sure how much I slept that night, but it wasn’t much. The next day, I took the day off work and read and re-read my lines. I also went by the library and looked up articles about women being arrested for toplessness. I learned that some states had determined that if it was legal for a man to be shirtless, then it was legal for women too. Our state was not one of those. In a way, it cemented my commitment to the play. The laws really were unequal.

Finally it was time to go to the theatre. I drove alone as Lexi was riding in with Tonya. They were already there when I arrived. I noticed them huddled together with a group of women playing the protesters. The energy from the group was so strong that I could feel it from across the room. I knew that tonight's performance was going to be dynamic. I talked quietly with Berg and Sheila for a while and finally got a moment with Lexi. She was practically buzzing with energy. We talked for a bit about butterflies and the anticipation of being on stage. I was so nervous I was light headed. Finally Lexi went off to talk to Sheila, and I took a walk around the building to calm my nerves. Eventually it came time to take our places. On a side stage, with projected headlines scrolling behind her, Sheila told of the arrest of the girl in the park. As she finished, the curtain rose on Tonya and me.

It's a good thing that I was so well rehearsed. I went through my lines on auto pilot at first. After a minute or two, I could feel the energy flowing from Tonya. I quickly picked up on it and joined in the spirit. I forgot about the audience and soon was living in my part. As the arguement reached it's crescendo, Tonya grabbed the bottom of her shirt and whisked it over her head. She wasn't wearing a bra. The audience sat in stunned silence as the curtain started to come down. When it was half way down the applause was getting louder, and by the time it reached the floor, it was deafening.

The scene change took a bit longer than we had practiced as the cast was stunned by the applause. We could still hear it as we changed the set behind the closed curtain. We were carrying on whispered conversations as we moved about. Since I wasn't in the next scene I waited backstage with a couple of other cast members. I mentioned that maybe it was guys in the audience who were responding to the topless woman. Janet, who was only in the courtroom scene, told me that she had watched the audience coming in, and that they were a nearly even split between men and women, with probably a few more women than men. We kept talking for a few more minutes until it was time for my next confrontation scene.

Just before I took my place on stage, I removed my belt to make sure that I could drop my pants easily. My boxers were sewn shut and had good secure elastic. I didn't want any mistakes. I was even more nervous than at the first scene. As the curtain went up, I was afraid that the butterflies would carry me away. I knew that it was because I was going to strip to my underwear. The scene started out just fine, but a little flat. I confronted Julie and her fellow protesters, but I could tell the we lacked energy as the arguement started. I tried to throw myself into the lines, but it just wasn't working. I could tell that Tonya was thinking the same thing. Suddenly I saw a shift in her. It was as if she had turned on a switch in her mind. The energy seemed to increase tenfold and I was carried along with it as I approached my moment of truth. Julie gave me the the set up as she defiantly removed her shirt in front of me. This time sh was wearing a bra. "Fine, If you want to expose your underwear in public, maybe I will too." With that I stood in front of her friends, pulled my shirt off and tossed it into the wings. Not letting myself hesitate, I kicked off my loafers, unfascined my pants and dropped them to the floor.

The whole room seemed to start to spin, but I kept myself steady. The curtain was supposed to drop after a long pause. Julie didn't allow the pause to occur. She looked at me in my boxers, and said, "You think that we're not serious, I'll show you serious." In an unscheduled continuation of the scene, she unfascined her bra and tossed it into the audience. Looking back at me she shouted. "Now what do you think of that?" This must have been where she was getting her extra energy. She had decided earlier in the scene that she would take it to the next level. I must have been really caught up in the passion of her performance, and I knew that I was supposed to have the last line. Without thinking, I dropped my boxers and stood naked in front of her friends (and the audience) and shouted, "Is this what you want? I can humiliate myself too." Again the curtain fell to thunderous applause.

As I walked to the wings I ran into Sheila who threw her arms around me and thanked me profusely for "adding life and spirit" to what she had written. She told me that she had wanted to write it that way, but she had hesitated to force and actor into that position. As she unwrapped her embrace I saw that many of the other cast members had gathered around me and were very effusive in their praise. Lexi was formost among them. There was a similar knot of people surrounding Tonya.

We were late getting the curtain up for the final scene. The courtroom scene was alive with energy after what had just happened. The actors involved outdid themselves with their passion and charisma. I had only had time to find my pants and shirt. Somehow my boxers were nowhere to be found. I was supposed to drop my pants again in the finale in the courtroom. I knew that I couldn't do it again. I had just been caught up in the moment, and I was already starting to regret it. The audience was full of my friends and family members. What in the world were they going to say to me? What was I going to say to them? I had a while to contemplate all of this as I sat as a spectator in the courtroom scene.

Eventually the scene moved to it's inevitable conclusion. The final conflict is between Lexi, playing the prosecutor and Tonya playing Julie. Lexi delivered her scathing speech, and it was Tonya's turn. She stood and defiantly proclaimed the inequality of the law. With every point that she made, the prosecutor flinched as if she had been struck. Lexi did a wonderful job of dramatizing her consternation, seeming to shrink in stature at every proclamation from the defendant. Tonya finished with a statement that the human body whether male or female is a thing of beauty and art, and that she REFUSED to be ashamed of being a woman. With that, she grabbed the hem of the summer dress that she was wearing, and in one motion, pulled it over her head. This left her standing in just her panties, breast outthrust, staring defiantly at the judge and prosecutor.

One by one her fellow protesters followed her lead and took off their shirts and bras. At this point I was supposed to stand behind the women and pull off my shirt and pants to stand in just my boxers. The problem was that I had never found my boxers after the confrontation scene. As I stood hesatating, Lexi filled the void. Turning to the judge, she took off her jacket. Next she slowly unbuttoned her blouse and removed it. Next came her skirt. With her tanned legs she had no need for hose. As soon as she was down to her panties, she looked squarely at the judge and said, "Your honor, the prosecution requests that all charges be dropped." With that she took the final plunge and dropped her panties. Now it was my turn to interupt the stunned silence. I took a deep breath and pulled my shirt over my head. Next I kicked off my loafers. Finally hooking my thumbs in my waistband I pushed my pants to the floor and stepped out of them. The spectators applauded and in a show of solidarity quickly peeled out of their outer clothes to stand in just panties or briefs.

The final line of the play came from the judge, as he banged his gavel and called out, "Case dismissed." The curtain came down and the applause was deafening. Our robes were hanging on hooks as we had planned, but nobody went for them. Anybody who was still wearing anything quickly shucked out of it and we did our curtain call exposed to the audience. Berg and Julie joined us onstage and we had to take three bows as the audience gave us a standing ovation. When the house lights came up, I could see my grandparents as well as my Aunt and Uncle and several cousins. Standing right in front of them were my parents, and they were cheering louder than anybody else.

The play had been scheduled to run for two weeks and was held over for two more. We continued each night to perform the play as we did that first night. I can't say that the butterflies ever went away. In fact, each night I told myself that I would keep my boxers on. To date I haven't been able to keep that promise. Each year since then there has been a cast reunion party. We have held it at the home man who played the judge. He's a very prominent businesman and has a n olympic size pool and a fery large hot tub. I don't think that I've ever seen anybody at one of the parties swim or soak with a suit on.