The Butterfly That Blushed

The folks at Columbia College asked me to judge high school speech and drama tournaments that were held at the college every year. I did it for about 15 years, until I fainted one year in a class. I had the flu. They invited me, because of my history with the college, as well as being positive with the critiques. I would like to think that I helped some kids do something good with their lives. But anyway, Columbia College had a program for children called the Gingerbread Theatre. Kids from Columbia would come and watch plays for them. They asked me if I wanted to do one, and I said yes. I was the lead in "The Butterfly That Blushed". It was the story of Worm, who was ugly. All of the other butterflies made fun of Worm, until he became a beautiful butterfly at the end of the play. The moral--beauty is on the inside too. I had two songs. I had never sung a solo before, so that was quite frightening. Thankfully, my first song was as the ugly Worm, so if I messed it up, it was okay. The second song was a bit more involved, and I couldn't hit the notes, so I turned it into a rap. The kids liked that. After the shows were over, the actors would stand by the exit and give out autographs to the kids. That was a rush. I was given an award from Columbia College for Best Actor for that play. About 2 years later, I was standing on a sidewalk, and two little girls came over to me and started yelling "Worm, Worm"!! They were all excited. They had seen the play and remembered me. Wow, what a feeling!! I ran into their father a few years ago at a meeting. He reminded me of his daughters getting excited over seeing Worm. I guess that is my signature role, although I prefer Looney #4.