The "Trap" was a success!

I warned you there would be an update soon so here it is!!! But fair warning, if you are not in the mood or you don't have time to read a long story then you should probably exit from the page now! I would like to share with you all the full story of "The Mouse Trap" and the whole process we went on to make it happen! So here you go! Last school year (senior year) in the winter, I applied to YWAM's MAD DTS in Brisbane Australia in the hopes that I would be accepted and able to prepare for a long, difficult, and fun journey! I remember the very day I read the email that told me I had been accepted! I was in the gymnasium working on my senior thesis. When I read it, I burst into tears and I ran and interrupted my mothers class so that I could tell her the news! :) It was amazing! After finding out I got accepted however, there came the time when I needed to begin preparing to leave financially. I had no idea how I was going to raise the money to go. I didn't have a job, I didn't have time to get a job, and I never have any money as it is! SO! Fundraisers were my best option. So i did a few yard sales and made decent amount from those. But it was shortly after this that my mother and I came up with a brilliant idea. With my passion for acting and with my mother's directorial and artistic skills, putting on a play seemed like a fun way to earn a little cash to help with my YWAM payments. For a couple weeks or so we went back and forth over the logistics of how it would work. What play would we do, where would we have it, who would be in it, when would we do it, could we even make it happen? Long process short...my mom came to me one day and said "I know which play we are going to do!!! I have always wanted to do this play and it would be different and so much fun! We are going to do Agatha Christie's 'A Mouse Trap!'" My first thought was "no" because I wanted to do a musical originally but then my mother had me read the book that the play was based off of; "Three blind Mice by Agatha Christie". After reading the book and reading the twist ending, i wanted to do this play! I knew it would be so fun! So we bought the rights to play and the journey began! First thing was first. We needed a cast. Thankfully it was a small cast. Only 8 players were needed and my mother and I decided we wanted to had pick our actors based on the talented people we already knew. So at the end of the school year while my mother was getting permission from Mr. Maestri and the Church to use the trinity stage a gym, and while she was booking the dates for out play in the school and church office, I was out asking my wonderfully talented friends if they would be willing to do a play with me to help me raise money for Australia. Claire Eliason (Mrs.Boyle) and Sarah Blount (Miss Casewell) were not only willing but they were excited to be a part of it! And anxious! Garrett Smith (Mr.Paravacini)hesitated only for a moment and then consented to helping "only because it's for you". Michael Zavala (Christopher Wren) was not sure at first but he said he would do it because he really wanted to help me out in some way. Then I had to ask someone whom I KNEW had the talent but who had never acted before and it didn't seem like he ever would. I asked Micah Jimison (Sergeant Trotter) if he would be in a play to help me raise money. And surprisingly enough, he immediately said yes. Carlos Chavez (Giles Ralston) didn't think twice about it. He has always been sweet to me and he would always do anything for me. Then we had one other person who was going to play Major Metcalf, but once summer started they wound up leaving town and could no longer be in the production. So, we turned to a man who has always been gifted in acting and who has always been one of my biggest inspirations to do my acting; My father. And so it was that Dan White became Majot Metcalf. When rehearsals first began in the summer we had no where to practice so we decided to practice at the PV Library on their outside stage. Not only would we be able to set up a few "props" to lay out the stage set up, but doing it outside made it so that we absolutely HAD to project because one thing we knew we were not going to use for this play were microphones. So for a couple of weeks we would rehearse outside in the evenings at the library, but it became very apparent that this was not going to work any longer because not only was it becoming monsoon season, but the mosquitoes were eating us alive every night. It was awful! We had no idea where to go when Sarah Blount told us that her parents said we would be able to use their downstairs in their house whenever we needed it for rehearsals. They were so gracious and helpful to us. All of us are still extremely grateful! So out rehearsals were held in the Blounts basement from then on. This play was extremely difficult to memorize because there was NOTHING but dialogue non-stop. We needed a prompter to help us as we began to go off script so we asked Zach Jimison if he would come prompt for us whenever we needed "lines". However, pretty quickly, Zach's job was no longer prompter. He quickly became the understudy for just about everyone. Whenever someone had to miss a rehearsal, Zach stepped in and became them. The people he wound up playing the most wese Paravacini and Wren because both of them were very busy over the summer and couldn't always make it. So Zach became the understudy and eventually became Christopher Wren for out second showing because he deserved to actually be in the play after all the work he put into helping us. However, then we were STILL in need of a prompter. So we asked Olivia Chavez if she would be willing to help us. And she did! And we would never have learned our lines if it was not for her help. Practices and lines all started to get easier and started to run smoother. But then, school started back up again and our rehearsal times needed to change to match all the actor's schedules. Eventually we got into our new routine but it was never really the same from then on. We always to decide on our "next practice" after every rehearsal. It was difficult. We needed more rehearsals especially since the play was creeping up very quickly. Then, the weekend before the play was upon us and it was finally time to build the sets. So we gathered all the props we could and we built the sets in one weekend. Then, the week of the play was here. This was the most difficult week of my life because when we booked the gym for our play, the only days we were able to have the gym were that Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. We didn't really have much time to rehearse on our actual stage with our actual sets. So we had one rehearsal before getting on our stage one last time at Sarah's house on Wednesday. And during this rehearsal, my mother's car got totaled by someone. It was a hit and run accident. We couldn't drive our car home and we were down to one car with a house of three drivers all who had things that needed to be done that week. So Thursday morning I my dad took my mom and I to Trinity so he my mom could go to work and so he could go to work. And while I was at Trinity I would be painting our sets that had to go up that night after we set the stage up after school. Then we found out cross country had a practice run after school so we were going to lose 2 of our 8 cast members so we had to set the stage up the last 2 periods of the day so they could help. Once the stage was up we put the walls of our "Monskwell Manor Guest House" up. All of this took the entire night though so we lost a day of rehearsing to setting up the stage. The next day was dress rehearsal and we planned to run through the play once, get dressed and ready, and then have the dress rehearsal that way we could have two rehearsals before the play and so that Michael and Zach would each be able to rehearse their parts as Christopher before they had to perform. Our first rehearsal was not able to happen however, because Trinity's High School volleyball team needed to have a practice before their big game Monday and Cross Country had to have a practice before their meet the next morning. So While Cross Country practiced, the volleyball team took half of the gym for their practice. Thankfully everyone was able to get done what they needed to have done. But we still needed a rehearsal before our production the next day. So we had dress rehearsal. And this rehearsal was the very first time any of us had used costumes, had used the set, or had used all props. It was difficult. Not only that, but through this rehearsal Michael and Zach had to take turns being on stage after every scene. That way they could both have a feel for acting on the stage. Dress rehearsal was rough. We panicked and forgot lots of lines but it was overall, we knew we would be fine the next day! So then, it was Saturday! The day of the play! That morning at 4:00am both Micah and Garrett had to go to PHX early and run for their cross country meet so they could be back for the play by 12:30pm. Praise the Lord though! They both did amazing! Garrett got 4th place and Micah got 6th! As a team they got 2nd! Trinity sports teams are amazing!!! So Micah and Garrett got to the school, everyone got dressed and ready for the first performance and at 12:30 we did The Mouse Trap for the first time with everyone in their right places. It went so well! And it was a blast! After all the chaos of not having rehearsals on the stage, the play was amazing! Then! afterwards we all got lunch and then prepared for our second performance that night at 6:30! And THAT performance was even better!!! No one messed up or forgot lines and it was incredible!!! God was with us through the entire play! When we first had the idea to do a play, I didn't expect it to pay for much of my YWAM payment. I thought if I was lucky I would make about $800. Which in and of itself would have been a tremendous help!!! But because of my incredible support group through acquaintances, Trinity, friends, and family...because of my God and how amazing He is, because of His provision and love for me!!! Because of all of YOU who helped me with with play, who donated, who acted, who bought tickets, who talked about it....because of YOU, I wad blessed with $2,424! I raised enough to pay for all my training in Australia and the only payment I have left to pay is my outreach payment!!!! I cannot even believe how incredible my God is and how much He has provided for me! I am blown away at how much support and love i have from people. I truly have the most amazing people in my life and I couldn't thank you all enough for everything you have done to help me! Yes, i still have more to pay for and yes, only with God's help will I receive it but for now, I am just overwhelmingly blessed by you. Thank you for your help! My departure is only 29 days away and I cannot wait to share with you all the journey. Please keep me in your prayers and email me anytime with anything! Always stay updated on my blog and friend me on FaceBook. I love you all so much! I will post play pictures soon! With many many blessings, (Mollie Ralston) Christianna Marie White <3