When I was in junior high school in the mid 1970s, we used to do this evening of entertainment called the One Act Plays. There are usually two of these plays that were presented along with plenty of skits, singing and dancing. Pretty ambitious for 12-14 year olds. But Our Gang didn’t have anything on us.
I decided to join the cast in eighth grade. I was picked to portray Little Auggie in the Capricious Pearls. My character was a gangster. Early stereotyping I guess.
I also got to do a little freelance finger-snapping routine to I’m Overlooking a Four Leaf Clover. I was part of the hillbilly band that sang Dead Skunk in the Middle of the Road.
But I think the skit that got the biggest giggles is when we recreated the popular Alka Seltzer commercial from the 1970s. Six of us donned white garbage bags that were pumped up with air…and white tights. As, (I think it was) Ted Orris started complaining that he “can’t believe I ate the whole thing” we popped out from behind the curtains and started singing, “Plop, plop, fizz, fizz, oh what a relief it is” until Ted let out this loud burp.
One of the older cast members called me Bubbles until she graduated.
(The photos: Me on the steps as Little Auggie in Capricious Pearls, Me finger-snapping to Four Leaf Clover. I could not find a photo of me as a bubble.)
