And Then, It's Over

Being part of the Mirror Street Theatre (MST) Reunion show was a true blessing in my life. How often do you get to fellowship again with your friends from 1978, and enjoy their company through a staged show?

The top two photos are from years past when MST performed across college campuses, at malls, fairs, and even in prisons. The bottom two photos were part of the 2023 MST Reunion Show.

We had people who were either part of the cast and crew or in the audience come from NYC, Dallas, Austin, Kansas City, Maryland, Australia, Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic, Germany, Montana, OKC and Norman, OK (plus various other places). Before the show, we made flyers, which were updated with a QR code.

We all worked hard to promote the show, and I managed to have the show advertised in my Christian writing group called Wordwrights, as well as have a guest blog about the show in my writing group called OKC Writers.

Mirror Street ad, plus the first page of my Guest Blog.

Best of all, some people from each of these writing groups came to the show!

Even in my excitement about having credits as a co-writer, mime, and Director of Mimes, I never once forgot why we created MST in the first place so many years ago. The sole purpose was to share the love of God and the gift of eternal life which is available to anyone who wants it. John 3:16 states, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life.” Now, that’s good news, and we repeated this message throughout our Reunion show.

Things were different with our performances so many years later. As a mime, putting on the make-up went much smoother onto my younger face. This time around, I put on the base white makeup, then had to go back to spackle the cracks caused by all my wrinkles. Talk about a rough painting job!

Easy make-up from the past vs. a job that required serious spackling.

In our original days, our theme was, “Is This The Way It’s Supposed To Be?” We presented a cohesive show based on skits from various eras, the 30s through the 70s. All of our skits were backed by live musicians.

Ben Powers, left, and Jim McIntyre, right. In the new show, Jim served as our stage manager. Ben was featured in the In Memoriam section of the show.

In our updated version, we had recorded music available under the theatre license. We began our show with two of the mimes performing a poignant and fitting opening story to “Time in a Bottle.” A third mime held the mirror used in the sketch.

Two amazing mimes, Anita Powers left, and Mary Lee Dunaway Johnson, right, perfectly mirrored one another in the opening skit. Their incredible skit (created by Mary Lee) set the tone for the rest of the show.

In the old days, we pulled from the day’s headlines to present comical skits, including one about the landing of Skylab and one about Coneheads from Saturday Night Live.

Linda McIntyre being hit by Skylab. Dave Warren interviewing Coneheads Phil Lalli and Linda McIntyre. Dave served as a reporter again in 2023, and Linda was our manager of costumes, props, as well as assistant stage manager. Phil was part of the In Memoriam.

Our updated SNL skit featured an original cast member, Dana, as Garth, plus original cast member Marc Bonge’s son Wayne.

Pam Boyd (head writer, producer, and director, Roger Flippo (producer and writer), and Dave Warren (producer and writer) were the brave captains of the show, playing multiple characters.

From left, Dave, Roger, Pam; Dave and Pam, all at rehearsals.

The amazing fellowship of the cast and crew was that some of us from the original MST had not seen each other in 47 years, yet we all felt the same love for one another immediately that we had experienced previously.

We invited any relatives who were interested to participate with us in the new show. We had Phil Lalli’s son Joseph (as an actor), as well as Phil’s grandaughter Hannah (as a mime) in the show, plus the McIntyre’s granddaughter Esther (with props and as an actress). Also, in the show were Dave Warren’s son, Roger Flippo’s sons, Pam’s husband, and various others who wanted to participate.

Two beauties: Hannah, left, and Esther, right, at rehearsal.

There are so many photos, both ones that I took and photos by others, that captured the fun of what we did in the past and our 2023 rehearsals and shows. To see more photos, go https://myevent.com/mirrorstreettheatrereunionshow/photos.

We also worked hard to put on a funny show that would also give glory to God. We had long days of rehearsals up until the night of the show. On Monday, nothing ran smoothly, but the miracle was that our best performance ever happened that Friday, the night of the show. Romans 8:28 states, “All things work together for the God to those who love God.”

Near the end, all cast and crew came onstage to sing What a Friend We Have in Jesus. Before we knew it, finals bows were taken, the credits and bloopers ran, and the show was over. The memories will last forever, though (just like eternal life).