It has been roughly 10 years since being on stage in my last musical. Roughly six since I last even auditioned for a show.

When I was up in Algona, I found time to be able and be part of some musicals and plays, usually in the summer.

It started with “Guys and Dolls” (conversely, one of the f rst shows that I saw when I arrived in Mount Vernon nine years ago in July was Odyssey’s production of that musical).

In subsequent years it was “A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum,” “The Odd Couple,” “Les Miserables,” and then “Jekyll and Hyde.”

I also took a hand directing shows up that direction, a production of “Love Letters” and a children’s show. Those of you who read these columns or are at speech contests know I spend a lot of time judging speech contests January through March. And I attend a lot of theater productions in the area.

But I haven’t had the opportunity in a few years to join a production. Some of it was just certain shows were not calling to me, or I couldn’t find it in my schedule. Some of it was as I was stepping into the role of editor and doing this job solo, I just was too scared of committing time away from the newspaper and stretching myself too thin. With a couple interns planned again this summer, that will give me more flexibility to assign those elements/games we need photo coverage for our area baseball and softball teams and have evenings open, some of my Sunday evening work shifting to Sunday mornings or afternoons.

This year I auditioned for “Jesus Christ Superstar.” And my brain did the usual “this is not in our current comfort zone” at the audition, as I stretched muscles and abilities I haven’t touched in nearly a decade. My solo was rushed, slightly off tempo and at times off-pitch, even with the karaoke track – As a friend said afterwards – all signs of being nervous at the audition. When I was in a group setting warming up, the rich tone of my voice definitely came out.

And I’m graced with, as a 400-pound dude, two left feet. They can move on a rhythm, but I don’t think I was pulling off the same footwork as everyone else in the easy choreography. That could take a little bit to get back into. But it’s something I feel is doable in the six weeks between first practice and show times.

Still, I auditioned. And it’s been too long being in the audience for productions by me, every time going to a show missing that camaraderie and connection with fellow actors to present art to the public. Part of me is still nervous. But it also goes back to the words of another friend years before when I mentioned missing theater as I was doing a preview story for the newspaper on a different production – “if it’s something you love, you’ll always find your way back to it.”