Over the years, Beckie Menzie has done about all there is to do at the Wagon Wheel Theatre.
She's taken tickets, served as musical director, sat in on auditions and worked on the advertising budget.
But the last time she performed in a show on the stage was more than 10 years ago in "The Goodbye Girl". That changes with her role as The Reverend Mother Mary Regina in WWT's production of "Nunsense". The show runs now through Sept. 5.
"I think they're going to laugh. And everyone needs to laugh. And I think they're going to have a good time. That, I'm sure of," guaranteed Menzie in an interview Monday afternoon.
"She used to be a circus performer - an overweight circus performer," Menzie said of The Reverend Mother. Her parents also were part of the circus, performing on the tight rope. "She has show business in her blood, especially on the mind."
In "Nunsense," about five dozen of The Reverend Mother's sisters die from food poisoning in soup. Without enough funds to pay for all their burials, the nuns decide to put on a show to raise the money.
"The whole show is about the interaction between these five women who have made a family," said Menzie. They have to find their family in the midst of a lot of chaos, and they do that with humor and love, she said.
This season's production of "Nunsense" isn't the first time that Menzie has been a part of "Nunsense." The last time the musical comedy was at the Wagon Wheel, Menzie served as musical director. Last year, she served as musical director for a production of the show at the Marriott-Lincolnshire. It is the first time she's been a part of "Nunsense" as a cast member.
Menzie's careers include teaching at Northwestern University, performing cabaret shows with Tom Michael and coaching actors. Her musical career, she said, is about being serious and literal. Performing in "Nunsense" allows Menzie to be silly and zany, she said.
In the show, Menzie sings in the ensembles. "I don't sing as much as I have these large comedic chunks of monologue. That's been fun," she said.
And there's an additional benefit of doing the show at the Wagon Wheel.
"Coming home is a good thing to me," she said.
Menzie grew up in Pierceton. As a child, her mother took her to shows at the Wagon Wheel. She continued to come back to the theater as a teenager and as an adult.
She said the theater has not only been a place where she's worked, but also a place where she's had a family and built a foundation for her career.
"I was one of the locals who grew up and worked here," Menzie said. "I've cleaned toilets here."Coming home also gives her time to see her family. With the recent passing of her husband and her mother in ill health, Menzie enjoys the opportunity to be near her family, including her special niece.
The Wagon Wheel staff also are like members of her family, including Artistic Director Scott Michaels, Set Designer Michael Higgins and Owner Bruce Shaffner.
"I will be back at the Wagon Wheel working in some way as long as I'm able, have talent enough and my car gets me around," said Menzie.
For more information on Menzie, visit her Web site at www.beckiemenzie.com
