I got an invite to attend the Stauton Spookerific Pumpkin Party 3 . I also got a nice note from actress Lindsey Cohen saying she hadn’t seen Terry or me for the longest time, and we should come to the party. Terry and I had just seen the movie “Social Network.” I pulled out my calender and we debated on where we should go next. We decided to head to the pumpkin carving party. We stumbled around in the dark for a bit searching for the house. When we walked in, everyone was on the floor stabbing pumpkins. There was plenty of frenetic activity as pumpkin guts were scooped out and thrown into the trash can. I had told Terry I didn’t need to sketch at the party, but I couldn’t resist.
I stood in the kitchen with a nice counter to rest my art supplies on. Meggin Stailey, an wonderful comedic actress walked into the kitchen with a bowl of freshly gutted pumpkin seeds. She spread the seeds out on a cookie sheet and then reached up into a cupboard. A spice container leaped out at her and landed on the cookie sheet sending seeds trampolining all around the room with a crash. She apologized, but I had not been struck by any of the projectiles. She then rubbed down the stove top quickly. Her frenetic energy was endearing. I first saw Megin perform in a REP production where she played a demure woman focused on reading her book, while Brandon Roberts played a waiter who was constantly trying to win her attention. She remained oblivious. It was delightfully funny. I also saw her perform in Crimes of the Heart where she played the sister trying to keep some normalcy in a dysfunctional family.
Brandon was gutting a truly ugly green pumpkin with warts. Before he finished carving it he announced to everyone that he wasn’t feeling well and he needed to lie down. After Terry and I left the party, I found out Brandon had to be taken to the emergency room by Patrick Braillard and Melissa Mason. Brandon suspected he had a kidney stone. They waited in the ER till 1am. He finally got out of the hospital gown since the pain had passed. Shivering in the ER must have cured him since he had to pay a $150 co-pay.