Broken Leg in Bountiful

I’m sure you’ve heard the phrase “Break a leg” right before a show or an audition or sorts right? Well, that term became all too real for me this spring. I finally got the role of my dream on playing Belle in my High School’s version of Beauty and the Beast. I was so excited to play this role and had such an incredible cast to work with and learn from. Bountiful High School has a great theatre program instructor and has exceptional experience in the field so I was thrilled to be learning from them. A half hour before each performance the whole cast would gather together in the back part of the stage and we would get a little motivational pep talk from one of the play’s coordinators or our kind of designated leader. We would always end with a moment of silence and then a huge cheer with some last triumphant words. It was fun and always filled with laughter and anticipation.

Our first 5 performances went really well and the mics only stopped working a couple times, so we didn’t have too many technical errors. I was so nervous that I would forget a line or some stage blocking, but I think I did alright! My mom came to each performance and my whole family had come to the opening night. They were also going to be coming to the last performance on Saturday night after our matinee. I was so excited for them to be at the last performance because I feel like the whole cast always just gives every last piece of themselves that they can. So of course 30 minutes before opening we got together and got a motivational speech. We had our silence and cheered and at the end, someone from stage crew shouted to break a leg. You know, good luck and everything. And that we did have. At least for the first half of the show… The beginning scene of the second act has a dancing scene in it and let’s just say that I got spun a little too close to the edge of the stage and off I went, watching my luck fly at the same time.

Hitting the floor was not even a painful or embarrassing part. It was trying to get back up and immediately falling down again in pain realizing that my leg was broken. Needless to say, we took an intermission and my understudy stood in for me as my parents rushed me to the Lakeview Hospital that is just right on the corner of 500 south and 400 east across from Bountiful High School and Welbrook Senior Living Center. The Hospital took great care of me and let me know that I had multiple stress fractures in my left leg and it was a miracle that it didn’t fully break. Apparently, not all of my luck flew away. Being in the hospital while the play is still going is not fun, but I knew that Lakeview Hospital is the best hospital in Bountiful, Utah and probably the surrounding county of Davis County. But hey, you know you have a good cast when they come to visit you in shifts all night after the performance and keep you company.

More to see in Bountiful…