Blogging may not pay the bills (unless you count the occasional quarters I can afford to throw at my kids to buy trinkets from gumball machines) but some really cool things come from it. Case in point: I am going to be in a show. Like, up on a stage in which people have paid to be in the audience. My parents are laughing because I was oh-so-shy and self-conscious growing up. They can hardly reconcile this little girl with this big one.

I’d heard about the Listen to Your Mother show, but I never paid attention because it was only in exotic cities like Madison, WI (its birthplace, born of Anne Imig) and Indianapolis, IN, produced by my friend and colleague Judy M Miller. This year my friend Kathy let me know auditions were coming to her city, Chicago, and suggested I find out if Denver would hold auditions, as well.

Denver would. In fact, LTYM (tagline: “giving Mother’s Day a microphone”) will celebrate Mother’s Day in 24 cities this year.

I selected a short reading (3-5 minutes were the parameters), polished it, Skyped my audition with director Zakary and waited an extra week to hear if I made the cast of 12 (thanks, blizzard). See, Denver is a vibrant blogging town, with communities like Mile High Mamas, Denver Parents, Denver Bucket List and Colorado Moms.You can’t spit in the breeze without loogying a blogger. I didn’t know how many of them would put themselves through an audition — after all, bloggers do tend to be introverts — but I knew competition could be fierce (not to mention all the talented non-blogging writers in my city).

When I finally got the confirmation email that I’d made the cast (woot!), my next question was: who would be joining me? Would I know anyone? Finally, the cast list was revealed. And I did already know two people.

This past weekend we had our first rehearsal and I got to hear the stories that each cast member will tell. There were tears, there were guffaws, there were nods of the heads in agreement as we shared our stories about mothers and motherhood. You are in for a real treat if you can come to this show. If you are in Denver on the evening of May 7, I’d love to have you in attendance. It will be rather basic — no costumes, sets or props. Just 12 real people relating in their own real ways.

And if you’re not in Denver that evening, the video clips will be available a few weeks later (à la TED talks).

Want to know more about my castmates? I can tell you from our brief time together that each is someone I want to know better. When I arrived home afterward I immediately reached out to my new friends via Facebook. We have people ranging from their 30s to 70s in age. We have a male. We have a variety of spiritual beliefs. Infertility and loss and adoption will be mentioned more than once. We have tragedies and we have triumphs to share. Check out my new friends, bios all on one page.

Listen to me! Make it a special night out for yourself — I hope to see you there.