I can do this.

That’s the thought which went through my head when the spotlight first hit me on opening night for “Miracle on 34^th Street.” I had never really acted before – other than acting like a grownup for the past 20 years or pretending I knew what I was talking about in general conversation – but something felt right.

I could not have predicted this a couple of months ago when I initially agreed to play a small non-speaking role in the production at Hanover High School. As I wrote a few weeks ago, this all evolved into the role of Mr. Macy.

I may not have shown it in rehearsal, but I struggled at first. I knew I could project my voice since I have decades of experience trying to be heard above the crowd at family parties.

But I worried about succeeding beyond the volume. Would I get any laughs? Would I sound authentic? Would I remember my lines?

That last question bothered me the most. I had just around 20 lines, three of them simply being “Yes,” so I shouldn’t have worried. When I practiced my parts alone on my commute to and from work, I found I would stumble over one line or another. That scared me.

Then I got out on that stage, the light hit me, and I looked at the high school students playing opposite me. I knew I could pull it off.

I only messed up once. People may not have noticed, but it burned me up. The feeling went away, however, when one of the students joked about it in my ear as we left the stage.

I certainly enjoyed having an auditorium full of people – and the attendances were fantastic – looking at me and only me, but I especially enjoyed getting to know and working with the high school students on the cast and crew.

We all know stories about the bad things that go on in our town. We read about the court cases and drug problems and concerns about school performance.

I can’t say that every bad thing will go away or that the schools are perfect, but I do know with complete certainty that we have wonderful, caring, smart, talented students in Hanover.

I actually knew that before I started working in the play, but now I know the older ones by name. I can joke with them or maybe offer a piece of advice. That’s the least I can do after they helped a schlub like me realize that he can stand up on stage and entertain people.

They didn’t just help me, though. The students served as wonderful role models for the elementary school students in the play, youngsters who may eventually take the lead in future high school productions. The way they interacted with the children in the cast brightened every day.

Whether we were working on the set or laughing about something that didn’t go quite right, we all stood together as peers. I never felt for a moment like they saw us as intruders on the high school play.

That’s why I drove my friends crazy with incessant talk about the production late last month. Something special happened because people young and old came together with a common goal in mind. I had more fun than I ever imagined I could.