"That's Life, That's What All the People Say..."

I dreamed I was visiting Manistee and walking the streets from the school like I used to do in my teen years...

It was a nice summer day and I had someone with me who must not have mattered too much, because when I saw the people dressed as rabbits and flamingos going into the Ramsdell Theater, I took off after them without a thought for my companion.
First I saw a man in full brown rabbit costume with a waistcoat and a watch, and the only thing that indicated to me that he was in costume was that his very human face showed through.
There was a placard out front that said "Now Showing: Alice in Wonderland!"
Then I saw the White Rabbit, and I ran into the theater to watch the show.
I was worried, because I knew if I had them run my credit card it wasn't going to cover the full price of the ticket.
I thought maybe I could catch Katherine, the director from Ferris from when I was in The Importance of Being Earnest, and ask her if I could help out backstage.
So I went backstage, only all I could see from back there was the bare boards of the back of the set, and it was so dark and cramped - like a stairwell in Scotland - that I could feel furry people brushing past me as they disappeared into Wonderland without me, but i couldn't see them...
I broke out into the left wing, where light from the stage shone into the corner where I had sat when I played Helen in Born Yesterday, waiting for my turn to go onstage.
I slipped out the side door and into the Green Room at the Ramsdell, which delightfully had actually been green. ( I desperately hope it is green still despite all the remodeling)
In the Green Room, waiting to go on and lounging around on the couch were, respectfully, Tom Baker, resplendent in his Doctor Who scarf, Bob Dylan, Misha Collins, and Pat Codden.
They all smiled and waved at me, then continued their conversation.
People kept talking to me as if I were an established member of the cast, coming in and out looking me in the eye and calling out for props from me - people from high school and college and Grand Rapids. There was an air of this being a reunion, and that I was supposed to be there.
I didn't need to buy a ticket.
I looked out at "the fourth wall" and it wasn't there - I could see the audience
Three girls tap-danced in from the side.
Two of them were the young girls reading "They Beat the Girl Out of My Boy - Or So They Tried" from The Vagina Monologues with me, and one of them was Dawn G from high school - and they grabbed me and said brightly, "Let's go!"
We danced (me not so gracefully) and joked and laughed while the audience and Tom Baker applauded.
I was a little embarrassed but mostly exhilarated.
From where we stood I could look across the footlights and see the "Real" stage adjacent to us with its formal Alice in Wonderland set, but I realized that this show was partly script and part improvisation, and that this was the great fun of it.

Sort of like Life, I thought, and I was very happy.