Yeah, I probably could have written an entry after each performance, but I didn’t realize how drained I’d feel afterward. We all went out to dinner on Friday and Saturday night—when I got home, I didn’t feel like doing much beyond crawling into bed. Consequently… opening weekend instead of opening night.
If you’re curious, here’s the play’s official plot summary (in case you can’t tell, it’s a comedy):
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Ever argue with yourself? Ever said, “I don’t know what got into me?” This is the story of Matthew Lane. Matt is a successful illustrator with a couple of deadlines and several squabbling inner personalities who do weird and wonderful things. As Matt tries to gather up enough nerve to ask out the girl of his dreams, Matt’s egos, who all have their own hang-ups, lead him in one too many directions. When Matt’s overworked boss comes to believe that Matt has a crush on her, the conflicted egos manage to make a bad situation much, much worse.
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So I was indeed fidgety slightly past the point when the lights came up on Friday night, but things went pretty well. A few word slip-ups here and there, but the two times that I briefly forgot a line, I was already supposed to be flustered versus delivering an extended monologue, so no major flubs (I almost forgot to put my watch on, which is a pretty important prop… got lucky on that one).
Now that I think about it, we were uncomfortably close to a serious catastrophe. I have to make a few costume changes between scenes and there’s a limited time to do it. A few people are backstage and hold out the clothes for me, but when I was trying to change pants, my zipper got stuck. As I kept pulling on it and panic was welling up inside me—I’m not kidding, I was starting to freak out—I was wondering how much effort it would take to just tear my khakis off so I could put on my jeans. Thankfully, tugging the zipper up and back down got it loose, so I didn’t have to resort to any extreme measures. (I think I’ve popped a couple stitches as well, so whether the khakis will be functional after the final performance is up in the air.)
Saturday flowed even smoother than opening night, though at one point, Ashley (the girl of my dreams… but not really, since she has a boyfriend and Matt isn’t the kind of guy who would kill for love) is sitting on a stool and jumps backward suddenly. Somehow, her shoe went flying off the stage. And I mean flying. It reached the wall about 15 feet behind where she was sitting. Thankfully, there were stairs down to the floor on that side of the stage, so she simply walked down and retrieved it as we kept talking through that part of the scene. (As you would expect, the audience loved it.)
Sunday afternoon, she lost the shoe again, but it stayed on the stage this time. Overall, things have been improving every show, but that’s coming from my perspective. For all I know, some of the other cast members might be thrilled about the invention of adult diapers.
Along the lines of perspective, I can’t say much about the audience—it’s my first show in that theater, so if someone says it’s larger or smaller, if they’re louder or quieter, if they throw more stuff at the stage than usual… I have to take their word for it. Apparently, Friday was good, Saturday was small because the weather was really crummy and Sunday was okay, but the crowd wasn’t very responsive. Given how long it’s been since I’ve played for an audience, I thought they were all just fine.
Oh, and before I wrap this up, I’d like to give some kudos to my 93-year-old grandma. She came to the Sunday matinee and everyone in the cast and crew who met her thought she was adorable. Consider: when she bought her ticket, she asked, “Am I allowed to boo if the show is bad?” I love my grandma.
So that’s the scoop. We’re done with Weekend #1 and have three shows left next weekend. If you’re interested in seeing one of those performances, ticket presale info is still on the poster two entries ago. You’ll laugh, you’ll cry (assuming you laugh so hard that you cry, anyway) and we’re pretty sure you won’t ask for your money back. If you’re still on the fence, I’ll just point out that Grandma never felt the need to boo.
