Winding Down

Very often, I don't end up writing an entry about a second Saturday performance. It's true. Look back over previous shows I have chronicled here, and you will see that often I was too tired on Saturday night, and I end up blogging about both the second Saturday, and the final performance/strike in the same entry. Not this time, though there isn't much to say.

I was at the theatre for hours before call today, helping to run auditions for the show I am the assistant-director of. So I felt more than usually prepared and well balanced with my surroundings tonight. And once everyone else started to arrive, it felt like it was the most relaxed, and in some ways crazy atmosphere in the green room thus far in the run. Everyone just seemed to be more energetic tonight.

Plus we knew we were going to have a very large crowd, based on reservations. By the time it was all over, we were just 14 seats shy of filling the 100 seat house. Not bad. Our largest so far.

And our most responsive. Friday night was good, but most of the folks in tonight's crowd seemed to come ready to laugh and get into the proceedings. I even heard a few people laughing before I did my "Happy New Year" thing as Fred. I think they all knew something was coming from him, they just didn't know what exactly, nor the precise moment it would come. But it got the big laugh again once it did come.

I agreed with "Belle" that our dance and break-up scene felt better on Friday than tonight. Better than most others, and still certainly good, but it didn't flow quite as gracefully as last night. We have one more shot at it. One more shot at everything, of course.

Such as the party scene, which was fine, but sluggish in a place or two for a moment. I am not sure the exact cause, (other than me getting tongue tied once.) But the audience was laughing quite a bit at certain sections of it, so I would call it a success overall.

I almost tripped again on the damn cloak for Christmas Future. I got to wear i needed to go, but felt I had stepped on the cloth, so I stopped. I was still in my light, but could not extend my arm as far as normal when I pointed at Scrooge. Correcting it on stage would have been too awkward for that character, so I just left things alone. But people are a fan of the way I nod my head in that scene. One of the tech crew complimented that again tonight during intermission.

I screwed up in the Old Joe scene. There is always a line or two, even in a good show, that for whatever reason you worry about or struggle with. I had gotten through mine without hitches until tonight, when for a moment I blanked on the next thing I was to say. A few seconds at most, but of course it felt longer as it always does. Then I recovered and delivered the line. I hate that it happened. But am grateful it was as brief as it was, and that it was not some of my other lines at other moments.

Otherwise, another good, solid performance for everyone involved. Now comes the realization that each time I do something in the show tomorrow, it will be that last time. Or in the very least, the last time I will do it this year. There is talk of making this play an annual event, in which case I very well may end up playing the exact same role again in the future. But as for this moment in time, the sand is falling through the hour glass.

But it has not stopped yet. One more show, and despite it being a matinee, promises to be a crowd as big, if not bigger than tonight's crowd, based on reservations. I don't know if I have ever closed with the biggest crowd of the run. But whatever the size I hope it's the best crowd of the run. For even more rarely does one close with one's best crowd. Yet my mother will be in tomorrow's crowd, and I'd like her to see some of our best stuff.