Opening Night: Macbeth

I'd love to report that it was perfect, but it was not. I flubbed a line or two, (though i didn't forget them...just mushed them about for a moment.)

Also, a brief lighting snafu at the start of the show delayed the opening for a few minutes.

Notwithstanding, the first performance was a success, both for me personally, and for the show as a whole. The director was happy, I was happy, and I didn't encounter anyone in the cast who felt otherwise about how it went.

Some of us went for drinks afterward.

Only one person came to Thursday's open rehearsal, so last night was for all intents and purposes the first audience we had. The renovated space seats about 55, and I would say we had about 15 or so people come see the show. Though I didn't count them, I could have, given the far more intimate nature of the space. It didn't bother me as much as I thought it might, but it was different, and does take a bit of getting used to. Every move just about anyone in the audience makes, you can detect from on stage.

I added a war cry for Malcolm during the final rehearsal, because it felt right, and because that scene, which does take place right before we attack Dunsinane, always felt a bit low on energy, and lacking in urgency. So I kept it for the opening, and will keep doing it for the run.

Something happened to my script, however, and I'm not happy about it. I didn't need it, obviously, to get through the show, but I always have it around for reference and review. A back up and a means to time how long before I need to do something. Someone else was kind enough to let my borrow there's, but why mine should have to be moved from where I left it is beyond me. I will search the place again, even in places it has no business being, before the show starts tonight.

Opening night. It's usually fun, often a bit nerve wracking, and should be, if you've done your work as a show, a time to celebrate. Such was the case for us last night. But to be honest, I am happy opening night is over. The very things that often make the opening of a show exciting can also make it an outlier of sorts. The newness, the questions, the higher than average nerves-level. Once it's over, your mind becomes aware that yes, you are capable of performing this show in front of people who paid to see it. Being watched is no longer new. A certain relief sets in that allows you to to enter a type of comfort with your characters, the movements, the performance as a whole, that you can never quite reach during rehearsals and opening night. This was especially true for this show, since the entire place had been remodeled.

 Even if your opening night doesn't go well, it's great when it's behind you.

This doesn't mean you can get careless after opening night, nor does it mean that everything will then be perfect, and nobody will have nerves. But novelty can be a funny thing, and once it's gone, the potential for even better performances is there. The first Saturday or a two weekend show has been the best performance with the best audience in most shows I have been in, and that is probably no coincidence.

So I look forward to tonight, because it sort of the first real performance on an emotional level.

I'd like to find my script, though.