T'was the First Time We Ran It...

As you can expect, the first attempt to run this short reading of T'was the Night Before Christmas was coupled with snags and difficulties. When you are in theatre for any length of time, you know that the presentation that is chosen, set up, rehearsed and performed with zero difficulties does not exist, even for productions as modest as this.

Surprisingly, the use of a real live dog was not one of the bigger problems; it remained seated at my feat, once positioned there, for the entire evening. Not just a run through or two, but the whole evening until "released" by his owner. A trained dog, though not in theatre. I won't be foolish enough to assume that this will go as well on the show night, but it is a good sign. To the best of my memory, I've not been in a show with a live animal before.

Even with problems and delays, we estimated that the presentation only take about 7 minutes as it stands now. Not that there is anything wrong with that in its own right, but it took less time than the director thought it might. Less than I thought, even. I realize it is a short poem, but even with that I thought we were looking at maybe a 20 minute show or so. Not the case. Concern was expressed about having people come all the way into the theatre to see such a short show.

We rehearse again, (and for the final time) on Friday. We discussed having me, the narrator, read the poem in a different manner than I had been doing so at first. That, combined with the theory of more stage business for the "family" and Santa Claus should result in padding the time a bit. We will be testing a few new formats on Friday.

I stand by what I said in my previous entry, however. One-off readings and quasi-impromptu performances such as these are worth it. Any given one may not be very good, because even these small events need dedication and patience. As I said, none of them are going to go off without any problems. No show, no matter how small can be "thrown together" without care. Yet even with that, a willingness and ability to pepper a season with smaller fare such as this keep a company limber in a way. Practice with costumes and securing the needed objects on a short deadline, which can lead to greater efficiency in the big shows.

And actors who have little other time to spare can feel as though they are still part of the community by taking part in such events.

And charities get non-perishable food donations out of the deal, which is never a bad thing, I dare say.

It being a Christmas theme makes people all the more willing to accept it for what it is, I think.

Friday will be a long evening with quite a bit of work to get ready for Saturday afternoon. But worth it. I have confidence in it being fun for all involved in the end.