50% Down, 50% To Go

This production has no matinee, so I didn't perform today. Last night was the end of the first weekend.

There were some technical issues. Sound effects not working, set changes going poorly in the dark. But overall a more energetic performance all the way around than opening night was. This is particularly true for the first play, Philip Glass Buys a Loaf of Bread. I am not in that one, and don't get to see much of it, as I am waiting backstage to go on for the next play, but it sounded good, and I am told by the cast it went well. Good for them.

Sadly, the crowd was just as tiny as it was for opening night.

I was less on edge last night than I was for opening night. Some of that is typical opening night nerves, but in this case it's because I remembered to give myself more alone time once I got to the theatre.

I got there early and literally just laid on a couch in the greenroom for about 20 minutes as people started to trickle in. I'd allowed myself to forget how important it can be for me to just become present, and be in the moment before a show. I did too much running around on opening night, taking care of too many things, getting distracted by other people. I very much enjoy being around my cast mates before a show, but I have to balance that with keeping to myself for a while. I wasn't able to do that easily on opening night, so I put in an extra effort to "force" my way into some alone time, though that's too strong a verb, probably.

I listened to music, walked around the stage a bit, sat down there and had a Red Bull. Not going over lines, but just taking in the evening. I retired to the dressing room later, (I like to be among the last to get into costume when possible) and just sat there a while, feeling all "actorish." It's still a tiring experience in ways unique to this production, but I felt more prepared for it last night.

Being present with one's self is, I think, vital to an optimum performance. Not everyone is an introvert like me, even in the theatre, so your mileage may vary, but even the gregarious and excitable would be well advised to take some time alone in the hour or so before a curtain. Meditate, eat, do back-flips, whatever suits you, but do it alone at least for a while. Theatre is a communal thing, a cast is a team, but one must be centered within one's self to be at one's best on stage. That means a conscious choice to avoid distractions for at least a few minutes.

Now the odd limbo of time between weekends. As much as I usually enjoy the company of others in the show, I am happy to at last have a break from heading into the theatre and rehearsing/performing. A second weekend is, if your care about what you are doing, often a sort of tonic, where there is far less anxiety, and far more artistic abandon to make the show better. The few days break feeds into that, and usually I come into a second weekend feeling refreshed and ready to hit the ground running in a way that opening night doesn't provide.

There will be a pick-up rehearsal Tuesday evening, but aside from that, I'll probably keep the show and everything that goes with it at arm's length between now at Friday.

At least I will try for a while to do so. Knowing me, I won't totally succeed.

Opening Night of One-Ders

Last night we opened the show for a small crowd of about ten people.

There were some issues with a few technical aspects, which isn't shocking, as we didn't get to rehearse those things very much this week. But from an acting standpoint, it went well.

There is room for improvement, no doubt. But as hectic as this tech week was, and given how bad schedules were at the start of the process (where a lot of rehearsals were missed) the show was quite solid.

It is an exhausting show for me in ways that most other shows are not. On the whole, the three plays did run about one hour last night, so that seems to be where we are with pacing. But during that hour I have almost no breaks. I am "on" almost the entire time. Because we have no tech crew, I have to be ready backstage almost from the very beginning to help with a set change in the dark. Then I perform the second show, immediately perform a second set change in the dark, and proceed to act in the final show, in which I am arguably the main character.

In all of that I am off stage after my first line in the first play for maybe two minutes. If you ad the brief Q&A with the audience that we had last night after we were done, that's even more time on stage. (Even though not in character. And I was asked no questions.)

In a lot of ways this was a "get it over with" opening night. By that I mean that though we performed well, it was just as much if not more about "proving" we were ready for an audience. We did, and in some ways tonight, with a bit of that pressure removed, will feel like a true opening night for me.

I'm sure it will be tighter. If it isn't, but is no worse than opening night, we still have nothing to lament about.

That's about all to report about opening night. But now that I think about it, a mundane, run of the mill report about opening night for this show indicates that everything went smoothly, so I'll take it. Tonight may be a larger crowd, with more energy. (The cast energy was low as well, last night.) I'm ready for that.

Actual Final Rehearsal

There were no visitors to our rehearsal last night, so it wasn't a "preview" per se. But we did run it in "real time" with no stops, corrections or questions.

I think it went pretty good. I won't say it was stellar, but it wasn't horrible either. Naturally you always want to do better each time you perform, but truth be told if we do know worse in front of an audience than we did in our final rehearsal, we'll be in solid shape.

The biggest surprise was the time; It took us just over an hour to complete all three shows. It had been taking us that long to complete just the single longest show out of the three. I'm not sure what made the performance time so much faster. We must not have been rushing, as the director didn't tell us so afterward. I guess it all just fit together that way. If we can keep that pace in front of audiences, that will be a plus.

I did well last night, no major mistakes. None from anyone else either, from what I could tell. I think I had to cover for some minor issue late in one of the plays, as it seemed like a line was dropped. I knew my line was in the near future, so I just went with it, and I don't think the scene was any worse for the wear. It happens.

The short time between final dress and opening night can be an interesting experience. There is no more rehearsing, so in one sense pressure is off. Of course the next time you run the show, it's the real thing, for which you have been rehearsing all this time, and in that sense more pressure is on. It's a relief and an excitement at the same time when you're in this short limbo. It's even odder because most of the day leading into opening night, you're off doing your regular Friday thing, and don't have much time to think about it. (Working from home, I have a lot more than most people, though.)

Not that I'm obsessing over tonight. I want us to get it right. I want people to come see it, and I have been going over a few things mentally here and there, as I will certainly do at the theatre tonight. But truly, it does no good to overthink things at this point. In fact, in most plays, I'm already on automatic by about halfway through tech week if not earlier. This is one of the few times where opening night has arrived and I don't feel automatic. Prepared, yes, but not in the same way as usual. It will be fine, but different.

A show can improve from one official performance to the next. I get the feeling this will be one of those shows. Yet to a large degree, the show is what it is as of last night. That is another dichotomy- it's scary and comforting at the same time.

Eight hours and counting until we open.