Here we are….another Monday.
Awesome.
As expected, I had a very busy, yet very fun and exciting weekend.
Jim arrived home from Germany on Friday night, which made me tres happy. (Sorry, I don't know any German) Even though I had to rush out the door and get to my final dress rehearsal, I managed to see him for about a half hour and quickly hear the highlights of his trip.
Side Note: Friday night’s rehearsal was SO much better than Thursday night that it actually got me a little excited about doing the show in front of an audience.
On Saturday morning, Jim and I had breakfast, lounged for a bit, and then headed out to run some errands before we went to baby {b}’s birthday extravaganza.
The party was SO much fun.
The only children’s birthday parties I ever attend are the ones for my nieces or nephews and it’s always just the family in attendance, so we never have anything all that exciting in the way of decorations, favors, etc… Since this was a party for family AND friends, they had decorations, balloons, a table for the kids to color on, and all sorts of snacks…. Even thought I had JUST eaten lunch, I ended up selecting a spot conveniently located in front of the potato chips.
No willpower whatsoever.
It was great seeing a lot of people that I hadn’t seen in a while, catching up on all the latest news, and seeing all the adorable/super fun and creative gifts that he got. He got a lot of really great stuff.
With the exception of a giant Cookie Monster balloon that met its demise (in what would undoubtedly be a slow and painful death) the day went off without a hitch!!!
After the party, I headed off to my show. (cue: dramatic music....."DUM…DUM…DUM….")
I’ll try and keep this brief…..it may not be easy.
I arrived at the conference center (where the show was being held) early enough to hang out for a bit, socialize with the guests, and have a quick speed-through of the show. We decided on Friday night that it would be a good idea for us to quickly run through of the show (dialogue only) on Saturday before we had our ‘opening night’. That way it would be fresh in our minds and get us excited for the first performance.
I think it was a great idea…it went well and served it’s purpose.
The show started and things went great throughout Act 1. The audience was a bit quiet, but that happens. Doing live theatre, you never ever know how and audience is going to react to a show. Some nights they’re off the walls with laughter and other nights you’d think you were performing in the county hospital morgue. That’s what makes it exciting. Regardless of what happens, you just keep on going!
Act 1 ended and we went back stage to the room that we were assigned to. Into the room walks our costume designer (who was watching the show) and informed us that there was a fire in one of the lights and that Act 2 would be a bit delayed…if we could go on at all. Excellent.
Because we were performing in a conference center (think banquet hall) they had to build a stage for us to perform on as well as setting up a truss above the stage, so that they could hang lighting equipment. Well, apparently one of the chords used to connect the lights caught on fire and had to be put out by our sound designer who climbed up a ladder, fire extinguisher in hand and put out the fire. Good job Ed!!!
Once that was taken care of, and we got the ‘OK’ to continue, we began Act 2.
Act 2 was moving along nicely until, with about 10 minutes left in the act…
All…Hell...Broke...Loose.
Out of nowhere, just as the second to last song was getting underway, the FIRE ALARM starts going off!!!!! The pianist stopped playing, I stopped singing (yes, it went off right on my line) and we all just stood there waiting for something to happen.
Finally, one of the people in charge came in through the lobby and announced that we all had to evacuate. At that same moment, our director approached the stage, told us all to grab our stuff and get out!
I followed the rest of the cast to the backstage area, grabbed ALL of my stuff and went outside. While waiting outside, we could see that several of the audience members were leaving, as opposed to ‘sticking it out’. (not that I blame them)
However, there were several people who approached members of the cast asking us to reveal who the murder was. None of us gave in, instead telling them they’d have to come back and see the Sunday afternoon performance. :-)
Several fire trucks arrived (as did several cute firemen – who knew we had cute firemen in the area?) and after a WHILE, they gave us the ‘OK’ to re-enter the building. Upon re-entry we were told that we were not continuing the show and we could leave. They then told us that we couldn’t go beyond the lobby, which meant that most of the cast couldn’t get to their ‘real’ clothes or any of their personal belongings. I was lucky though. Because I grabbed everything before evacuating, I was able to change into my ‘real’ clothes….in the middle of the lobby. Whatever…I’m not shy.
By the time I was finished changing, we were allowed back stage so we all (the cast and crew) reconvened in the make-shift green room. It was determined that we DID in fact have a Sunday show and we were free for the night.
I left the theatre and met up with Jim at a Halloween party already in progress. He was dressed as a nun, and looked GREAT (I’ll post a picture of that ASAP). Since I was so tired, and he was still on German time, we didn’t stay long – but it was great to see some of our friends we haven’t seen in a while and tell them about the excitement. They’re ‘theatre people’ too, so they could definitely appreciate it.
Sunday’s show went off without a hitch…and we got to finish it!!! The crowd was quite into the show and I was happy to see some familiar faces in the audience (including Jim and his mother). They enjoyed the show and I was VERY happy that it was finished. Not that I didn’t have a lot of fun, but I’m glad to have my ‘free time’ back.
I came home after the show to beef stew that Jim had made (have I mentioned that he’s a great cook?) we watched a movie (I’ll talk about that at another time – yikes) and then went to bed.
I got up this morning and got my blood drawn for my cholesterol screening re-test. Keep your fingers crossed that my numbers are lower!! As I mentioned before, they weren’t horrible, but I’ve been REALLY trying to get them lower over the past few months.
If it didn’t work, I’ll be pissed.
Don’t forget….call-back tonight for ‘Jerry Springer: The Opera’!!!!
Keep your fingers crossed for me!?!?!?!?
Thanks.
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