We open tonight.  I haven’t blogged the last week because, frankly, I was too tired.   But I thought I’d get up-to-date before the official curtain.

We started the final week off-site, working on lines at the home of a cast member.  As I have previously mentioned, there is something freeing and joyful to get outside the usual workplace and spend time together.  We sat around a big picnic table and just sped through the play.  It was fun, simple and we got the chance to share a few notions, concerns and cheers before going into tech.

Last Sunday we got into the theatre due to the extraordinary efforts of the design team.  Having worked on the set for weeks, it was a relatively easy transition to to working in the space, so instead of taking the usual step back in tech, we actually advanced.  Finally in the space, we were bursting with energy and thrilled to be playing in a real theater at last!  Monday was our AEA day off (and I had rehearsal for Babes in Arms as a director at the college–so no day off for me).  Tuesday we did a cue-to-cue.  There’s a lot to say about this moment in the process, but I’m going to save that for my final post after this opening weekend.  Suffice it to say that with each element–set, lights, costume, sound–the play and our performances found new dimension, new energy, new richness. That is not to say it wasn’t without the typical bumps and bruises (in my case literal bruises as my physical hijinx resulted in several on my torso).  We were pressed to play at performance speed, and realizing exactly what that means takes its toll on the actors.  For me, it was mostly a matter of exhaustion—my focus starts to go when I’ve been up for over 16 hours.  Last night, before a preview crowd, I totally went off the rails at one moment and had to really keep it together to get back on track.  We did, with only those in the know knowing.  But, it made me doubt myself the rest of the performance and I was anticipating, losing focus and generally freaking out.  This is not like me, which also freaked me out.  But, we got through it and so far the feedback has been positive.

So, tonight we open before a paying audience.  I can say that it has been the most satisfying artistic experience I have had in several years.  I am grateful to have worked with such dedicated and gifted theater artists.  At a time in the world when things are so shaky (literally, sad to say), it has reminded me why I love the theater.