Well, dear readers, we are down to the wire. Yes, you heard it here, dear readers, we are down to the wire with our last preview performance taking place this evening. After that, it’s all in the hands of fate. I do hope the hands of fate are kind and I hear it’s much better than being in the feet of fate. In any case, we are down to the wire. Last night’s preview was odd for a variety and also a Hollywood reporter of reasons. Our leading actor got off on a slightly wrong foot, and then began tripping over his lines – he let it affect him, and then it got worse, and then he began paraphrasing and forgetting really simple stuff. Thankfully, he got through his three page monologue just fine. I don’t think the audience was that aware, thank goodness. It threw Tammy’s timing off a bit, and there were some really low energy things, which hopefully will be back to normal tonight. The end of the act went very well, and the prop problem (the piece of tape) has sort of been addressed with a fail-safe backup to be used in case of a problem. Because of a screwup, we weren’t expecting more than four people in the audience, but thankfully we ended up with just over forty, basically half-a-house. In fact, one of those just over forty people was our very own Miss PennyO. She’s a great laugher and it was grand having her in the house. The most interesting thing about the evening was that even though the show was off, the audience was still with it from start to finish. For the entire ten-minute ending of act one, there was not a sound in the theater – no coughing, no fidgeting, nothing, not even a rustle. At intermission, many in the audience came up to me and said they loved the first act and couldn’t wait to see what happened. I love that. And the thing about these sorts of audiences is that if they’re not enjoying it, they say absolutely nothing. I was told later that several audience members were in the lobby trying to figure out where the play could go. What fun. After the show, about fifteen people came up to me to tell me they’d be sending their friends and that they loved all the twists and turns of the play. We made one little adjustment in a key scene in act two, moving a sound cue and a bit of business, and that seemed to help the scene. I gave notes, and then came home, where I sat on my couch like so much fish, eating Dorito’s, Jack Cheese, and some beef jerky.
Instead of being torture, our notes sessions are a good deal of fun, because I give every note with a large dose of humor, and the actors really have a good time with it. We laugh and laugh and just when we think we can laugh no more, we laugh again. Our favorite notes tonight were my two word note to Tammy – BUTT CRACK. She wears some low jeans in one scene, and if her shirt rides up we get a very nice view of her butt crack, so she needs to make sure that doesn’t happen. Our other favorite note was for Matt – he has a line that says, “I got a glass from the kitchen” which came out “I got a glath from the kitchen” in last night’s show. Anyway, we’re down to the wire and in the hands of fate as of tomorrow night.
Well, why don’t we all click on the Unseemly Button below because frankly we’re down to the wire in this section and it’s high time we move on, don’t you think?
We’re hoping for a good-sized crowd tonight, so pray for Rosemary’s Baby. We’re all meeting at the theater at six-thirty to just run a few bits. Our stage manager is meeting at the theater at ten to try to resolve the other issue we’re having a problem with – something isn’t working the way it should, and our set designer and his assistants are, of course, nowhere to be found. So, we’re bringing in a professional to try to fix the problem, and hopefully that will happen because it’s imperative that it get fixed.
Prior to tonight’s preview, I shall be working with Miss Linda Purl on her five-song presentation for cabaret presenters in New York. We’ve chosen the songs, and will spend today getting them on their feet and paced correctly, as well as smoothing out the dialogue sections. It should be fun.
Yesterday, I received my Sam Peckinpah Box Set. This set was a dream project for Mr. Nick Redman, and everything that’s good about it has to do with him, and everything that’s sloppy about it has to do with those who tried to throw every monkey wrench they could into the project, particularly one high-placed and beloved executive at Warner Home Video. There are sloppy mistakes on the packaging, and the covers are less than stellar. However, it’s still a major release for Peckinpah fans, and Mr. Redman and company’s contributions to the extras are what makes the set special. That and the films themselves. I’ll be talking about each film and each transfer as I watch them over the next few days.
Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must, for example, rehearse with Miss Linda Purl, I must ship a CD or three, I must eat some foodstuffs, and I must attend our final preview and give my final notes (well, not really – I’m a compulsive note-giver, although I don’t write them down after the show opens). I have friends coming and we may go out afterwards, which I shall look forward to. Today’s topic of discussion: We talked about album covers the other day – so, what are your all-time favorite book covers, both hardcover and softcover – you know, those covers that called out to you, that caught your eye, that made you want to buy the book. I was, for example, especially fond of lurid paperback covers – in fact, I own original art used on a few of them. Hardcovers were never as interesting for me, although I loved the covers on the UK versions of the James Bond books. I’ll be interested to hear your choices, and perhaps even see some images. Let’s have loads of lovely postings, shall we, as we’re down to the wire and in the hands of fate as of tomorrow night.