Well, dear readers, we have opened. I wish I could say that it all went swimmingly, but I don’t think it did. First off, almost a third of the seats were taken by critics and their guests, which I think is sort of deadly in a space this small. We did have some fun audience members, including Miss Joanne Worley, Mark McGrath, Fred Willard, Dan Lauria, Mr. Michael Kerker (of ASCAP), Adryan Russ, Panni, Karen Morrow and many others, including Christina Ashford, Tammy’s family (including her delightful grandmother, who told me she reads this here site every day), Miss Linda Purl and Miss Stephanie Zimbalist. Pre-show was lots of fun, with lots of photo ops. Then, the show began with my pre-show announcement, which got some chuckles, but which I hated with every ounce of my being – so, as of today it’s out and our house manager will do the pre-show announcement. The opening went well, but within five minutes I could tell we weren’t going to get any laughs. They were the quietest audience I’ve ever seen. They were listening, they were attentive, so that was good. But, the actors let it affect them, and some stuff got pushed, punch lines were missed and it was just somehow a bit off. Now, that’s just me talking, because I’ve seen it with several audiences, so I know what the reaction had been. But, the first half of the act sort of has to have the laughs for the second half of the act to work well. Oh, we had a few chuckles and a couple of bigger laughs, but nothing like the last few days. Luckily, the play moves right along, so I don’t think anyone was bored, really. We had a couple of silly prop things go awry, but the end of the first act played fine (although certain parts of it were not as sharp as I like), and act two was good, and one bit got the best reaction it’s gotten. So, what will the critics have to say? If I were to hazard a guess at this point, I’d say there is the possibility that we’ll get creamed. Of course, I have no way of knowing that, but that was my gut reaction. I hope I’m wrong. I haven’t decided whether I’m even going to read them or not. I’m sure we’ll get at least a quote or two, and then we have to hope the show sells on word of mouth, which, in previews, has been very strong. I will say that the actors were given a very nice hand at the end, very vocal reaction, so that was nice. Being the endless nitpicker I am, I’ve called the actors in at six-thirty tonight to smooth out the sections that I felt were very off, and to basically just give them a pep-talk about not pushing if things aren’t getting their usual reaction.
After the show, we had a splendidly splendid partay, and there was lots of food and drink (including something our producer called the Deceitini). More photos were taken, and we all had a very good time. I finally left at eleven-fifteen. I got some lovely flowers (some from elmore), and I got some lovely cards, and dear reader Francois sent me a lovely DVD. All in all, a strange but fun night.
Well, why don’t we all click on the Unseemly Button below because I’m exhausted, frankly, and I must get my beauty rest before she of the Evil Eye arrives bright and early.
Today, I shall have to kill time, although what time did to deserve being killed I have no idea. Then I shall come back to the home environment, eat a little something, watch a little something, and then head over to the theater to do a little work and then have our second opening night – we don’t have more than four to six critics, so it will be a lot more “real”. I do believe we’re sold out.
Several people came up to me and told me how much they’d enjoyed the play, and Fred Willard’s lovely wife told me she thought it would run “forever” and then be done by regional theaters everywhere. That was nice to hear, as I was feeling a bit down. Joanne Worley was also very complimentary, as was Karen Morrow, who said, “This is a whole side of you I didn’t know existed.”
Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must, for example, kill some time whilst she of the Evil Eye does her cleaning thing, I must drive about in my motor car, I must bank, I must ship a package or three, and I must then be on my way to the theater. Pray for Rosemary’s Baby. Today’s topic of discussion: Opening nights can be mighty strange – what are the best opening nights you’ve attended, and what are the worst, and why? Let’s have loads of lovely postings, shall we, whilst we ready ourselves for opening night number two.