Okay, here's a doozy. Last night's dream, which I didn't even remember until it popped back into my head an hour after I'd been up. It's a variation on the traditional musician's or actor's nightmare about being completely unprepared to play or conduct or act in something that's just about to begin. In this one, however, I'm not playing -- I'm page turning for the gal who is, and only for one number.
Her keyboard and other equipment are on the main floor of the fairly large mid-century red toned auditorium. She's set up down in front, in the far side aisle on audience right, and there are one or two other people getting set up down there between her and the stage. It's unclear what they're playing or doing, but probably something like bass and drums, with various other electronic equipment involved.
Of all the things to be performed, there's one song for which she requires a page turner, and that's my only responsibility in the whole concert or whatever it is. So just minutes before the performance, I'm standing there attempting to understand exactly how the music goes, and how I'm supposed to execute my duties...because it seems the occasion is pretty formal, I'm dressed formally, and though (in real life) I've done plenty of expert page turning, there's apparently stuff to figure out here about how I'm supposed to enter, leave, when and where to sit or stand, and how to otherwise comport myself. I'm trying to look over the music which is not going too well, and I'm having trouble holding her attention in the heat of these last few moments before curtain.
Next thing I know, I'm in the outside corridor on audience right, realizing that either it's time for the number, or that I've just missed it or that I'll be holding everything up as I get in there. There follows one of those horrible dream attempts at getting where you need to be in a hurry, which takes absurdly long. For some reason I'm entering from the back of the hall and having to navigate through people, but finally I'm down there, apologizing for being late. Then it seems we've just done the song and I have indeed screwed up how I was supposed to exit or not exit or something. I'm hopeful that it didn't ultimately spoil anything, and finally she and I are talking. At this point I'm reminded that her face is ever so slightly off-kilter and she has only one eye, which at first I thought was in the middle, over her nose, but then I see that it's her right eye and that the left one had been either long ago surgically closed, or that maybe she never had the other eye in the first place. Anyway, we seem to be talking it over and things are okay, but the general confusion reigns until I mercifully wake up.
