Preview Night

Night before we open. Typically it would be a preview. However, I'm pretty sure Stevie locked the front doors...

I've been here two weeks. In that time, our rehearsals have been stressful, entertaining, frustrating, enlightening, enraging, encouraging, and about every other descriptor word I can think of. We've had the whole range of the spectrum.

It's been a wild ride. And the next three days are going to be no different.

I think tonight calls for a list. You know how much I love lists. I don't know what kind of list this will be, so come on the ride with me.

1. I miss having a light board that you can program cues into that fade and do fun transitions. Not that running a ghetto rigged light board consisting of five power cords that I turn on and off back stage isn't a great adventure, but it's a lot different than pushing a "GO" button.

1.5. I also miss cue lab. Running sound cues off of window media player is problematic sometimes...

2. Sometimes the best philospohy at this point is, "Oh well."

3. Sometimes, after you decide your philosophy is "Oh well," actors surprise you. So your philosophy changes to, "We might pull this off."

4. I often forget how easily loneliness can be expelled by good conversation.

5. I just witnessed an actor break through. It took three months and an individual rehearsal the night before opening for it to come, but there it was. That was beautiful.

6. I believe that a person's biggest fear is failure. Doesn't matter who it is or what they're trying to do. Failure is scary. Luckily, there is life after failure.

7. Beautiful moments are found in the crappiest of circumstances. Strange thing is, that's what we strive to put on a stage.

8. I have started to hit people with an American flag when they talk backstage. It's quite fun, those little sticks can pack quite the snap if given the right trajectory.

9. How do you tell the director that breaking a glass lantern onstage every night is a bad idea? No, really, give me suggestions, because we're heading to Wal-Mart to buy three more...

10. Stevie shared a beautiful nugget of thought with me last night over mac and cheese and chicken wings: Everyone always talks about going off and finding themself. But he believes that we never change, we just stop pretending to be what we're not. We stop acting like what we're expected to be, we become more okay with who we are, and we are more willing to be that person for everyone else to see.

Until next time, a toast to re-invigoration.