Onstage and Backstage

The play opened this weekend and went mostly well.

I say "mostly" because the first night some lines were dropped and there was a lot of covering and ad-libbing. Not by me, though, because I have discovered that I cannot think spontaneously in character. When I'm just being my own fabulous self, it's just one-liner, one-liner, one-liner; when I'm pretending to be somebody else, I freeze and open my eyes really wide. Sad.

I have fired the gun without incident and have almost stopped flinching when I pull the trigger. Also, I forget that I'm holding it and just swing my hand around all over the place. I might need to work on that, because the director says she can see the audience all lean back in terror when the muzzle points their way. What a bunch of weenies.

I don't want to brag, but I've been doing a pretty good job. Then, today, I forgot a line. I came to the end of a speech and couldn't think of the final sentence. So I froze and opened my eyes really wide. Poop.

I brought my costumes home to wash them, because it is sooo hot onstage. I'm wearing layers of clothing and sweating through all of them.

Though I always get to the theater at the call time (an hour and a half before performance), I'm the last person to get dressed. That's because I don't want to mess with my costume while going to the bathroom. I mentioned this to another cast member ("What time is it? Because I have to adjust my Pee Timing."), and she has requested that the stage manager give us all a Pee Cue from now on.

The crowds have been pretty good, except today's was a little subdued during the first act. I don't mean to generalize, but: old people. I looked into the first row and saw a lady taking her Sunday afternoon nap. Actually, maybe she was dead. It fits the theme of the play.

Today I watched blood spurt from somebody's throat. Usually there is some dripping, but today it was squirting out with great velocity. It reminded me of Wednesday Addams' version of Hamlet, which is--tragically--not on YouTube.

I've been at the theater every night for almost two weeks. Tonight is the first night I've spent at home and ... it feels weird.