Still Playing Catch-Up

Can't quite get rested after the long week leading up to opening weekend. I think I just got so exhausted, that it's going to take a few more days. Of course, work doesn't help. You might be wondering why I have not yet written about opening weekend. Is the show not going well?

In fact, the show is going better than I ever imagined, and I imagined a great show. We had two big, responsive audiences in two nights (and a small, responsive audience for dress rehearsal). My fellow cast members were hot, hot, hot! We've been getting nothing but compliments.

I haven't written because I've been busy and tired, and I have to save up some energy for the next set of shows. But before I retire for this night, I will relate a couple of funny stories from last week.

Thursday was dress rehearsal. Because the entire cast was sleep deprived, some clever soul suggested we start dress rehearsal an hour early so we could get a little extra sleep before opening night. I loved the idea, and it worked out very well. But I almost didn't make it. On my way home I stopped at a supermarket in Rochester for some groceries, and when I came out my right rear tire was flat. Now, I do have a compact spare, but I also have all-wheel drive. Can't use the compact spare unless you disable that, and I don't have the owner's manual for this car.

So I grabbed a tire pump I had been keeping in my car because all of my tires have been slowly losing air, pumped up the tire just enough to limp it over to Wal-Mart, and asked if they repaired tires. They do. But not this one. There was too much cracking around the rim. Probably when the guy who sold the car to me bought it at auction, it had been sitting on its tires for too long. So I had to buy four new tires. Not unexpected, but a little ill-timed.

Fortunately, there was no one else there and they had me in and out in about half an hour.

Then Friday, opening night, was also the day of our Employee Appreciation Party, which was held at Red Hook Brewery. No, I didn't get drunk on opening night. I don't drink. But I did get talked into karaoke. I sang "Mack the Knife," rather well I thought considering my sleep deprivation. But until you sing without any sleep, you don't realize how tiring it can be.

This story has a happy ending, too. Because no matter how tired I am when I arrive at the theater, I always come alive when I hit the stage. Especially with an audience as lively as the one that greeted us opening night.

But now I have to take a different approach to perking up. Getting some sleep.