Monday, April 12, 2010

Forever Plaid: Weekend One

We really had a great opening weekend.  It didn't come without it's share of issues, but everyone was happy.  Including the audience.

Friday was basically issue free.  We always like that.  I got to see a friend (who is related to a member of the cast) for the first time in forever.  We had been talking on FB, and he'd recently bought an iPad.  So I made him bring it to the show.  What a neat toy!  I can't stand Mr. Blondie's touch screen phone, but I do love this iPad.  Aside from the coolness factor, I don't have a reason to get one.  But should that change, I'll have one in a heartbeat!

Saturday was fun.  Spent the morning working on show #2.  Cues are written, a fix list is started, and I'm outta here.  Then I headed downtown for a free speech forum that was sponsored by the radio station I listen to.  I got to meet some very nice people, but most of what I heard was a repeat of what I listen to daily.  Tho it's definitely nice to be surrounded by like-thinking people.  By the time I got done there, I had just enough time to run home, inhale a piece of pizza and dart to the theater.

When I got there, the director for show #3 was there.  He had called earlier in the day and mentioned he had paint chips to show me.  By the time I got done speaking with him, my brain was on overload.  What show are we doing?  I'm clearly doing to much.

Again, the show went great.  The audience loved it, the guys had a lot of energy, and the props chick brought rice crispy treats made with fruity pebbles.  What more could you want?

Now we get to Sunday...  Mr. Blondie and I go to our favorite breakfast place, then head to a new grocery store in our neighborhood that opened a few days ago.  The place was a mad house.  Since they're open 24hrs (I love Harris Teeter) we should have gone another time.  We ended up pushing the clock, so I had Mr. Blondie drop me at the theater.  I didn't have time to run home and get my usual black shirt that was in the dryer.  The shirt I was wearing was a dark rust color.  That'll do.  It's a little low cut, but not so much that it was inappropriate for the show.

The guys have bottles of water strategically placed around the stage.  There's no intermission.  They sing non-stop for 90 minutes.  So the water is a necessity.  At some point during the Ed Sullivan number, one of the water bottles gets knocked over.  I guess the lid wasn't on well, or it wasn't a sippy cup, cuz it left a puddle DSL.  My little window is USL, so I didn't see it.  There's a song where the guys are dancing and pass out on the floor.  When one of the guys sat on the stool by my window instead of lying on the floor, I knew something was wrong.  He mouthed 'spill'.  I leaned over, and Lake Michigan has formed DSL.

Brain goes into warp speed - we gotta clean this up fast.  I execute the next cue, then go flying back to the dressing room to grab paper towels.  I get back to the light board with a few seconds to spare before executing the next cue.  Then I wait a few pages for the appropriate time to run out there.  This particular scene is pretty dim.  The guys have just run off stage to put on their new jackets, and their lines are coming from off stage.  Paper towels in hand, I go darting around the corner and start wiping up the floor.  I clearly do not have enough paper towels for the job, so I'm trying to push the water off stage under a set piece.  I'm also diligently listening to the lines, as I have a cue before they come back on.  I hear that we're getting close to the next cue, I run back to the light board just in time to execute the cue accurately.  Phew.

The floor is not exactly dry, but it's better.  Then I realize I'd left the paper towels on the floor next to the set piece rather than grabbing them as I ran off.  Crap!  Oh well.  When the show is over I go back out with more paper towels and finish cleaning.

Afterwords I'm talking to a friend who was in the house.  "Nice rack!"  I blushed and thanked him.  It wasn't until about a half hour later it hit me...  (Shut up, I'm a blonde.)  When I was wiping up the water, I was facing the audience.  With the ambient light on my ghost white skin, they got a view of the girls that was never intended for their entertainment.  Well, variety shows are a theme in this show, and I definitely gave it some variety!  D'oh!

Did I mention that the Mayor of Gaithersburg was in the house with his wife?  Yeah...

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