#16: The Opening
It has come to my attention that some of my readers may have found my previous blog post somewhat gloomy. That was certainly not my intention, and if you found it so, I apologize. I shall henceforth try to keep any thoughts that may seem negative out of my narrative.
Now, to continue: I had just finished my simple yet wholesome al fresco meal and was preparing for the arrival of the audience.
But first, I met Kay Olsen who had very kindly agreed to take tickets for me. Ms Olsen is well known among the Portland theater crowd for seeing every play or musical that it is possible for a single person to see. She admitted that she is addicted to theater, but suggested that this wasn’t such a bad addiction. (I’m not so sure...) She was delightful to talk to and I enjoyed our chat before the audience arrived.
There had been some negotiations between front of house (me) and back of house (the director and stage manager) on when the audience would be allowed into the hall. The actors needed time to practice their sword fight before the audience arrived so the director wanted to open the doors at 6:45. I pointed out that we could not physically get 99 people checked in and into their seats in 15 minutes. Also, the lobby where they could wait before going in would only comfortably hold about ten people. We settled on 6:35 and hoped for the best.
The audience started arriving early to secure the best seats. The lobby started filling up. Outside it started to rain. While some people pushed their way to the ticket taker, others elbowed their way to the restroom. Little knots of people tried to chat. The temperature, the humidity, and the noise level all rose as more and more people crowed in. And everywhere was the excitement and anticipation of an opening night.
I just hoped that their energy and enthusiasm would carry them through what I feared would be a disappointing show. (I trust my readers will not construe that as a negative thought. It was included to show how at that moment I was full of hope.)
Many of my friends had come to see the show. My sister and her husband had flown out from Philadelphia and stayed for the run of the show. (I realize that the run of the show was only two performances, but it sounds much more impressive to say “the run of the show.”) Several friends had driven down from Seattle. There were friends from high school and college and my old office. I tried to chat with them all as they came in, but it was getting hard just to breathe!
Fortunately the sword fighting practice ended on time, because the lobby was about to burst. We opened the doors and the audience gushed into the auditorium. I continued greeting people as they arrived, now without having to worry about stepping on someone’s toes. A few of my friends were running rather late and gave me a scare thinking that they might not make it. But at last the stragglers showed up and we closed the doors.
It was at that point I realized that I had had nothing to drink for an hour, so I rushed to the bar to get a glass of water. At the same time Ms Olsen handed me the iPad on which we had been checking tickets, which I had to store in my briefcase. At the same time I realized that I had to get out of my briefcase the back pillow that I need in order to sit comfortably. And then the briefcase needed to be stowed under my chair.
I was juggling these things when the lights went down and the stage director gave me the thumbs up.I scrambled to get them sorted out (in, I’m sorry to say, a rather undignified manner), stood up, straightened my tie, and strode to the front of the theater to thank everyone for coming.
