Opening night

Last night was opening night for "Prelude to a Kiss". Everything went very well, which was the first time it did go well! They say, "bad dress rehearsal, good opening night!" We were really hoping that was true, because we had a major malfunction of the sound and light cues, due to a lazy computer during dress rehearsal. The stage manager threw up her hands and was ready to head for the hills Thursday night after all of that. But things went very well last night, THANK HEAVEN!

I was told to stay backstage, instead of sneaking out at a certain time to do the changes for the lead actress. I found a couple of more times when she could use help, and between myself and the prop mistress, we got her changed and into the right stuff, with the minimum of off-stage noise as possible. Off stage is a triangle of space between a wall and a curtain, so any noise, such as banging hangers can be heard by the audience. We have a narrow beastly warm fire escape hall to change her into her wedding dress, and about 30 seconds to do it. But we were a well-rehearsed team last night and got it all done with maybe 5 seconds to spare.

The only problem that our Rita sees is that tonight I cannot be there to help her. She is very worried about that, and rightly so! I hope it goes OK. She is really depending on me, and that makes me feel good, like I'm contributing something besides a wedding dress and a couple of aprons. I've briefed the prop mistress and the "maid of honor" on how to do things, so hopefully they can get it done.

So, I wish you all luck, and I'll be with you Sunday. Hope things go OK tonight!