2 posts tagged “closing night”
It is done. The run is over. The set has been removed; flats taken down, furniture moved out, walls painted and repainted and then painted again for good measure.
I have mixed feelings about endings. I always do. Watching the final show on Saturday night wasn't easy. As much as I resisted taking this show from my imagination into a space with real people who had ideas of their own, I came to love this show and really enjoyed watching it.
Sure there were things that made me sigh. (No, it wasn't the ad-libs that began popping up. Though stopping mid-line to add your own, then trying to finish the scripted line just makes us both look like we don't know what we're doing.) More and more I began to see the things I wish we had more time to work on. Much of it inspired by the way the actors came at the lines that I hadn't noticed before myself. A moment that I always thought of as a "throw-away" that was given a little weight suddenly made me see another avenue for the scene that could have made it a little richer. Lines that just didn't work. Scenes that were too long or too short. I might take another crack at the ending.
I might never have seen these things if the play had stayed on my desktop. For that I am grateful to the cast and crew for all their hard work and dedication. Thank you Mercedes, Dietrich, Zoe, Joe, Becky, Emily, Sean, Sarafina, Hattie, Jehan, Liz, Alicia, Erin R., Erin O., Dehlia, Jamie, Graham, Brian, Dianna, Amy, Steve, Dan and Dan. Thanks, too, to Speaking Ring for taking a chance on a new play. This really was a dream come true.
And thanks to you, too, Gentle Reader. I don't know what the future holds for this blog. It was started with the intention of keeping a record of the show in progress. Now that the show is over I'm not sure how I feel about being a blogger. Maybe I'll shift the focus on to something else as an excuse to keep coming back here. Though these internets are chock so full of interesting places that I don't know if I'd be able to keep up. Plus, there are already a good many Chicago playwrights working the blog angle. I guess we'll have to wait and see.
But thanks for coming along. I'll be sure to let you know when the next adventure arises.
Well. Here we are. Closing week. Three more shows and then these characters will return to the confines of my imagination. Hopefully they've expended enough energy and won't be so restless that they keep me awake nights. I've got other things I need to be working on.
But I'll miss this show when it closes. It really is a lot of fun to watch. I think there are plans to tape it this weekend, so I suppose I can watch it any time I want. But judging from the layer of dust that sits on all the other show tapes that I have, it seems unlikely that I will. Of course, the shows that I've been in that were taped weren't always worth watching to begin with.
If you're out there and you haven't seen the show yet (my ego is assuming that people other than the cast read the blog) come check it out this weekend before it's too late. And don't try to use the "I'll borrow the tape off of you" excuse either, because I'll be charging a $20 rental fee. You can make a reservation by calling (312) 458-9374. Bring your friends. Bring your neighbors. Grab people off the street and bring them. And just to make it fun, if you mention the title line of this blog entry, I'll get you in the door for $10. Feel free to pass it on.
