Big Weekend, Small Hangover

A lot of things this weekend, so hang onto your shoes, we’re flying:

We opened the show on Friday. It wasn’t as full a house as they tend to be on opening nights, and not quite the drunken free for all audience all hootin’ and hollerin’, but I still feel we pulled off a pretty good show. Folks I talked to afterwards seemed to have enjoyed it, and the view from the lighting booth apparently confirms that. I am the first actor out on stage and on entering got some nice yelling and applause. Honestly, it threw me a bit Friday night, but (even more honestly) feels pretty friggin’ awesome now.

By the end of the show, the amazing and incomparable Betty Campbell had aggravated a recent foot surgery wound on her foot. She stood in the green room with blood slowly running from her little black shoe, slightly crying and with a quiver to her voice that is hard for me to shake. She was taken to the ER after the show, and is absolutely fine, but we called the show Saturday just to play it safe.

Which actually worked out really well as Saturday was La Birthday de Biffy (or Biffy’s Birthday if you don’t speak the lingo). I tried to make some chocolate cupcakes from scratch, but they turned out less than stellar (I blame it on an oven that does not run at the advertised temperature). The frosting however, if I say so myself, turned out well enough to eat with a spoon. Not that I would do that, three or four times.

We went to dinner with Beth’s parents and grandparents, little man putting the moves on the waitress like the player he is. We had an amazing fish dinner and a fine, fine chardonnay. We also got to hang out and play some Scene-It later in the evening with Mandy and Jason (until Jason succumbed to the allergy terrorists). It was nice to sit around and play some games with those guys again, it feels like we don’t see them often enough.

There were some extraneous things that had upset Bif on Saturday (one of them being me I’m sorry to say - I had stayed at the aftershow party pretty late, but did manage to come away with a very small hangover), but I hope that she was able to at least end the day feeling proud of her accomplishments as a coach, as a mother and as a friend. I certainly know that I’m proud to call her my wife.

Sunday we had our first read through for the show that I’m taking part in come September. Typically, I like it when I can jump into a new show directly after the rehearsal process for one ends, it feels like fate meshing gears or something. It’s a brand new show that’s never been performed and a brand new theater company. It’s a fantastic script and I’m lucky enough to be playing the male lead. At the read through itself, I found myself getting worked up at some of the dialogue that I have. I’m really excited about the opportunity and think that it could turn out to be great.

And I think that pretty much catches you up. I hope you’re all doing well out there, feeling the irrepressible tug of the universe, feeling the need to get on a waterslide.