Pleasant Surprises

It's always great when an eternal pessimist like me has something actually go better than expected. It shakes up my cranky foundation a little bit, but in a good way.

We did our little play yesterday for a third of the school, and it was the first time we performed in front of an audience, and we were without our lead, and very few of us seemed very excited about it. But something magical happens when you perform in front of an audience. I can look back over almost every production I've ever been a part of, both as a high-school and college actor and later as a high-school director, and see a pattern of absolute suckage and frustration in the technical and dress rehearsals with nearly-miraculous performances on opening night. I'm not talking about perfection; in one memorable senior-year performance, one of my student co-stars jumped ahead 6 pages in the script and threw everyone so far off-track we almost skipped the trial scene that was the climax of the play. But the audience didn't know what happened, and we all stayed in character, and it was fine. And though some sound and lighting cues got missed yesterday, and a couple of lines got dropped, and my fake mustache came halfway off, it went beautifully. I love the-ater!

I will also love Friday night at 9:30 pm when it's all over, but I am basking in the after-glow this morning and looking forward to two more student shows and one final performance for friends and family.

If you're a local, and you're interested in coming, let me know and I will give you further details.

And the best part? Wanting to go up to our naysayers who thought we weren't ready, and saying, "Nanny-nanny-boo-boo," knowing that the applause and laughter made all the hand-wringing and tears absolutely worth it.