"And we're going to Disneyland."

So "The Complete Works of William Shakespeare: Abridged" is over. Finished. Kaput. I have mixed feelings, of course - I'm sad for it to be done, but glad to have my life back. Mostly, though, I'm glad. I'm exhausted and very sore - every muscle in my body aches from the final weekend of the run and Strike after the last show. I'm sure that in a few days I'll start going through withdrawals, but for now I'm very excited to have the Thanksgiving holiday to rest (as much as will be possible with my adorable nieces and nephews jumping all over the place, yelling, "Aunt Tarythe! Aunt Tarythe! Come play with me! Okay, you be It..."). And pumpkin pie...mmm...

The last show went very well. The size of our audiences increased as the show went on and word spread. During the last show we not only had the seating area onstage full (it was meant to be a small and audience-interactive show), but the balcony was holding quite a few more people. It was wonderful.

After the show we had Strike, where the whole set gets taken apart nail by nail, board by board. Costumes and props get put away too. It's quite the process, and usually requires a good amount of people. I stayed to help the stage crew and the Coordinator of Theatre Operations (the big big boss of the department) was so impressed by my hard work that he offered me a job at the theatre! Even though it usually takes a few months for the application and paperwork to go through, he said not to worry - that he would personally make sure the process was "expedited" for me.

In related good news, an adjudicator from the American College Theatre Festival came to judge our show last week and she nominated me for the Irene Ryan Acting Scholarship.

Facebook

It's official. Under peer pressure, I caved in and...created a Facebook account. For so long I was proud to not have a blog, to not be on Facebook. And look at me now - 2 years with a blog, 36 hours of Facebookness.

But it's great to be in touch. I went through and found a bunch of people I used to hang out with - at school, work, church, whatever. I did this by going through my friends' friends lists. "Oh I know that person! Add friend? Why yes, please." Click. It's so good to know that now my friendships with these people are official, secure - well, we're friends on Facebook, so our relationship must be stable. Oh, good. Now I can sleep better at night.

It's amazing to me how much time can be spent on Facebook; I think it's going to be my undoing. I should have waited until the end of the semester! I'm also somewhat concerned with how excited I've been to watch my friends list grow, as people accept my request to be their friend on Facebook. It's a great way to realize the superiority you have over other people who don't have as many as you do. :)
"Scott, I have 7 friends!"
"Honey, I now have 21 friends! That's more than you."
"Hey, guess what - I have 56 friends - no, make that 58. It's great being so popular."

It's rather pathetic.

Opening Night

Opening night was on Friday. And it was awesome. We had a great crowd; most of the seats were filled, Scott came to support me, and the audience was very enthusiastic (the play relies very heavily on audience participation, so this is crucial). Towards the end of rehearsals, when you're running the same lines over and over again without an audience there to react to you, it gets frustrating. It's easy to lose motivation when you're reaping no immediate reward. But on Friday, I was loving it. "This is what I've worked so hard for these past couple of months!" I told Ruben during intermission. I love the adrenaline rush that comes from connecting with the audience and seeing your hard work pay off. It makes those long hours and late nights all worth it.

Tech

Yesterday was a long day. Saturday's play rehearsal was canceled due to some scheduling conflicts, so the entire tech weekend was set on Sunday instead. All 12 hours of it. Tech is that wonderful time where all the technical designers, actors, stage crew, director, etc. come together and we try to do the show exactly the way it will be on opening night - with lights, sound, set, costumes, and props. Coordinating all of that is harder than it might seem...even though the first time we ran through the show we went cue-to-cue (which means that we skipped all dialogue that didn't require a costume change, light cue, or sound cue, so we could get timing right) it took us 6 and a half hours to get through the 90-minute show once. And then we did it again. Faster this time, though. :)

It was certainly an entertaining day. We ran into many a problem - actors' pants falling down multiple times, both onstage and off (not mine though, thank goodness), props falling apart in the middle of a scene, a piece of scenery knocking someone (me) in the head, actors not being able to change costumes fast enough and missing their entrances (or coming out with only half of their costume). And we open in 3 days.

How I love the theatre.