Opening night!

Hard to believe it but it’s very true. It’s opening night and it’s a scary thing.

No matter how many times I’ve done the show, there’s always something unexpected thrown at me. Last night, we had a bat in the theatre. Yes, a real bat flying around bumping into lights and walls. We were a good 20 minutes or so into the show and had to stop to get it out because it was flying dangerously close to my head, swooping around the theatre. I hope we don’t see a return this evening.

Working magic into the show has been a huge technical challenge. The size of the theatre, the angles, and, most importantly, the very small time we’ve had to get things up and going have put major constraints on us. As I said before, I didn’t want to change it into a magic show, but wanted to introduce a few nice elements. As it happens, I’ll have to decide while performing the show if the conditions are right for those elements because they are so precarious. So one night an effect might make it into the show and the next night it won’t purely based on the conditions and timing at that specific point in the show. It’s very much like walking a tightrope, balancing with each step, and reacting in the moment. As if getting a 50-page monologue right wasn’t enough!

The other new element is the new curtains at RVP. The new backdrop and legs look fabulous and really make the space look professional. Ian has really pulled it together and we’ve gotten those pieces up in record time. It took some extra time that we really didn’t have much of, but it’s worth it.

Another highlight of this evening will be the mulled wine. Tinka has taken my European mother-in-law’s recipe and whipped up a batch of tasty wine. It’ll surely keep you warm (and might even make the show better…as if that were possible… ).

So, it’s off to the theatre…