Opening Night

Last night was the opening night for The Comedy of Errors. My very first opening night. I'm sort of sick right now, so I felt a little queasy during the performance; it might have been stage fright but I'm not so sure. I still feel the same way right now. Maybe I'll never know.

Our Dromios (D. of Ephesus and D. of Syracuse) were both played by girls, and wore fake mustaches. Ha! D. of Syracuse came into the girl's dressing room after trimming her mustache and said in a Jaq-Clousseau accent, "Believe it or not, I do belong in here!"

Our nine-year-old duke (pardon me: nine and a half!) had a mild case of stage fright just before the show. But she did so wonderfully. She didn't fidget too much, she stood nice and tall, and spoke loudly.

Some people fumbled of course, but the audience seemed to really enjoy the play. When they first laughed (probably at D. of Syracuse - she was GREAT!) GiGi, the lady playing Dr. Pinch, said, "Ooh, that's good!" When they laughed a second time she said, "Isn't that a beautiful sound?" It was. It really was. It made me want to laugh too. I practically had the play memorized but I smiled and chuckled along with the audience.

I did fine, if you're wondering. I play Luce, a servant. I had some snappy, scornful lines in Act III, and a frantic speech as a messenger in Act V. That was lots of fun. I didn't have so many lines to memorize that it was stressful for me. I went out without my glasses which was... alright, I suppose. I could see everyone on stage well enough. Though with the lights and without my glasses, our Antipholus of Syracuse looked like he had a blurry halo over his head which is funny for two reasons: the first being that the Syracusian boys are supposed to be more innocent and naive than the Ephesian boys. The second reason was that A. of Syracuse was showing people how to make the Sign of the Cross backstage before the show. Hehe!

I almost forgot to mention the turn-out: 100 people! I know it doesn't seem like a lot, but keep in mind that we were performing in a small town in a gazebo. We ran out of seats!

We had another show today. It was very hot, but all together I think everyone did better. Next week is the opening of You Can't Take It With You. I really can't wait to see it. Now I'm already wondering what play the Shakespeare Festival up here will do next year...