We have just over an hour to load in our show tonight; we get into the theater at 6:30, the house opens at 7:45. In that time, we need to put up two flats, install monitors and Plexiglas mirrors on two stands, and assemble a rolling table. We can do it all in the time allotted, but we need a screw gun -- and our screw gun is in storage at the theater, having lost its charge by the end of Saturday's strike. I do not know how long it takes to charge one up. Maybe we can plug in the screw gun itself while the battery charges. This woke me up around 4:00 this morning.
Anyway, the show's up. It's running. We had a sold-out house on Friday, and close to that on Saturday, and everyone seemed to like it.
We had a few technical difficulties. A flat broke loose in the middle of Act I on Friday, and only the quick reflexes of a couple of actors kept it from falling; our set designer ran around the back with a screw gun and repaired things mid-show. Brian Gallagher, the actor playing Kathie Lee Gifford's first husband, handled the mishap beautifully, and the audience seemed to enjoy it as part of the adventure of live theater.
On Saturday, one of the two video monitors that form the core of Act II's set wasn't working, so we had a black screen onstage. It must have been mildly confusing to the audience, but only mildly.
Tonight we get another chance to do it all again. Given the nature of live theater, I assume we'll correct the weekend's mistakes and find some new ones to make. Tonight's show is sold out, and I hope the audience likes it as much as last weekend's did.
Saturday night I took a busman's holiday and went to see [title of show], a musical about two friends writing a musical for the NY Musical Festival. It's playing through October 12 at the Lyceum Theatre on W. 45th Street, and it is absolutely delightful. I might need to see it again before I leave town.
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