Knock Knock - Now we have proof. Tangibles.

This is the current state of my opening night gift. 

Okay.  I get it.

Now it's over.

Knock Knock - Postmortem

It’s a week and a couple of days after the last performance of Knock Knock.  I had thought that I had written my last post concerning the show but since my purpose in writing the blog was to give an actor’s experience I decided I needed one more – at least.

It’s a week and a couple of days after the last performance of Knock Knock.  In many ways, it seems like a couple of months have passed.  The sign on the marquee is still there as of this posting.  We took everything off the walls of the set after the last performance and the walls themselves will be down soon if they’re not down already.

There is a finality in theater.  I don’t care if a show runs 2 performances or 1000.  You perform it full speed every time you do it, you get that rush and then suddenly -- it’s over.  By the time you get out of your costume for the last time, the set that has been your base for 10 weeks is already unrecognizable.

Regardless of the success (or in some cases failure) of a show, there is a sense of loss afterwards.  Theatrical post traumatic stress syndrome I suppose.  It’s very much like sport.  You work and sweat for week after week and then suddenly your season is over and, miraculously, you find the world has simply moved on without taking much notice.

Now that you don’t need them, those pesky lines that you struggled so hard to remember now won’t go away and you’re left wondering why you had so much trouble with them in the first place.  I happened to be over at Lavin’s house on Sunday and we suddenly started doing our Act I lines. 

It seemed natural. 

And familiar.

What’s next?

Knock Knock - Last show

Last performance.  This was the first hot(ish) day of the year and we’re performing a matinee in a tin can.  The general procedure is that we try to cool the venue down before the show and then turn the AC off during act 1, restart AC during intermission and then off again in act 2.  On this day, the plan didn’t work.

As act 1 went on, the cool generated by the AC quickly dissipated and the heat increased expotentially.  The actors were hot, especially Nancy in her armor.  I don’t really know how she did it.  But actors are always hot under lights so that's not an issue.  We were, however,  increasingly aware of the audience and how hot they must be.  The printed programs increasing became fans and we became more and more concerned for their well-being.

Common sense prevailed at intermission and the AC was left on for act 2.  One thing this cast has in common is that we are loud.  And I say that with love. We were heard over a torrential rain storm so talking over AC is not a problem.  Audiences also tend to be more responsive when they're not dying.

Act 2 went very well and the audience response was wonderful.  The only issue was when Nancy had her last monologue as she was ascending to ... wherever she ascends to.  Lavin and I (and the audience) watched in horror as a wasp landing on her shoulder and slowly walked down her arm.  Fortunately, she never knew what happened and the interloper obviously flew away inflicting no harm. 

When told about it later she only said that it was a good thing it wasn't a spider.

So Knock Knock is over.  We can look back over Teflon brain syndrome, dueling lawn mowers, lighting board malfunctions, wardrobe malfunctions (Nancy’s dysfunctional armor and Mark Monahan having to run to Family Dollar to buy underwear because Lavin forgot his boxer shorts he wears in Act 3), bloodthirsty spiders, torrential rain, rowdy crowds, less than rowdy crowds, smilers, heat and, finally, wasps.

It’s over.  And I can look back on the experience as a tremendous success.  We took one of the most difficult scripts I’ve ever read and I can honestly say we made it work.  My thanks to everyone who came to see us and an even greater thanks to all those who contributed to the production in any way. Thank you.  Thank you. Thank you.

TLT looks forward and the next show will be Seussical The Musical in conjunction with the Tryon Youth Center which will run July 19-22 at the Tryon Fine Arts Center. 

It’s always a bit sad when a show ends its run.  The set now is stripped of its decorations and is down to bare walls.  All my personal items that I used in or around the show and have lived in the TLT Workshop for the last month are now in a green BiLo shopping bag and sitting on my washing machine.

Our series of magical moments is over but, as a result, friendships were created or deepened.  We didn’t cure cancer or eliminate world hunger.  We entertained for a couple of hours and hopefully made some people think a little longer or a little differently.  In my book, that’s a lot.

Bonus material:  Backstage glamor. 

Exterior - Ladies dressing room.  (We only have one lady.)

Interior - Ladies dressing room.  Posh.

Dressing Room - Men's. At least Nancy got a chair.

Make-up

Knock Knock - Best performance/Best audience

Our best audience and our best performance.  Funny how often the two coincide.  I think it was a full house.  At least, I didn’t see any empty seats when I peaked at the audience before the start – one of my tradition/superstitions.

We had a little problem early.  Very early.  At the beginning of the show I take my place at the stove in the kitchen where I’m cooking stew in a pot.  As I take my place and look at the pot, there’s nothing there.  First time ever.  Now at this point in the script, we have about a page of dialogue where the existence and/or non-existence of stew is quite important in establishing the relationship between these two middle-aged old farts.  It's at these moments that one learns just how fast one's mine can race trying to find a way out of a dangerous situation.  It's probably how Batman felt all the time.

Coming up with zilch, I drew upon that old tried and true tactic, one that applies to all life in general, just keep going like there’s nothing wrong and maybe they won’t notice. 

So I mimed pouring stew out the pot and mimed taking little bites.  I hate mime.  

 Whether the audience noticed or did not notice is debatable but they stayed with us, laughed with or at us,  sent us tremendous energy and ultimately forgave us our transgressions and we had a helluva time together.

Meanwhile, backstage, Becky Oliver, our outstanding stage manager, was beating herself up.  She was also the stew wrangler.  Apparently, the stew was on the stove in a thermos but it had never been poured into the pot.  (The fault was really mine for not asking her to make sure that the stew was in the pot but if she wanted to take the fall for it; who am I to argue?  I will make sure to ask her for our one last show on Sunday afternoon.)

One last show on Sunday afternoon.

We began dealing with the post show planning last night.  What to do with costumes, what do we need to strike from the set, where do the props go, what do we do with furniture and, most importantly, finalized plans for the production party afterwards.  As with everything else in the theatre process, there is work involved and planning and there are no house elves to take care of it.  

Ten weeks of hard work and it comes down to one last show.  The intent is always the same; let’s go out on a high and just go for broke.   

Then party.

 

Knock Knock - Tickets going fast. 2 shows left.

Two performances left of Knock Knock -- Saturday night at 8pm and Sunday afternoon at 3pm.  I say this because tickets are going fast.  Friday night was a sell out so don’t assume that tickets will be available if you show up at the door.  Box office will be open 10-1 Saturday so stop by or call 828-859-2466.

Friday was a difference performance.  While the crowd was large it was quieter, definitely quieter than Thursday’s of course.  They enjoyed it and they definitely were smiling as loudly as they could.  That’s just another flavor of the theatre experience. 

Two performances left for us and we’ve had a blast.  We’ve worked hard and it has paid off. 

TLT is so happy they’re doubling our salaries.  Now instead of $0 we’ll make $0. 

Ah, well, we did it for art.  What other reason can there possibly be? 

Except that whole theatre disease thing.

Knock Knock - Opening Night week 2

Last night’s Opening Night week two audience was, quite frankly, wild.  The only problem was that I'm not sure we had anything to do with it. They were wild before we even started.  Not sure of the cause but there was a rumor that something in the tequila family was involved.  Proximity to a Mexican restaurant is being investigated.

There were a lot of friends there Thursday and many of them were “theatre people” which is to say that they have worked shows and know what it takes.  The “theatre people” label defines them as being infected with this insidious disease for which we know there is no cure.  While not especially contributing members of society, these are the people you want to see in your audience.

Add to this group of ne’er-do-wells a torrential rain which would have been perfect for a performance of Shakespeare’s The Tempest and you end up with the perfect storm – pun intended.

Control was lost almost immediately.  Frances entered for her pre-show speech (exits, cell phones off, etc.) and the crowd literally went wild.  By the time we actually began the show I was worried because there seemed to be nowhere to go but down.  I am nothing if not a pessimist.

But we persevered and they loved it.  People in their condition can't lie.

Have I mentioned we have a tin roof? 

The first major downpour coincided perfectly with my parable speech early in act 1.  (Was it something I blogged?)  If you want to know what it sounded like, take a large pot from your kitchen, put it on your head then shower under a fire hose while telling a long joke trying not to sound like you’re screaming.

Every night is different. Conditions change performance to performance. Last night was so much fun and so much work.  So much energy flowing among audience, actors and Mother Nature.  Sweet.

Quote of the day
"With despair you feel there's no hope and you might as well die; with realism you feel there's no hope but you get a kick out of it."

Knock Knock - Week 2 begins and some stats

Week 2 begins tonight.  We had a good brush-up rehearsal last night.  No costumes but we ran it pretty much full speed.  It’s hard to go back to having no audience response.  We spoil very easily.

From all reports we should have a large audience tonight and we were only a couple of seats away from a sell-out on Friday.  If you want to come, get your tickets fast.  If you don’t want to come, why are you reading this blog?!

Just a comment on the blog.  It’s a new thing I decided to try and it’s gotten very good response.  Thanks to everyone who has checked it out.

Here’s the breakdown of traffic by country.  Fascinating.

United States 1,027
Russia 38
Germany 15
United Kingdom 9
Japan 4
Canada 2
China 2
Latvia 2
Belgium 1
Italy 1