Good to be home...

Opening night of Moon Over Buffalo went well. It felt really good to be back up there. The audience laughed when they were supposed to and seemed to genuinely have a good time.
But it wasn't until the middle of the first act that something magical happened. It was one of those dreaded moments we all experience one time or another - an actor missed an entrance. She was in the dressing area and there isn't a monitor. She thought she had plenty of time, but she didn't and her entrance came and went. The two actors on stage covered so freaking beautifully, ad-libing new lines for what seemed like ages, but was probably only 30 seconds or so.

Then Eric, whose entrance comes just after the missing actor's, turns to me and says, "Should I go?" And I said "Yeah, yeah, go!" He went on and changed his lines to explain the missing actor. Kyle and Michelle ran with it and the three of them got us back on script within two or three sentences. They were brilliant. I don't even think the audience noticed! And no information was lost. The missed scene cost us little to nothing.

You might think this would throw the cast off; make us upset. Instead, it seemed to do the opposite. It energized us, made us feel like nothing could throw us. It made me remember what is so wonderful about the theatre. It is live and dynamic. You gotta have the skills to roll with whatever happens and keep going. It was really a neat moment. We were so proud of ourselves after that. The rest of the show went on without a hitch, but it was the hitch that cemented the performance.

Ahh, it is nice to be an actor again...