Seventeen years ago I had my first professional job being the understudy to the cast of FOREVER PLAID at the Pasadena Playhouse. 1991 – just a couple months after the earthquake of June 29, which collapsed part of a wall of the Playhouse. Well, today, the first day of rehearsal, we rode out a 5.4 magnitude shock that blasted through just as we had started our read-through of the show. The women were just singing the very end of the opening number, and I heard this thumping. My first thought was "Why is Carmel (the musical director) pounding the floor - the singers are in tempo," and that's when it felt like the building had been picked up into the air and then dropped 10 feet, then continued to shake and roll for several seconds afterwards. I think we all knew it was an earthquake the second it hit, but there was utter silence for a few moments afterwards, as it was still rolling along, and no one moved. One person suggested we get under the tables, another suggested we cram into doorjambs, and our PSM, Pat, suggested we leave the building. That made the most sense. We calmly grabbed our belongings and went downstairs and into the parking lot. It was then that Pat announced that we were on a "ten." I love her.
It should be noted that the Playhouse utilizes the top floor of a two-floor building (a furniture store!) as its rehearsal space, so we didn't have far to go. Later on, when I got back to my apartment, which is on the 5th floor, there were several misplaced, upturned and skewed items - the swaying must have been pretty bad there. I wasn't freaked out much at all, but I'm glad I was amongst other people when it happened.
After a generous ten-minute break, we went back to work, and by the end of the day, I wasn't thinking too much at all about the nearest doorjamb. I took it as a sign of good luck! A quake on the first day of rehearsal!
Okay - back to the title and the opening line: I find myself back in Pasadena after all this time. Pasadena was my starting point as an actor; the Playhouse gave me one of my first jobs. It was the start of something, and I will always remember the excitement I felt at being a part of a show that was receiving such great attention. I never did go on, but came close a couple times and I remember being devastated when it didn't happen. I also remember being housed in an apartment complex that made the setting for "Barton Fink" look like a suite at the Hyatt. I was being paid $200.00 a week, living in a trap above a Japanese restaurant, and really riding the highs and lows of it all: elated one day that I was involved; completely dejected the next because I felt so disconnected.
17 years later I feel so different: (as of today - and I don't see how it would change) I feel like an important player in this process (not that an understudy isn't important: I understudied in my last Broadway show and I like it). I always feel very welcome by everyone involved with this show, and I am viewed as a respected and integral part of the production team. So that overwhelming rush of memories, smells, sights and emotions that hit me as hard as that earthquake did as I walked into the green room of the theatre this afternoon was very soon afterwards tempered by the notion that times have changed, I have changed, and of course, the situation has changed. So has the entire staff at the Playhouse, save for one person (who I thought looked familiar, but not until we spoke did we remember and reconnect). So there are no ghosts here from the days of being a hungry young actor - only memories. There is only a new road ahead of me, and one of the stops along the way is a revisit to the Playhouse and seeing it in a whole new light, and in return, being seen in a whole new night by those who knew me back then. The Playhouse is indeed still standing strong, always welcoming in the next group of artists to convert its insides into new places, transporting all who come to view.
How else did today go? Very well. The read-through was great: it was good for all involved to speak and hear the words and music of Jack and David. Notes were taken, ideas expressed, discussions sent forth, and the good work has begun. It is wonderful to be here now; the excitement of actually putting on stage a show we've been reading and workshopping for more than a year. Lauren, Sarah and Anneliese are so good together, and it is a joy to watch them work with each other.
Judy gave me a book she just finished reading: A Director Prepares by Anne Bogart, which I had just two weeks ago considered buying and reading, but I decided to delay it in order to finish a few other books I want to read. However, it was presented to me, so the universe (and Judy) may be telling me something! I shall read it next.
Even though today's events were indeed exciting, I am hoping for a quake-free day tomorrow!
And yes, the accompanying photo was how we conducted rehearsal after the quake.
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