Ah, yes. Two weeks of intense, brain-sharpening, vision-narrowing, one- track- mindedness came to an abrupt end this past Wednesday evening as I watched the third performance of MILLIE. Some of the cast were tired – after all, it was the end of a two-show day, and between shows they had all auditioned for some roles in the next musical: MY FAIR LADY. There was even a missed entrance at the top of the show due to someone napping too long! As the actors began to improvise on stage, I just sat calmly in my chair, waiting and watching – anticipating the outcome. Eventually, the problem was solved, and enough dialogue was made up and one actor decided to take on the lines of the missing actor and the show moved on! Despite the hiccup at the start of the evening, the show recovered and Raymond said he loved it. So did I.
Afterwards, the cast had their bi-weekly party celebrating both the opening of the current show and the casting of the following show (the cast list for the next show is posted after the evening performance) and they asked me to swing by and when I did, they presented me with a very sweet gift consisting of two bottles: cheap bubbly (they said they had pooled together all they had…an inside joke of the acting interns there – and totally appreciated on this end!) and soy sauce! I will miss these guys. Despite having spent more time with some and not enough with others, as is the case with putting up a show in 10 days, and the awkwardness of scheduling when outside influences and events take precedence over tech rehearsals (I may explain more about that at a later date, because it was yet another aspect of being a director I hadn’t quite taken into account), and actually losing a cast member to illness (resulting in actually cutting a character, half of a dance number and quickly reassigning a couple small roles to someone else), I truly miss the cast, design team, staff and crew of that place (I neglected to mention earlier that the theatre had indeed obtained a projector for all the supertitles, and we decided that we'd use toe convention of the laundry cart as the screen - it works so well!
Upon leaving I was the recipient of some of the nicest and most warming cards, notes and little parting gifts I think I’ve ever received, and reading through them after I left the theatre Wednesday night brought me to tears, only because every gesture and sentiment was truly genuine; not forced or showy. There is a very unique group of people in New London right now, and they represent what it truly means to love theatre, and I miss them very much. Everyone should do summer stock!
Something else that I found quite interesting (and even amusing) is that a few people on the staff there regularly asked me over the two weeks how I was doing, how stressed was I and how panicked was I. I suppose they had experienced a few directors who had given in to panic and frustration in the past. Honestly: not once did I feel panicked or stressed about anything. Twice I became impatient, and those times were during tech (that’s natural), and I never let it color how I performed. As focused as that rehearsal period was, I never felt like it wouldn’t get finished. While I am looking forward to actually sleeping a little more, I didn’t ever feel my blood pressure rise, which brings me to my physical exam this morning: my blood pressure was a record low of 120/70. That’s wonderful news for someone who once had 160/95 a couple years ago (I am susceptible to city & traffic stress). So not only do I think that two weeks of being away from Manhattan and being completely focused on the task at hand had an extremely calming effect on me – I guess I was in the zone. Who knew MILLIE could be so zen? Even more than MILLIE, who knew directing could be so zen? This all feels so right. Did I ever feel this connected, this integrated as an actor? I think there were moments, but they were fleeting and I only knew them in glimpses. Again: another topic for another entry.
Well, if anyone’s looking for a show that’s funny with a terrific cast in a town that’s breathtakingly charming with great restaurants (Four Corners Grill, Jack’s, and The Millstone); all settled in the New Hampshire mountains, drive on up to New London. If not MILLIE, this group of actors will not disappoint with the next two musicals: MY FAIR LADY and FIDDLER ON THE ROOF.
I have a few days before I head out to California but there are so many things to do – Dad’s turning 80, I’ve got some temp work, lots of laundry and shipping to Pasadena of items I can’t afford to fly with – and by that I basically mean checked luggage.
More to come...
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