Happy Saturday!  Tonight will be the third run of our show Midsummer Nights Dream.  Instead of boring you with news about all the wonderful “oooooohs and ahhhhhhhs” we got for our preview shows, I am gonna give you a few behind the scene details that made me chuckle and doubt if things were gonna be pulled off in time for opening night.  First things first….we lost our set designer the day before we opened and the stage was left in a sad, weeping, naked and vulnerable state.  If you could picture in your head three plain black walls with two benches and that’s it, then you probably understand why were a little shocked.  Within moments of our director telling us the bad news, our amazing costume director swooped in like a super hero and offered to help out.  In doing so, he created a beautiful forest with draping trees and a visual world for the actors to run through.  (problem 1)  Then we ran into an issue for me and the other fairy dancers that the stage and new platforms created a challenge since the rehearsal space we had been practicing in was quite different and we didn’t account that we were going to be dancing on a 6×6 ft raised box.  We had one fairy down but she bravely got back up and into the game.  Thank goodness it was only during a rehearsal and she wasn’t badly hurt.  (problem 2)  Some of the male characters were given boots as part of their costume and boy did they create a whirlwind, literally.  Those boots were so new that when the men ran across stage they each ended up either on their asses or gliding around stage with flailing arms like a terrible ice skater.  (problem 3)  I don’t know what it is about someone tripping or accidentally falling (with no injuries of course) that makes me giggle.  That’s actually how I made one of my best friends years ago.  I had just started working at the Barnes and Noble Cafe and one of our closing tasks was to mop the floors.  Me and Alana* were almost finished when all of a sudden I saw her slip, fall, and then slide into a bunch of garbage cans as if she were the bowling ball and the cans were the pins.  I could not contain my laughter and finally managed to spit out an “are you ok?!”  I later found out she didn’t like me very much from that moment on but fortunately she forgave me and we can still laugh about it today.  An Alex issue kept coming up for me during dress rehearsal which is that I COULD NOT remember one of my lines, and by line I mean one word.  I think I need to work on my short-term memory skills because every time the fairies ran on stage I had to cue them by saying the word, “Ready!”  I would get so wrapped up in the moment I was entering stage in full excitement that I would blank out on what to do next.  It finally took my friend behind me to continuously poke me in my ribs to realize I had to say something.  I keep joking with her that maybe on the last night of the show I will finally remember my line.  (problem 4)  Another issue that actors rarely bring up is the smell of their costumes.  I’m gonna keep it real for this blog and for those that don’t participate in theater so they know what really goes on. Sorry to break the news.  Costumes usually get cleaned once a week so you can imagine it creates a very interesting Eau Du Stinky (read that with a fake French accent and it makes it funnier.)  Good thing there is such products as perfume and febreze.  (problem 5)  I guess most of these aren’t earth shattering problems but they just make me shake my head and smile and hopefully bring you a little closer into the world of THEATRE.  xo

* -Alana is not my best friend’s real name.  It is not to protect her, but to protect me from being yelled at.  😉