That light at the end of the tunnel...is that freedom or an oncoming train?

Accomplished today (since the last post): Saw the gospel-type show's closing, helped with Strike, attempted a midnight line-through, ran-through the show, watched movies

So here we are. The beginning of the end. I couldn't possibly be more scared right now of what this week is going to bring. Let's start at the beginning.

OK, so I went to see the gospel-type show on its Closing Night and it was actually way better than I thought it was gonna be. Everyone was really good and just sort of threw themselves into the show, which I called a "Holy Hee Haw". There were little skits that were cute, songs about God, even a narrator-type character thanm spoke directly to the audience...Buck Ownes-style! Corn stalks in the background of the set made me think somebody was gonna come out of them at some point and give a big "saaaaaaaaa-lute!" to Antioch, Tennessee (population 549) or some such place. But it was good fun to watch them all dive in and just get it done.

The Strike went well. SP and I weren't sure if we were supposed to stay and help because we (SP, really, but me to a lesser extent) wanted to get back to Delta House and keep going over lines but we stayed for an hour or more lugging set pieces in and out and then once the really heavy lifting was done we took off. I offered the use of the Delta House to anyone in our cast who wanted to come over and run lines (my first mistake) in the hopes that would help some folks who are woefully unprepared. So after SP and I went and got some beer (my second mistake), we went back and "hosted" 2/3 of the cast in a line-through. And it was about as counter-productive as it could have been. SH, the female lead, is distracted by every little thing and give her beer and some chips and maybe a magazine or something and a new environment and she was all over the place. I actually had to become "camp-counselor Tucker" at one point (my third mistake...because it made me look like a controlling ass) and said we all needed to focus and get going on this. It worked...but only for about 10 minutes.

Anyway, after that fiasco, we all went to bed. SP was up bright and early running lines. I watched "Free Enterprise" and gave the show a quick once-over. I feel pretty good about where I am in the memorization process. I have some rough spots but it's tough for me to figure out if I just don't know them (because I know them cold in my room all by myself) or if I'm getting thrown off by OTHER people not knowing their lines in the scene. I think it might be a combination but I'm certainly not calling for line every single time. And, trust me, that's being done. It's maddening.

At 1PM we were supposed to have a line-through of Act II (the tougher of the show, line-wise) which took forever. There was a Sunday paper floating around and I made the mistake (are we keeping track? This would be #4) of starting the crossword puzzle and that seemed to open up the door for everyone to start looking through the coupon inserts and stuff, which distracted them no end. At least I knew when to put the paper aside and be a part of the scene. ARGH! I'm not saying that I was the only one who knew enough when I had to be engaged in the scene and when I could sneak a peek at the paper, but the few people who couldn't afford doing that were didn't know enough to put the paper aside and concentrate. And that's what I found most maddening. I have to try and think ahead from now on and try to be a better example. No more doing the crossword, I guess (which I have gotten about 80% of already...I'm impressed with myself!).

So after that we tried a stumble-through of the show on our new set, which is pretty cramped. But it was good to have doors where we were told doors would be and sofas and stuff. There were some issues, spacially, but it was good. The run-through...bad. We worked some stuff that sort of had to wait for the set and we were let go. SP and I returned to the Delta House, which is now exclusively ours after the two other guys left for places unknown on Sunday, and dove into our scripts. SP never let up. I looked once or twice and then watched "Fight Club".

Today we have a 2PM run-through and if that goes well, we're supposed to have the rest of the day off. Which is great. The weather looks nice and I'm all about sitting around watching TV and chatting with my Chicago peeps but I don't think that what this show needs right now is time off from the show. I would be happy if we just ran this thing three times a day for the next three days and just ran it into the ground. There's absolutely no danger in us peaking before we have an audience and it can only do us good. But there are issues with peoples' kids and who is around to watch them and blah blah blah so we might only get the one run-through in today. And if that happens it's going to take every ounce of self-control that I have not to say...something. Because something desperately needs to be said. We open this Thursday afternoon (tourist attraction = mostly matinees) and have our first audience...the owners of the place and any employee that wants to come...on Wednesday night. Some quick math tells me that that first audience is now 58 hours away. I've NEVER felt so scared of a first audience/Opening in all my life. This could potentially be a huge train wreck and I'm the one who's pretty much at the center of it.

I'm actively beginning to learn other peoples' lines so that I can help cover if the occasion should arise. I've never even considered having to do that before. Wish me luck.

In other (good) news, the Red Sox have the best record in the American League. So that's something to keep my spirits up! (---contented sigh---)