Well, the Turkeyville crowd came out (I'll estimate about 35 people, maybe) and watched the show last night and with some hesitation I will say that I think they enjoyed it. It's always nice to have the "Friends and Family" preview to reassure us actors that everything is going to be alright and that things are funny and all that nonsense. Now, armed with a view of what the show SHOULD look and sound like (from an audience-reaction aspect), we can open this thing and work our asses off trying to get back to that response we had last night. Or better, hopefully.
It was a rough start to the show. Some lines got dropped, there was a bit too much talk of frozen pastas and such, but eventually the show got on a track and wound its way around to the end. Somehow. I can't be sure, because who keeps track of things like this in the heat of the moment, but I think I might have achieved a personal best by bailing out every one of my castmates from a point where their lines just didn't come. I'm sure I was bailed out at some point, too, but I can't think of when that might have been. But whatever. I guess we were all there for one another and the audience was laughing at all the right places. They even got ahead of us at one point when my character was about to launch into a long explanation of lies and stories and one audience member could be heard saying expectantly "Oh, no, here it comes". That, I will admit, made me feel pretty good.
The one complaint (because it's me and I HAVE to complain about something) would be that it was ungodly hot up there on stage. I was constantly wiping my face with the handkerchief I have with me onstage. Thank God I do a lot of drinking during the show (at least through Act I) or I might have passed out, what with the WOOL jacket I'm forced to wear and the fact that I'm running around like a lunatic for the better part of the act.
Anyway...here are some pictures of the set and the house and other random tidbits. I took these last night before the show.
As much of a close-up as I can get of the set. From left to right, there's a spare bedroom door, the door to the kitchen/dining room (next to stairs going up that you can't see), the bar, the entrance leading to the front door, and then the other spare bedroom.
A wider, darker view of the set to include the tables and chairs...just to prove that this is indeed dinner theater.
And a view from onstage looking out into the house.
And the poster for the show. If you look closely in the bottom right-hand corner of the poster it says "adult comedy". The story is that one of the owners of the place was in attendence last night and said to our director afterward..."It said adult comedy and it was funny as shit". High praise, I'm sure.So that's about it for now. This afternoon we have our first paying audience and I'm sure the response will be juuuuuuuuuuust a little different. I'll let you know.
I'm not out of the woods yet...literally.
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