Ramblings on libraries and life upon the wicked stage

So, opening night.  The moment of truth.  That was the end point of Day 3.  First, though, we had a day in the Tower to get through.  Starting once again at the top of the show, we ran through in costume, stopping to deal with technical issues (mostly scene changes, tightening up the choreography of the arrival and departure of the tables, chairs, statues and so on) and to fix some scenes that hadn’t been working as well as they should.  Sadly, we didn’t have time to work on my insanely quick costume change, but we did stop to work on a moment which had been causing significant anxiety for a while – a kiss between myself and another character.  It had been stressing both of us out, but the moment was reblocked to make more sense in context.  A weight off everyone’s mind, I think.

After our lunch break, which happened a few scenes into our work, the cast sorted out the curtain call in the theatre foyer while the crew finished off some more tasks on stage – getting some scenery items up into the flies, fixing flats and so on.  Throughout the day, they were busy with finishing touches on paint jobs and securing the last few props we needed.  Hard-working doesn’t even begin to describe the crew and technical team for this show!

Before we knew it, the evening was upon us and it was time to get made up, collect our microphones, enjoy our vocal warm-up (seriously, vocal warm-ups have been so much fun!) and crawl back into our opening costumes ready to begin.  Front of house clearance came a little after the scheduled start time, but we were soon off and away.  It was obvious from the start that the audience were really into it, loving the ‘Jailhouse Rock’ opening number, and their enthusiasm only continued to build.  They laughed at everything we had laughed at in rehearsals and more.  They applauded all the numbers, and even some character entrances and exits.  A few moments even produced an ‘awww’ of sympathy.  On a personal note, I was relieved that some of my moments provoked laughter, as I had been unsure whether they really were funny, or whether they were only funny if you know the real me (as they are so very out of Singing Librarian character).

Elvis the bat did not make an appearance as far as I noticed (though one ensemble member says he caught a glimpse during some dialogue), which was probably for the best.  There were no major disasters, just a few dropped lines and a stray bench which decided it wanted to be in a scene which it hadn’t previously appeared in.  The cast fed off the audience’s energy and the band were as hot as ever.  At the end of the shows, we were greeted with a standing ovation from much of the audience, which was a true delight.

After the show, our director expressed his pleasure and announced that the call time for Day 4 is one o’clock to tighten some scenes up.  A morning off!  Mine needs to include some washing and ironing, particularly in order to top up my white t-shirt supply – a t-shirt that has been on for the duration of a show is not fit to be worn the next day.  There are some tickets left for the next performance, but we all have our fingers crossed for another total sell out.  Cast, crew and band are most definitely looking forward to the rest of the run – well and truly shaken up!