I’ll tell you what’s up next.

Yikes.

But first, a shout to the cast, wait staff, crew, production staff and parents of Dinner Theatre. Well done! And one of the best parts of the whole run was having some awesome people there to cheer them on. This year’s profit from ticket and merch sales will top several of the last few years. Yay for the kids. Yay for choir tour.

And yay for Suzanne, my Dutch Girl pal from the Netherlands. (Shhh…she’s sleeping right now.) We had a great chat last night when I got home, and will have another this morning before she takes off back to Michigan to spend time with her mama. She leaves for Amsterdam on Tuesday, and it’ll be another year, at least, before I see her again.

Me? It’s back to lesson plans, choir rehearsals, grading papers, and the everyday insanity known as the push to Christmas performances. What’s new, right?

FO

OK, we’re in it. So far, so good. Last night went very well, with the exception of a few technical glitches in the 5:00 show, which were all expertly sorted by Jim, our awesome sound guy. The kids — from the cast to the crew to the wait staff — were wonderful. Second show was much improved, and it was fantastic to see Bando and her handsome husband.

I get to experience an awesome trifecta today: Sis Mavis, BFF Kay and the most excellent Suzanne, my longtime fiend from the Netherlands, all of whom I have not seen for far too long. They’ll all be at one table tonight. Time to clap hands for that.

Shouting out my thanks to Mavis this morning also, as she baked two fabulous cakes and donated them to the cause, after which they quickly disappeared. (Shoulda asked her to bake two more…)

So off I go this morning…grading more papers to try to keep current on things, and getting the guest room ready for Suzanne’s arrival this afternoon. Vamos — legs breakin’ & all.

Hugs to all, fiends — have a great Saturnday!

FO

After the week from you know where, it was time to calm down for a bit. So what did I do?

Took a NyQuil, went to bed at midnight, and didn’t move until 7:45 a.m. Wow! I barely had to smooth the blanket to make my side of the bed this morning.

It’s always a weird feeling: the not having anymore rehearsals thing. The morning of a show, I’m deep in thought. What was left undone? I need to go in early to practice in the pit. Gotta make a list of notes to tell the cast before they go on. That kind of stuff.

Today, however, there’s an added thought: Get the guest room ready for RtB fiend Suzanne’s visit! We are all excited for her arrival. Tomorrow’s the day!

But for now, today’s the day. Curtains up, light the lights…on with the show, this is it!

Blessing: school is canceled today because of flooding, high winds, icy roads. I have time to grade 23 more Kent assignments.

Curse: We may not be able to have rehearsal tonight. I shall have to post spies in the area to tell me if road conditions improve, as the big boss has said that I can go ahead with it if things get better.

How has Sandy affected you? Anything out your way?

Some directors call it “Hell Week.” We don’t. The hellish part is hopefully past by now.

Production week for me begins right now, this morning, when I’m alone with my thoughts and my butterflies. The coffee doesn’t taste as great or feel so good going down as it usually does.

I think back to the beginning of this month, when I received a Facebook message saying that my friend Jenn (the coordinator for everything having to do with the “Dinner” part of Dinner Theatre) and her family lost everything in a fire. Suddenly, my big show didn’t seem so big anymore. Perspective was dealt all around, and priorities changed. Still, in the back of my reptilian brain, I knew we had to soldier on.

Enter an amazing group of smart and committed women, who took over an enormous job (RtB fiend Country Mouse can attest to this) and made it run like a clock. Everyone’s working together to make this monster fly, and 606 tickets later, they’re ready to put it all on the floor.

Now we have to do the show, and there’s precious little more I can do to make it much better. At some point this week, I will hand over the reins to the cast, and retire to my role as pit musician and nothing else. Giving up that control is difficult. 

In the big scheme of life, I suppose a theater production is small spuds. But to me, and hopefully to these young singers and dancers, it’s something special and life-changing. Anyone who’s ever been in a theater production gets it, right? I look at my seniors this year, and I think back to when they were 7th graders and I told them that doing theater is like a drug: once you experience it, you want more. I see it in their performances now; they love it. They’re hooked. I like that. And even if they never do another show in their lives, they’ll remember forever what it felt like to work with a troupe of like-minded people who get together to make art that hopefully brings some joy to folks. You can’t measure that.

Time, however — you can measure, and I’m clean out of it. Good to be back yapping at you. Have a great week — here we go!

FO