Friends in the Audience

It's the end of an interesting, long week that has been anything but expected and easy. After another huge East Coast snowstorm (is THIS one the Snowpocalypse?), we experienced our first near white-out drive back to New York City, and our second snow day of the tour. Thankfully, this one was a full day off, and the show was called at 5:05am, so nobody wound up stranded at the vans. This unexpected day off came during what would have been an 11-day stretch of straight shows, which is the longest allowed by our contracts. It's a haul, and everybody was rather grateful for an extra day to sleep in. It also came on the first of 10 days of local shows (meaning our trips originate and terminate in New York City and I sometimes have to be awake at 4am), so we're all counting extra sleep as a gift. However, that's not the purpose of this post. This week for me meant two sets of visitors: one a friend and her son ("Max"), and the other my extended family and their kids.

Have I ever mentioned how much I am enlivened by having familiar faces in the audience? The fact that I can look out into the audience, see friends and (sometimes) hear their reactions gives me an extra boost, and makes the show a lot more fun. I've had plenty of adults come to see my Theatreworks (and even Slim Goodbody) shows, but this was the first time I've ever had kids I know in the audience. And, in both cases, the post-show meet up was quite blog-worthy.

When Max and his mom came to our show, I wasn't quite sure what to expect. I'd met Max once, granted over a long period of time, but I was fairly sure he wouldn't have any idea who I was. Well, I was close to right: his initial instinct was to run and hide behind mom. I was still in Farmer Brown clothes, so I imagine that this was also a little odd. Anyway, shortly after that initial shock, he seemed to recognize me and, being backstage, began to wander around in wonder, staring at all that mysterious "backstage stuff." I learned that his favorite part of the play was when "we danced around and were silly," he gave me a quick run-down of the plot (just in case I missed it) and then I spent a few minutes explaining why we have a lot of ladders backstage. Then a quick photo and they headed out; it was way past Max's nap time. A few days later, I heard from Max's uncle. Apparently, Max had recounted the entire show to him, and made special emphasis of the appearance of pizza on our stage (one of our cows, Loretta, "eats" an entire pizza to calm herself down during the show, and the pie magically disappears.) That second part really made me smile.

With my extended family, it was particularly fun, as I hadn't met either of the girls who were in attendance, and barely knew the husband. The girls, who had kindly skipped school to come see the show, were a little shy (I imagine it's overwhelming to be introduced to your long lost... uh... something, so-many-times removed... heck, are we even blood-relations?), but perked up and seemed excited to have the chance to go backstage and check out the set. There was much interest in our geese puppets, especially since they're made of socks. I was especially happy that the adults enjoyed the show as much as they did. It is often a hard sell to get grown-ups to a "kiddie show," but, on all fronts, the "big kids" have told me that they got as much out of the show as the "little kids."

One of the things I love about performing, particularly for kids, is that I truly feel that I'm giving back in some way. When it's family or friends in the house, that feeling is so much more direct. And the idea that some of the kids I'm introducing to live theater are, in some way, "mine"? Well, that just makes me want to explode with pride and excitement. Those two shows were easily some of the most fun I've had on this tour so far. So, if you're reading this, and you know me, and you live anywhere on the Eastern Seaboard, and you'd like to come see the show, please please please let me know! I'd love to have you.

(Oh, and if you've got kids, bring 'em!)


(Me and Max backstage)

Call tomorrow: TBD, although Alaina said that it'll likely be 6am, the earliest we can be called. And it's a three-show day. And it's local. Hello 4am! How are you?

Kid quote of the day: During the show-stopping "Loretta's Anthem," a kid made the "I Love You" hand sign and started head-banging.