Lights Out

The day started like any day of Theatreworks touring should: we trundled out of our hotel (a lovely Hyatt) and into the waiting vans, groggy and gripping our caffeinated beverages of choice. Yet, today was not like any other day. Today was our fair Stage Manager Alaina's birthday!! A day for celebration and jubilation!! Or at least a nice dinner in the evening. Either way, we were headed for George Mason University, where we had two shows to get through in their lovely space before any festivities could begin. We loaded in, set up, sound checked, ventured out for more coffee and headed into the dressing rooms to get ready, as over a thousand children filed into the auditorium. It looked like it was going to be an awesome show.

Or so we thought.

It was just around the time where the cows present me with their first letter. I reintroduce the duck to the audience, review the sounds that some of the other barnyard animals make and then prompt the cows to "moo" (which, of course, they don't; they're too busy typing). Or that's what's supposed to happen. Because, about halfway through the duck's quacking, all the power went out. Not just in the theater, or on campus, but in the entire town of Fairfax, VA.

And does anybody remember what happens when about a thousand children are unexpectedly plunged into darkness? They start screaming. Loud.

Emergency generators quelled the deafening noise, but there still appeared to be mass confusion among the munchkins and their keepers. Seeing that it was clearly going to take a while, we congregated backstage, awaiting instruction from Alaina. When it came, the answer was clear: first show canceled, and we had to evacuate.

Not wanting to disappoint our loving fans, we headed to the lobby (where there was lots of natural light) to greet the kiddies and apologize for the power outage. Thankfully, teachers and parents were more excited than frustrated, and our time was spent taking pictures and giving high-fives. Between photo sessions, individuals from our sponsoring organization showed up to keep us updated on the status of our second show. Police and firefighters were fixing the problem, and it seemed we would indeed have a 12:30 performance.

After 30 minutes of meeting and greeting, the time came to reset and return to the dressing rooms. I, for one, was a little sad to leave the kids. If nothing else, it affirmed to me that the kids both understand what we're doing and appreciate and enjoy it. Theatreworks keeps a strong separation between audience and cast, which is good, because it maintains the sense that this is a professional production and not some sort of "assembly" or "kiddie show." However, breaking that fourth wall and meeting the kids, particularly while still in costume, reminds me of the impact we are having. That sense of trepidation before meeting us that some of the younger ones display seems indicative to me that what we do onstage is extraordinarily real for them. Which is quite cool

We reset, prepped, and got ready for our 12:30 show. Which, of course, went off without a hitch. Yet, for me, I think I was a little more enthused on that stage than I have been in a few weeks. Getting a little thrown during a show is good for the brain, and I was feeling pumped to give these kids the show their predecessors never received. After weeks and weeks of shows, it's nice to have a reminder of why we do what we do. Even if it requires a city-wide power outage on your stage manager's birthday to do it.

Call tomorrow: 7:30am, Holiday Inn in Baltimore.

Kid Quote of the Day: When the Duck yells "Duck!" and the cows hit the ground, one little boy leaned over to Alaina and informed her that "the duck killed the cows."

Colleen Tractor Quote of the Day: (Remember our proximity to Washington DC) "Ethan Marc Angelica!! Our forefathers would be very disappointed in you. George Washington never told a lie, and he always put away his tractor."