A Good End to a Fabulous Adventure...

Nine closed last night to another Sold Out house.  I watched it for the 5th time during the 10 show run (7 times including Previews) more than any other show I have directed outside the ones I also wrote.  I think I could have watched it even more if I had had the time to do so. One of the things which made that possible was the absolute commitment to being present from the entire cast. Last night I held my breath with the rest of the audience and laughed as though I were seeing things for the first time.  It was a wonderful show.

We followed the run with a final performance of A Call From the Vatican which Cory requested because he had never seen it (his preference - he wanted to rely on his imagination through the number during the run). It was great fun to sit next to Cory as he reacted to Erika's brilliant interpretation of the number.  I think what she did was even more than he imagined! It was a wonderful way to see the number through new eyes!

Then we struck the set, cleaned the theatre, partied and said our goodbyes.   I would have stayed later (I finally left at 3:30 a.m.) but I had a family reunion to attend today in Pine Lake! I look forward to working with so many of the cast and team again in the future and if I don't get to do that, I hope to see their work on other stages.  I shall be their loudest cheerleader.

A good ending to one of the best theatre experiences I have ever had.

Enjoying the Kudos...

We are halfway through the run of Nine and it has been a blessed experience.  This gang is such a good group to work with, not just the cast, but the crew and the Production Team - everyone is lovely.  There are a few who verge on crazy, but it's a good spirited crazy and it makes for more fun.  I am enjoying the kudos.  I have gotten quite a few emails and messages from people about how much they like the show.  Some of them complete strangers! It is gratifying to know that you are putting something out there that people respond to.  I don't want to have people leave thinking they didn't get what they deserved as an audience member.

The reviews we have received have been extremely ego flattering - there's one in the St. Albert Gazette and one on Sound and Noise online.  I expect we will have one in Vue Weekly sometime this week and the Journal had both a photog. at media call and media comps on Opening Night so I'm waiting to see if anything shows up there. We are doing quite well in the run - being SOLD OUT for 3 of the shows so far and fairly large houses for the remainder.  We are Sold Out tonight and it's a Tuesday, so you have to be happy about that!  Between the reviews and word of mouth we can be sure the news is good!

I know it will be a bit sad when it's over, but like Guido, I tend to live some of my time in memory so I am pretty sure I can call it all back if I need to.  For now, we shall enjoy the second half of the run and try to keep cool.  The theatre proper is Air Conditioned for the audience, but the actors are upstairs in a furnace (some of them camp out in the shop where it is cooler). I think that generous souls have brought Popsicles and other cool treats to beat the heat!

* photo of Kate Holley, Mama Maddellena in Nine, by Janine Hodder

Opening Night - Sigh...

Tonight Nine opened.  It was a fabulous night. I was so pleased with the show and the reception the fabulous audience gave it.  We were Sold Out (at least on paper - there were a couple of empty seats in the house so I guess we had a few no-shows).  I laughed and I cried and it was lovely.  The audience treated us to a standing ovation which is always so gratifying and a wonderful surprise. After the show was the traditional Opening Night Reception and it was great fun talking to my Walterdale friends and the cast and crew.  I realized that I know so many lovely, lovely people and I feel blessed. I will not be back to the theatre until Friday night for archive photos so it will feel weird tomorrow night to know they are all onstage and I am not even in the building.  They know their stuff and they do it all wonderfully, but I will miss not being there.  I came home to kudos on FB from friends and strangers.  A perfect evening.

* Nine marks #26 in my 2012 Theatre Goal

More Ups Than Downs! Yay!

Well, the cat is so much better. She was over-prescribed on the dosage for her insulin and after she spent a day with the vet getting her stabilized she is home and back to normal with a much lower dosage that seems to be working. So much better.

The show is doing well. We have had really nice full audiences (100+) for the first three nights and last night (Saturday) was SOLD OUT! Hurrah! We usually do well on the Sunday matinee so I expect to see quite a few there today. I have had a lot of my friends come and they have been very positive for the most part (I have one friend who didn't like it but she didn't like the music and I think it wasn't her kind of show - fair enough). The reviews are good and I have been blessed with being singled out in a nice way.

Right now my hair is in curlers. I wish I could nap with them in because I do not feel I got to sleep in as late as I would have liked. I am thinking of exploring a way to sleep sitting up!

A SOLD OUT Run...

Feels pretty good. I am so very happy for Walterdale and my cast and for me, because I want to share in the joy of the full houses! We ran out of hairspray so I bought more today and will take it in tonight. I am very, very glad I bought MY tickets early!

Opening Night - SOLD OUT

Those are lovely words to see when you go to the Tix on the Square Website. I know that we have quite a few comps tonight, but even with that, Opening Night usually has about 80-90 people. Sold Out means we will have 143! Yee Haw! I am excited for my cast and crew. They have had two lovely Preview audiences in which to get used to audience reactions and to work out the bugs in scene and costume changes. I look forward to seeing the show again and hope I can relax on their behalf and just enjoy! It's the kind of show that demands a big house, so let's hope tonight is not a fluke and the run does well. I promise enthusiasm and a dedicated and talented cast dressed in fabulous costumes on a gorgeous set...