Donna Lucia's first week out

February 22, 2000

What a truly exciting time! Opening night was great, good house, things were looking great. Friday night we had about the same size crowd and thought we were cooking, had everything in hand, settle back, relax, enjoy...WRONG!

Every performance is like starting over again. We need to generate same energy every single time. We didn't do that and it showed in the beginning. The audience was totally different, they laughed at different things, in the beginning they didn't even laugh at all! Why? It was a snoozer! We all panicked back stage. We had assumed everything would go as well as the night before without having to get ourselves all psyched up. We had been extremely laid back up in the dressing room. No electricity sparking, just calm and cool. Well, that sure changed after the first fifteen minutes and we heard a dead performance and house out there. Talk about an instant energizer...panic! We very quickly got ourselves nervous, excited, and totally jazzed--panic will do that to you. Every person who went out after that was giving more then they ever gave before. The result: By the end of the first act, things were flying. The audience was howling at even the littlest joke.

By the time Ella and I made our entrance we were so excited we were actually shaking. I heard someone say and I stepped on stage, "uh oh, there's the real Aunt!" Yep, that's all I needed! It really means a lot, setting the scene and helping one's mood.

Perhaps that was part of the problem in the beginning. In the opening scene, Jack walks on stage in a darkened theatre and finds his spot, before the lights come up. Just as he had reached the desk in the dark, some yo-yo called out, "Hope you don't kick it." That's pretty devastating stuff.

Our performance was great. I was having an absolute blast and it showed. People even came back the next night they were so excited. Saturday night was a sellout. They even brought out a couple of extra chairs for people they didn't want to turn away. We took nothing for granted that night and had a great time getting ourselves all psyched up in while dressing. Result: a standing ovation. To quote Jack a.k.a. Patrick "We have a show!"

The difficult thing is to come down after generating all that excitement. I wasn't going to bed until 1a.m., and one time even 3a.m. How could I? I was having the time of my life. We have a few days to rest now. What a Celt I am? I'm already dreading the letdown after the last show! Concentrate on now...we have one more glorious week to go. And I want to enjoy every bit of it.

Yours repairing her props,
Suzanne & Cassis (Now I get her all to myself!)

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