Finally Taking a Breath

Well, the play is done with.

I think we had a good run. There were a few slow nights where the crowd wasn't as responsive as you'd hope, but Friday night sold out and the audience laughed and enjoyed themselves. Saturday night was also a full house and seemed to go over rather well.

I realized, after it was all said and done, that the character I played sort of anchored the play. A fellow performer half-complained, "I think it's safe to say that Dave was the star of the show every fucking night." It's true that I got laughs at every performance, but I feel that my lines were a little easier to milk. My character was the most "normal" in the play. Sort of the voice of reason in many situations. And I think that having a character to identify with makes the audience feel safe. Especially in a jungle play with a race of cat-people, a "living waterfall of beautiful girls", a grizzled old prospector out of the Old West, and biblical references. It was a tad absurd, and my character provided the grounding in reality necessary for an audience to take the trip.

I've never been good at analyzing things, and I certainly never drew these conclusions beforehand. But I picked up on it as the performances went on. It's interesting how an audience's reaction makes you look at scenes differently. That's one thing I learned in improv. That the audience will lead the scene. As a performer, you've got to let them. I delievered some of my lines differently each night. Depending on the audience's laughter I either amped it up or reigned it in. I certainly let some scenes drag on if I was getting laughs. C'mon, I'm a big ham.

As much as it drove me nuts rehearsing this thing for the last four months, it was well worth it when we finally got up in front of a paying audience and delievered our goods. I had a good time and enjoyed working with my fellow performers. And yes, as much as I'll bitch and moan during rehearsals, I would love the opportunity to act in Simon's next play..."Witch Prison"! (If you're reading this Simon, keep me in mind as you write it. I'm down for whateva.)

And to top it all off, I went to see Martin Scorsese's new film "The Departed", and it was awesome. The performances were top-notch, it moved so fast you never got bored, the changes made from the original film were intriguing and added a whole new layer of subtext, and I am planning to see it again and again. In fact, I felt a lump in my throat when the final shot faded out and the words "A Martin Scorsese Picture" came up. I was reminded once again by the master just why I love film and why I've been making films and videos for the last 18 years.

As my character in the play would say, "Hoorah!"