The morning after

Day 24: Saturday, March 11

I've realized that I'm now more than halfway through this journey, even though it seems like I just got here -- and we've only just opened.

Saturday was cold again, so I decided to take the subway up to 59^th. I arrived at the theatre, unpacked my gift baskets, and settled into the pre-show ritual of phone-checking, script-perusal, chatting, and scene-running.

The matinee went well enough; we were in and out of things (a little moreso than usual; Brendan described it as like “a Tuesday show after a break”), but it wasn’t bad, by any means. The audience was more quiet than usual, but it was a matinee. The biggest problem with Saturdays is going to be the break between shows. As I mentioned, I don’t like to eat before a show, and can’t drink a lot. Even though the break between shows is four hours (we come down about 4:00 and our call for the evening isn’t until 8:00 for an 8:30 performance), it’s really not enough time to come back home downtown.

The solution for this Saturday was just to kill time. I decided to get caught up on episodes of Supergirl and Brendan decided to watch something else. I was on the couch for a while, and Brendan, after trying some sitting, dragged the Equity cot out of the bathroom and set it up so he could be more comfortable.

After a little while, I realized I didn’t want to use up a lot of data minutes on streaming TV, so I decided to use the wifi in the theatre. I told Brendan he could have the couch, but (despite looking as uncomfortable as I’ve ever seen anyone) he said he’d stay on the cot. He must have been comfortable, though, because when I came back (after lying on the floor of our darkened theatre for a couple of hours; there was nowhere else to be), he was still there.
Our call finally came for the evening show, which I thought went well. There were the usual moments of “what was that?,” but nothing that would have been noticeable to anyone else. I did learn a lesson from it, though; about not anticipating my next cue or action and just relaxing, letting things, happen, and not Acting. That was stuff I was going to try to put in place on Sunday.

After the show, I felt a little pent up from not working and having been in the theatre all day, so I decided to walk home—or, at least, go as far as I could. It was a cold night, but I figured it was only an hour or so. I made it as far as 28^th. I could have made it all the way, but I didn’t want the cold to affect my voice, since we had a Sunday matinee, so I decided the subway was the better part of valor.

From there, it was home and so to bed.