Two-show day ...

Day 40: Tuesday, March 28

As it turned out, the weather was dicey, so I decided to postpone my Houdini-pilgrimage to Wednesday, when the weather promised to be better.

The day kind of began early in the morning (around 3:00 am). I was getting ready to go to sleep when I heard a series of blood-curdling screams. Not just jokey screams, either; like horror-movie screams. I hesitated a moment, since I wasn’t sure where they were coming from (it seemed to be further east on 11^th, somewhere between Avenue B and C, but (having recently seen a documentary about the Kitty Genovese case) decided I should so what I could. I went over to the window, raised it high enough that I was able to stick my head out, then listened. The screams continued, and I noticed two guys down on the corner stop in their tracks and look back, trying to figure out what the hell was going on. I called 911 and got a very bored dispatcher. I tried to describe the situation and the location as best I could, but really got no response from the other end. (And, in fairness, the whole thing was pretty vague.) The screams stopped while I was on the phone, and I never heard a siren, so I have no idea if they came at all or what had actually happened. It’s not like I could canvas the block to find out …

Because it was crummy out, I mainly stayed in. I’d been alerted that the print version of our review was coming out on Tuesday, so I wanted to be sure to get some extra copies of the paper. I ventured down to 7-11 (their income is going to take a hit once I leave … ), bought four copies, then went across the street to Tompkins Square Bagels, which has suddenly become a hangout for me. I have to admit I love sitting in the window and watching things goes by. There was a small problem in that, I got there so late that school kids were already getting out, and they clogged the sidewalks and storefronts, as they do.

 Ocular proof

When I was here last week, there was a delivery truck across the street, so I was unable to see the mural that had been painted on the grating of the restaurant to which the delivery was being made. Today, though, I saw it in all its splendor: a rainbow-tinged image of Fred Astaire dancing in (I’m pretty sure) You Were Never Lovelier. I’ve often expressed my opinion that seeing Astaire dance is not only one of my favorite things in the world, but is a sure lightener of any mood, so it was a treat to see. That treat was only increased by seeing a group of young (tourist?) women stop and take their photos in front of it. I have no idea if they knew who it was (based on my experiences with my students last semester, I doubt it), but I was gratified to see it.

 Fred!

By late afternoon, the weather had cleared enough for me to walk to the theatre, a trip which was mostly uneventful. I think the most exciting thing was stopping in a bodega to buy an iced tea. Normally, I’d have stopped at Starbucks, but I had no idea if I’d finish it in time for the show, and I had to get home quickly after the show (more on that in a moment … ).

I was curious as to whether the Times review would boost our houses, and it seemed to have done that night. It was almost full, although a number of people were wearing badges around their necks, so I assume it was some kind of a group. The reaction was pretty good (one danger about having a large group from the same organization is that they all tend to react the same; either they’ll all laugh or none of them will), and the show was pretty good, we felt. We did get an email afterward, though, about not getting away from the stuff we’d worked on in rehearsal here, and to try to get back to the punctuation and other acting values we’d established after San Francisco.

Fortunately, I didn’t have anyone come to the show, since I had to rush home and be part of the first reading for my next show, Mother Night (an adaptation of the novel by Kurt Vonnegut). I knew we were planning on doing the reading starting at 10:00 pm (7:00 in San Francisco, of course), but I had been given no indication of how I was going to participate; whether it was going to be Skype, FaceTime, a Google Hangout, or just a phone call. The show came down about 9:00 and I still had no indication, but I did have an email from the stage manager wanting to confirm that I’d be there—and that the new start time was 9:30. Well, since there was no way I could make it back by then, this was going to be a problem. (As it turned out, things got delayed anyway, so there was no trouble.)

I hopped on the subway, stopped off to get some pizza (which I was sure to show off once I was connected visually), and made my way to my bedroom to figure out how I was going to participate. We eventually decided to FaceTime, so I was holding my phone at an awkward angle, trying to hear and be heard. It was not the most optimal of situations, especially given that (as it tends to at our apartment), the wifi went temporarily kaput, and I was disconnected, I eventually got back online, but we decided to do the rest of the reading on the phone, so I plugged in my earbuds and basically listened to a radio play, awkwardly shouting into the mic when it was my line. It was not the best of circumstances, but we all got through it.

Since we finished so late (after 1:00 my time), there wasn’t much to do but go to bed. We talked a little about the review and its uncertain effect on future houses, then I watched Supergirl and turned in.