Tonight will be our last performance of Black Coffee. After the show, we collect all the costumes, take down the set, clean up, and leave the space ready to be decorated for the next production.
It's actually a bit more complicated than that. First, we have to figure out what belongs to whom. The first thing is always for everyone to grab their own stuff and put it in their cars. There are always some things left, and everyone has to go through them. Things that belong to the theater have to be put away WHERE THEY BELONG! It's always so tempting to just chuck everything into the prop room, costume shed, or barn, but we've learned that this is a BAD IDEA.
The director of the next show will be there, in case she wants certain elements of the set left up for her production. My Christmas show comes after that, so I have a dog in that hunt, too.
It has been a lot of fun. Fun to work with friends, and fun to meet new actors and watch them turn into friends.
I hope the young actresses in this show will be back for "The Women." I have clothes to fit them. There will be 35 women in that cast, which approaches the record number of actors we've had on our stage. There won't be room for much in the way of set, so I can already tell it's going to be interesting. The man directing that one, Frank Benge, has a vision of amused (and amusing) cynicism, which I have always appreciated.
At the Strike for the first show I ever did, I cried. The director said, "Ronni, there's always another show!"
That's how I always feel at a Strike. A bit sad for the production that is over forever, but eagerly anticipating the next one.
Ronni, I wish I lived closer. I would have loved to have seen Black Coffee. When I lived in Illinois the little town next to ours had a Community Theater and hubby and I used to spend wonderful evenings seeing the plays, sometimes two or three times. Your "behind the scenes" commentary really is fun to read.
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