Are You Ready for a Rant?

Stacey, cover your eyes. Today, I am supremely pissed off.

Sorry for the language. Come back, Stacey. Stacey?

We opened "Arsenic and Old Lace" on Friday. All was well, until that bit of Act III when Ben Irene and I had quite a long break. I used that break to peruse the program, which I had not had time to do in any detail. About all I had done was check to make sure they spelled my name right. So, anyway, I had this break, see, and read the President's Letter. No, not that president--the president of the Sam Bass Theater, who has a major role (Teddy) in "Arsenic." He had written a very nice letter; long, but nice. However, I stopped reading when I discovered that the scholarship named after my deceased inlaws was referred to as the "Paul and Adele Prior Scholarship."

I have no idea who "Adele Prior" is, or was, but she was not my mother-in-law, and ADDY might be a tad PO'd with Paul for having another wife.

The prez has known Adelaide Prior for years. We had a discussion a month or so ago about how to spell "Addy," in relation to the "Friends of the Theater" plaque that helps us recall deceased members. Yes, the one that still does not display her name, three years after her death.

Am I totally out of line to think that the person who devoted enough hours to add up to years building sets, lent her antiques and collectibles for set dressing, ran hospitality committees, held parties, ran the box office, and contributed thousands of dollars over the years, including a bequest in her Will, deserves to be mentioned by her correct name?

So, during this still-ongoing break, I was grumbling to Ben Irene, who was good friends with Addy, about this corruption of her name, when Prez came around the corner and asked me-- ASKED ME, mind you--what I was talking about. So, I told him. I was keeping it light...the kind of snarky humour Prez usually appreciates--Heaven knows, he dishes enough of it. I can't remember what all I said, but I do remember that part of it was, "Addy is going to come back and haunt you for that!"

Well, right about then, it was time for his entrance, so he threw some snide comment over his shoulder and stepped through the door.

I thought, "Uh oh! I'll probably have to apologize for that one,"--it's never good to say something negative to an actor right before he makes an entrance. I figured I'd catch him later, at the Gala, with a glass of champagne in either hand, and eat crow like a good girl.

Well, by the time we had taken bows, shaken hands with patrons, changed out of costume and got to the champagne, somebody mentioned that Prez had left in a huff, and did anyone know why? I thought, "Boy! He must be really PO'd!" I still wasn't worried. It's just a little thing, right?

Right.

Saturday night, I walked in behind the theater, and he was sitting on the back deck. As soon as he saw me, he got up and stomped into the side stage, slamming the door. There was an actress sitting on the deck, who asked me what was up, so I told her I thought I must have hurt his feelings. A little later, I could hear that he and the director were alone on the stage, talking. I thought that might be the opportunity I needed for the aforementioned crow-munching, so I stepped out there and called his name. He stomped off again, through a curtain back into the side stage.

"I don't want to talk to you," he said.

"Not even if it includes an apology?" I asked.

"That isn't going to cut it, Ronni," was his response.

The director mentioned, at Circle, that she was aware there was trouble between some cast members, and asked that it be kept out of the theater and out of the show. Prez avoided me for the rest of the evening, except when we were on stage, going through the motions.

At today's Matinee, I got the Silent Treatment, in Spades.

I decided to speak with the director. She, understandably, does not want to get in the middle, so the first thing I asked her was "How can I fix this?" She paused, and said she wasn't sure I could. I'm going to have to think about that for awhile, because the pause means something. I asked if she had any idea what I had done, from Prez's point of view, and she said that what he had told her was that I was trying to "sabotage" his performance.

This is a man I have known and worked with for about ten years. I've acted for him, costumed for him, acted with him, and never been anything less than a friend to him. I have recognized and acknowledged his brilliance in directing, acting, and design of set, sound, and music. I have never said or done anything negative to this man.

Ben Irene, as you know if you have been reading here for more than a month, has had TIAs recently, which makes her health somewhat precarious. There may be a chance that she will retire from theater after this. (To be fair, any show could be the last show for any of us, life being what it is.) Suffice it to say that playing Martha to Ben Irene's Abby is a dream come true for me. Having loved these characters since I first saw the movie 40-something years ago, I was looking forward to this show as being one of my best theater experiences ever.

Prez has killed that, stone cold dead.

Thanks, Prez. I owe ya one!