The Party's Over

The party's over
It's time to call it a day
They've burst your pretty balloon
And taken the moon away
It's time to wind up the masquerade
Just make your mind up now
The piper has to get paid

The party's over
The candles flicker and stir
You danced and dreamed through the night
It seemed to be right just being with her
Now you must wake up, all dreams must end
Take off your makeup, the party's over
It's all over, my friend

- Nat King Cole (as interpreted by David J.)

The long day for The Dining Room went well. Two shows - long, ehausting day (for the actors & tech folks and for me). Both shows were good. Yesterday's matinee was, with the exception of a lost line that blew an entrance cue and another line, quite good as well. Everyone gave the artistic director kudos for the quality of the show. Two folks from Youngstown came to the final show, and were very generous with their praise. Twelfth Night is really known for the summer musical and the winter production of Amahl and the Night Visitors. This was the first contemporary drama the group has staged, and the director of the center commented that it was good to finally see what we were about (and to feel like we were really a resident theatre company).

Sam's parents were up helping her brother move house, and we all went out to breakfast before the show, then they came to the matinee. It was nice for them to see the product of Samantha's work.

The cast party was at the home of one of the castmembers, whose parents have what is simply the best basement rumpus room ever. A full bar - and I mean fully stocked with everything, with a real to-scale bar and stools. Pool table. Slot machines. Bar trivia machine. Plinko. Collections of baseball cards and sports memorabilia, classic model cars and event pins line the walls along with framed vintage magazines and newspapers (like the 1962 Space Needle cover story on Life magazine). Stained glass, disco ball, spinning DJ light. Amazing. Travis walked into the room and fell to his knees in supplication. And phenominally nice people! After pool and drinks, we were served dinner upstairs in their formal dining room, and the cast, the artistic director and I enjoyed some laughter and that kind of melancholy that comes from having done a good show, but wanting to do more. The cast gave me a gift card to a restaurant - I'll take the kids.

There is talk that doing two weekends, like with Mattress, will be a possibility in the future - it costs a lot to rent the stage, even at tenant rates. But it gives the show time to generate word of mouth. The main frustration is that after six weeks of rehearsals, the actors are finally hitting their stride when the show closes. Another three shows would give them room to really shine with their characters.

Anyway, as of now it's a moot point. We struck the stage right after the matinee, and all that's left of The Dining Room is our lone brass chandelier hanging over a blank stage.

It's now pouring rain. I need to get Kayleigh to school and get a few office tasks done before I head out to an Ordinary Angels production meeting. For the next week and a half, work is Angels, then we shoot, then I'm done for the year.