Opening Night...
Last night was opening night of the very first play I've ever directed by myself, "The Diary of Anne Frank." Up until two days ago, I was petrified. The set wasn't quite finished, the actors were still dropping pages of text, and tensions were rising between three of my actors for unrelated issues outside of the production.
Then last night, it all came together. There was a technical glitch in two sound cues and one of my actors forgot a crucial lamp switch, but only I noticed these things as the director. My two virgin actors (two of the best villainous characters were played by men who have NEVER acted before) were easily the crowd favorites, and stage fright was not evident on anyone's faces.
When I first started rehearsals, I told my actors, "I want some very specific reactions from the audience during this show. Basically, when the lights come up on all of your for the curtain call, I want people to be so stunned and so far gone into tears that no one claps for a full five seconds."
Last night, it was closer to ten seconds before anyone snapped out of it enough to applaud. And then when they did, it was a standing ovation.
I FREAKIN DID IT!!!
PS I was on the radio for my show! Go to www.kska.org and look for the Programs link, then look for Stagetalk. You have to listen to the interview for another show first, but then you get to hear me sounding all s-m-r-t.
Then last night, it all came together. There was a technical glitch in two sound cues and one of my actors forgot a crucial lamp switch, but only I noticed these things as the director. My two virgin actors (two of the best villainous characters were played by men who have NEVER acted before) were easily the crowd favorites, and stage fright was not evident on anyone's faces.
When I first started rehearsals, I told my actors, "I want some very specific reactions from the audience during this show. Basically, when the lights come up on all of your for the curtain call, I want people to be so stunned and so far gone into tears that no one claps for a full five seconds."
Last night, it was closer to ten seconds before anyone snapped out of it enough to applaud. And then when they did, it was a standing ovation.
I FREAKIN DID IT!!!
PS I was on the radio for my show! Go to www.kska.org and look for the Programs link, then look for Stagetalk. You have to listen to the interview for another show first, but then you get to hear me sounding all s-m-r-t.