Giving Up the Ghost
WELL i finally got my log in problem solved...
This time last year i had given my final SHU bow and was taking my final set of finals...wow how fast time goes. Who knew what the year would hold, but it has been nice. Lots of Shows:Robin Hood, Carousel, The Guys, Sleeping Beauty, David's Heart, Snoopy, Trials, Take Me Out, Birdie. Lots of good times with friends at the FYT, The Cros, The 213rd, ABC, The Torch, NYC, various other places include piratey tables, just to name a few places. Sitting on the roof of FYT today i was thinking that besides the living at home again thing i am happy with where i am. I like me jobs, have good friends and am close to family. This is a good place to be right now. A few of you were at the party my parents gave me at the stables last year this is what i read that night and i figured at this time of year it would be appropriate to share...FYT and LF kids if you read this you will find it appropriate as well....so here goes...Enjoy these last couple of weeks seniors, do everythign you can from APO lock in to torch night to graduation and everything in between. Some of you were at the party my parents gave me last year this is what i read i thought it would be nice to share now. Congrats Grads!
Giving Up the Ghost
By Lou Korty
There’s nothing quite as dark as a blacked out stage. Stand for five minutes center stage, alone, and the darkness and silence can spook you. They say every theatre has a ghost, and I believe it. Standing there, you can’t help hearing voices after a time. I hear them anyway.
I hear the director, pleading, prompting, and finally praising-the smile, the nod, those words. “Perfect! Keep it, Keep it!” I hear the nagging costume mistress and the tech boys setting up. I remember the laughter in the dressing room, those green room talks before shows, and oh, everyone was there. Week one and everybody was finally working as one, a production team.
We’re in for make-up and it’s noisy, hectic, fun. The set is ready, and props are stage left. There are calls from the box office and projections booth. The blue lights are on, and I trace the excited whispers to the pale faced student director. “This is it, break a leg!”
I know the sound of the curtain being pulled. I know the hum and heat of the lights. I know the heavy air of somber tension backstage. Standing here, alone on the darkened stage, I can hear the speech of countless characters echoing through the house-actors and actresses belting out lines, going through their fits of passion and folly. I can hear applause in the empty house and laughter from these empty seats.
I have been here many times, after set work was done for the day, long after rehearsals concluded. I know where the saber saw goes and what the dutchman is. I know that publicity is the key, and the ticket manager can make or break a show. An actor sometimes gets hoarse before he gets heard, and everybody gets tired before getting good. I’ve made my way from prop room to green room to stage, and I can tell it’s like nothing else you can ever experience.
I’ve seen the sweaty faces of actors after their exits; I’ve seen their relief and their pride. I’ve listened to their shouts of joy and triumph after the final curtain. I’ve seen them cry. I’ve watched the stage manager with his crew, and I’ve seen the set master’s beat-up hands. I’ve pushed through the crowd of people backstage, after a show, to find the director in the prop room by himself.
I like the smell of greasepaint on my face. I like to see a crew striving to meet a deadline. I’ve stayed until the last light has gone out, and I like to listen for the ghost. Most of all, I like having been a part of all this, because I know the ghost doesn’t speak to everyone.
And when the last show of the last production is over, and everyone has gone home, it makes me feel (like right now) as if I have just lost my best friend. It makes me feel how beautiful things could be, if life were only one long production in which we were all consummately involved.
This time last year i had given my final SHU bow and was taking my final set of finals...wow how fast time goes. Who knew what the year would hold, but it has been nice. Lots of Shows:Robin Hood, Carousel, The Guys, Sleeping Beauty, David's Heart, Snoopy, Trials, Take Me Out, Birdie. Lots of good times with friends at the FYT, The Cros, The 213rd, ABC, The Torch, NYC, various other places include piratey tables, just to name a few places. Sitting on the roof of FYT today i was thinking that besides the living at home again thing i am happy with where i am. I like me jobs, have good friends and am close to family. This is a good place to be right now. A few of you were at the party my parents gave me at the stables last year this is what i read that night and i figured at this time of year it would be appropriate to share...FYT and LF kids if you read this you will find it appropriate as well....so here goes...Enjoy these last couple of weeks seniors, do everythign you can from APO lock in to torch night to graduation and everything in between. Some of you were at the party my parents gave me last year this is what i read i thought it would be nice to share now. Congrats Grads!
Giving Up the Ghost
By Lou Korty
There’s nothing quite as dark as a blacked out stage. Stand for five minutes center stage, alone, and the darkness and silence can spook you. They say every theatre has a ghost, and I believe it. Standing there, you can’t help hearing voices after a time. I hear them anyway.
I hear the director, pleading, prompting, and finally praising-the smile, the nod, those words. “Perfect! Keep it, Keep it!” I hear the nagging costume mistress and the tech boys setting up. I remember the laughter in the dressing room, those green room talks before shows, and oh, everyone was there. Week one and everybody was finally working as one, a production team.
We’re in for make-up and it’s noisy, hectic, fun. The set is ready, and props are stage left. There are calls from the box office and projections booth. The blue lights are on, and I trace the excited whispers to the pale faced student director. “This is it, break a leg!”
I know the sound of the curtain being pulled. I know the hum and heat of the lights. I know the heavy air of somber tension backstage. Standing here, alone on the darkened stage, I can hear the speech of countless characters echoing through the house-actors and actresses belting out lines, going through their fits of passion and folly. I can hear applause in the empty house and laughter from these empty seats.
I have been here many times, after set work was done for the day, long after rehearsals concluded. I know where the saber saw goes and what the dutchman is. I know that publicity is the key, and the ticket manager can make or break a show. An actor sometimes gets hoarse before he gets heard, and everybody gets tired before getting good. I’ve made my way from prop room to green room to stage, and I can tell it’s like nothing else you can ever experience.
I’ve seen the sweaty faces of actors after their exits; I’ve seen their relief and their pride. I’ve listened to their shouts of joy and triumph after the final curtain. I’ve seen them cry. I’ve watched the stage manager with his crew, and I’ve seen the set master’s beat-up hands. I’ve pushed through the crowd of people backstage, after a show, to find the director in the prop room by himself.
I like the smell of greasepaint on my face. I like to see a crew striving to meet a deadline. I’ve stayed until the last light has gone out, and I like to listen for the ghost. Most of all, I like having been a part of all this, because I know the ghost doesn’t speak to everyone.
And when the last show of the last production is over, and everyone has gone home, it makes me feel (like right now) as if I have just lost my best friend. It makes me feel how beautiful things could be, if life were only one long production in which we were all consummately involved.