Well, dear readers, preview one is done and it was fun. Rhymes have we. We only had about twelve people, which is pretty standard for first previews at the Group Rep. All the people who always say money is tight to attend during the run, always seem to have an excuse when you do a freebie preview. It’s amazing how that works. Anyway, they were a nice group, vocal, and having people there was a learning experience. For example, I had no idea if the scenes themselves would get applause, but every one of them did, so we’ll adjust for that should that be a nightly thing. The opening monologue worked really well but the first scene had a bit of a rough start because the actors are trying to feel the rhythm and where the laughs are going to come. They’ll smooth that out – it’s always been fine prior to this. A couple of scenes started with low energy, so I gave those kinds of notes. But I know the cast was energized having the audience. Two of my actors came in sick. From day one, I told everyone they had to be proactive, and if co-workers stupidly came in sick, which was the case in one instance, and were unmasked, then wear a mask. They both got through the show fine and hopefully they’re not going to get worse. We’ll be monitoring them today. All the musical numbers got good reaction. Sound issues are not completely gone, but our gal is learning how to deal with them very quickly, which is good. We were told everything had been fixed – the problem is the designer is fixing them without the actors there, so he can’t hear what it sounds like – kind of in the blind, as it were. Anyway, my ducky little dictum is the most egregious of them must be fixed by tonight. We added six minutes to the run time, mostly with pauses that should go away. But part of the added time are laughs and applause. Pacing was mostly fine. So, it’s just tiny things now, but last night was the final time I’m giving company notes. Anything from here on in, I’ll just talk to individual actors if anything seems awry. All the quick changes worked well, too. So, we’re getting better every time we do it, and that’s really the trick. Prior to that, I got about nine hours of sleep, got up, was happy to find Social Security had hit the bank, but disastrously, no modern major miracle. Still praying one will come and sooner than later before my stress level does me in. I had to do a quick bank run and then come right back home. I had mac and cheese from Marmalade – it wasn’t quite as good as it sometimes is, but it was 30% off and instead of 23 bucks it was 13. Then I wrote a few new pages (there weren’t really enough to futz and finesse yet), took a break, and then it was time to mosey on over to the theater. I came right home after the show and ordered some clam chowder and a tiny wedge salad so I can take my third pill. And here we are.

Today, I’ll try to be up by ten, I’ll futz and finesse, I’ll write new pages, as many as I can, I’ll shave and shower, write more pages, and then we have our second preview. Hopefully, we’ll have a larger crowd.

Tomorrow is our opening night, and my day will be filled with writing cast and crew notes, new pages for the book, but just relaxing. I’ll dress nicely, get to the theater around six-thirty, and then we open. There’s a partay after in the green room. We’re currently over sixty, audience-wise, but I’m still hoping we get at least another twenty. Saturday is light, but hopefully that will change, and Sunday is half full at this point, and hopefully THAT will change.

Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must, for example, try to be up by ten, futz and finesse, write new pages, shave and shower, write more pages, have our second preview, and then come home. Today’s topic of discussion: It’s amusing to me how certain types of salads are popular for quite some time and then we never hear about them again, as new salads become popular until we never hear of them again, and then suddenly the old salads make a comeback. The most obvious example being spinach salad. In the 70s and 80s you could not find any restaurant that didn’t serve spinach salad – I had it many times. Then it suddenly disappeared everywhere. New salads with grapefruit or candied walnuts, or seeds and other weirdo items made their appearance and became popular. Another disappearing salad, this one was gone by the late 1960s was the wedge. Well, that’s one of the most popular salads there is today. And after all that complaining about iceberg lettuce, too. Caesar salads have always been popular, but not CREAMY Caesar dressing. Cobb salads kind of replaced Chef’s Salads, although you can still find the latter, and seafood salads like shrimp and crab Louis aren’t making many appearances these days. That was long-winded but – what salads do you wish would make a comeback, which of today’s salads do you love most, and which could you do without? Let’s have loads of lovely postings, shall we, whilst I hit the road to dreamland, happy we’re past preview one.