Done it again. Weeks 8 - 9.

We did it! We opened all the shows! Which is why I'm combining weeks 8 and 9 in my Playmill Chronicles. It's been NUTS. Between rehearsals, the Playmill reunion, and double shows starting, life has been pretty hectic. Today, we had the opportunity to sleep until 10 am, and I thought to myself, "That's not long enough."  I'm grateful I'm in the box office tonight--I get a break! These cast members who are in all three shows are CHAMPS.

But with the hectic-ness come lots of highlights! Here are the beautiful memories from the last two weeks:

Jerry and my husband wrestling in the theatre after a show. Jerry's so big, and an ex-marine, and an ex-martial arts teacher. And Jacob's so small and...giggly. It was so much fun to watch.

Heidi's birthday!!!
We spent the morning putting up posters in Bozeman, and then we all met at the Bozeman Hot Springs for swimming. A handful of us started playing water volleyball, which was less actual volleyball and more just volleying. We tried to get as many volleys as we could, and it took us at least and hour to break 100. BUT WE DID IT. (We would have done it sooner, but we got to 99, and Joe frickin' Galati volleyed the ball way the heck out to the middle of the pool ON PURPOSE, and then we all tackled him.) Dinner at Johnny Carino's afterwards was awesome, and then I drove home with Anya, who plays Millie in our cast. I think that drive was just what both of us needed. We had a great talk during the 2-hour drive, about everything from theatre to relationships. She's an awesome person and I'm so honored to call her my friend.

When someone straight up smoked weed in the men’s bathroom during intermission of the 8:30 Fiddler show. One of the boys walked in and was OVERWHELMED by the smell. I thought everyone was exaggerating, but then I walked in just to see, and yeah, that was weed. (Expensive weed, according to the converts in our cast.)

During "Fiddler on the Roof," when my husband accidentally entered early and showed up in the aisle while Eliza sang the line, "I'll bring the groom, slender and pale." Jacob plays the 102-year-old Rabbi.

A woman in the audience rolling up her program and swatting Tanner with it during the wolf chase scene in "Beauty and the Beast."

How Jacob Squire and I have ganged up on Amanda on some Beauty nights. (So far, it's actually only been 1 Beauty night, but it's Beauty right now and anything can happen.) She's dressed as a wardrobe, and can't do much to defend herself. Which is simultaneously real mean and real fun.

How Taylor and I had a whole night of awkward hand grabbing. I don't even know how it started or why it happened.

That time I was doing Squire's wig while sitting in Section C and the light above our heads shorted out and sparks rained down on us.

Rehearsal for Seven Brides when errrrbody was naked. Not TOTALLY naked, but there are a lot of quick changes backstage, and there is that "Going Courtin" scene where all the boys are just wearing blankets. I kept walking backstage and finding half-undressed people. Oh well. There are no boundaries in theatre.

Horseback riding again on Sunday! This time I went with Jacob S, Sydney, Stacey, Amanda, and Jerry. I rode the same horse as last time, but on a different trail. I really really really love horseback riding. My knees don't love it, but I sure do.

The face-swipe game. It kind of started with Jacob S and I before the dream song in "Fiddler," because I have cheesecloth on my face and can't see, so he started just swiping my face from brow to chin. But it kind of escalated to involving the rest of the cast. Okay, so really it was Jacob S, Jerry and I attacking everyone else. And each other. I'm sure we're starting to annoy people, but it's such a fun game.

Jacob S's "tassel dance" when he's wearing the buckskin costume in Seven Brides. I can't really describe the dance, but he's got fringe/tassels all along the arms, chest, and legs of his costume. And sometimes he dances. 

Retroactively, when Justin fell in his Cogsworth costume during "Beauty and the Beast." This actually happened a few weeks ago, but I just heard about it recently. Dave was exiting in front of him, and all of a sudden heard a smack. Justin had fallen right down onto his face. But the thing is he's dressed like a CLOCK. So once he's down, he can't get back up without help. Unfortunately, the one person (Dave) close by who could help him was dressed like a candelabra, complete with candles for hands, so he couldn't help. So Dave said he just heard "Smack.....scrraaaape....smack....scrrraaaaaape...." as Justin used his arms to haul himself offstage. Like a turtle. As soon as he was through the curtains, he reached his arms up and was rescued. We knew it had to happen at some point during the summer.

Speaking of falling, Sydney fell during "Human Again." It was awesome.

When I retrieved a box of water bottles from the attic crawl space. I know that sounds simple, but it was during a show and I was wearing heels and a long skirt and not carrying a flashlight and I haven't been up there in six years. During "Seven Brides," Jake asked me if I could get a box of water bottles, and I said, "Sure." As soon as I got upstairs, I realized it might be difficult, so I straight up tucked my long skirt into my "spankies" (spandex boy shorts that are necessary for all summer stock theatre*). But let me explain something about the attic crawl space. It's RIGHT above the stage, with two holes centerstage to be used for entrances and exits of people and scenery. But most of the ceiling above the stage is just sheet rock, so you can only walk on the board that goes down the center, or you'll fall through the ceiling. The board is about a foot wide? Maybe less? This is what it looks like...that board down the middle is the only place you can walk. Those beams cross at about four feet above the board, so you have to crouch.

Anyway, the water bottles were down at the END of the attic crawl space, so I walked, ducking and holding onto beams for balance, in almost total darkness, while the show went on below me. AND I WAS WEARING HEELS. When I finally got to the water bottles, I heaved a sigh of relief. Then I realized I had to go back. Carrying a 3-foot wide, 3-foot tall, 3-foot long cardboard box. I think it took me about five minutes to make it back, but I did it. The task really isn't that crazy under normal circumstances, but in heels, in the dark, during a show, with a long skirt tucked into spankies, it's a different story.

The "show" that Jerry and Jacob S did during "Seven Brides" backstage. I was sitting in one of the stalls (set storage under the seats in the back hallway), with the curtains open just a tiny bit. I can't remember which one of them walked by, or how the show started, but one of them did something in that space between the curtains, then gestured to the side and said, "Everything I learned, I learned from this man." Then the other one appeared in the space behind the curtain and took a bow. Then he gestured to the side and said, "And I have this man to thank." Then the other would appear. Etc. There was also a bit with some running.

Aaaand as per tradition, there was one trip to the emergency room before all three shows are open. Technically, it was right before the 8:30 show of "Seven Brides," but it was still opening night. Our stage manager, Stacey, and Mason ran into each other at a backstage curtain, and his forehead hit her nose at high speed. She flew backwards, laughing, and then realized she was bleeding. Roger took her to the bathroom to clean her up, and at one point, asked her to take the paper towel off her face so he could assess the damage. He didn't tell her at the time, but the second she removed the paper towel, a steady stream of blood SHOT from the cut at the top of her nose. But Roger calmly said, "Okay, just put pressure back on it." Luckily, one of the past Playmill cast members in the audience is now a doctor, so we called him in to take a look. The good Dr. Hammar said it probably wasn't broken, but would maybe need a stitch or two. So one stitch and a bit of glue later, Stacey is ship shape. She's not even bruised. She just happened to cut her nose open RIGHT at a vein.

And of course, the Playmill Reunion. But that deserves its own special post.

So here's to ALL THREE SHOWS BEING OPEN! Time to sleep in, play during the day (and occasionally work box office), and do double shows each night!

* Sometime, I should do a blog post about the items necessary for summer stock theatre. Or a long run of any show.

Addendum, 9:09 pm: I wrote this entry during the 6:00 show, and shortly before hitting "publish" on it, I was notified that Mason (the one who also cut his head open on Stacey's face yesterday) took a knee to the temple so hard that he might have a concussion. His nose started bleeding from the knock to his head, and he was laughing about it with Jerry in the bathroom when he suddenly threw up in the sink. When I walked into concessions, Dr. Hammar (thank goodness for that Playmill reunion, right?) was checking his eyes with a flashlight and talking to him. And yep, he's got a concussion. Two blows to the head in 24 hours will do that to ya. The doc said he'll be all right, but he's kind of in shock right now, so he's taking it easy this show. In fact, a few minutes ago, he was slumped against the wall in the boys' dressing room, laughing hysterically to himself. Right now, he's kind of halfway between "tipsy" and "just got home from the dentist."  He just suggested that Gaston "kick him in the nards" during a song instead of punching him, and when we said no, he said, "Fine, I'll just pretend you kicked me in the nards anyway."