All good things

From Eric Hale:

Today was our last performance. After all the weeks and all the work, it doesn’t seem real.

Once again, we were called to the theater about 2 hours before the show. People were a little slower to arrive this time. The general atmosphere in the dressing room area seems more relaxed and cheerier that on Friday. Maybe it was the good review. Maybe it was getting some rest. Don’t know, but I was sure in a great mood.

I have to say again, we were very lucky to have had the N&O review come out on Saturday, and even more lucky to have had it appear in the paper Sunday morning. That is a very rare thing when the run is as short as ours.

The preshow preparations were much like those I described for opening night, with putting on makeup, getting in costume, double checking parts of the score, hallway chatter and warm-ups.

Then it was show time, and it felt great. The crowd was large and enthusiastic – not at all the stereotypical sleepy matinee audience. Things felt tighter even than on opening night. It was a great way to finish, and it was over all too soon.

After the show, people cleared out pretty quickly. Many headed to the cast party at the house of Rollin and Jan Glaser. They generously provided the cast and crew with food and champagne. We partied for several hours, then we went our separate ways. I headed home, tired and happy, but also a bit blue. It’s all over so quickly. I shall miss this show a lot.