September 6, 2008

Jason and I hung the show at the Pump Gallery in the morning. I think it looks good, and I expected it to look bad, so one hurdle is past already. One of the weighty plywood paintings fell, chipping the surface, so sometime this morning I have repair work to do. Jason treated me to lunch downtown afterwards. It was funny to see us together, him all math and calculations and making sure the numbers lined up, me longing just to take a good guess and pound in a nail. The Pump has never seen anything like "Night," and I can say that with a free heart.

Setting up the show was exactly what my cellulitis didn’t need, so I slept all afternoon, and woke in time to soak in a hot tub and then go to the theater. By the time I was actually onstrage, I was feeling much better, and I think my performance was better than adequate. I felt energized. I had a good time. There was an odd feel to the show in general, though–maybe it was just the small size of the audience, but it all felt thin, somehow, as though some spiritual water had diluted us, or there weren’t enough people to fill all the parts. I think that the backstage is simply less turbulent than it was for AYLI, and that made it seem underpopulated. It is a better production than AYLI, and fewer people will see it, and that is one of the inevitabilities of the stage.

The opening, again:
What if nobody shows up?
What if people show up, and hate it?
What if nobody shows up?
What if people show up and talk about how nice the food is and what a fascinating building?
What if I get brainlock after the first hour?
What if nobody shows up?
What if there’s a street fight outside and everybody leaves to watch it?
What if nobody shows up?
What if nobody buys anything?
What if nobody shows up?