"Annie" Opening Weekend

Well, we're open! Small houses so far, but things seem OK. Last night, Miss Hannigan's necklace broke at the very end of "Little Girls," and beads rolled all over the stage. Since the mansion scene was next, with the servants making last-minute preparations for Daddy Warbuck's arrival, it seemed only natural to have the mansion staff chasing beads all across the stage. We managed to get most of the beads off the stage before the scene started.

In this afternoon's show, I muffed a critical line. As President Roosevelt, I inform Annie that her parents have died. Instead of the normal dialogue:

Roosevelt: "Annie, your mother and father passed away. A long time ago."
Annie: "You mean they're dead?"

there was this dialogue:

Roosevelt: "Annie, your mother and father died. A long time ago."
Annie: "You mean they're dead?"

I felt like striking my forehead with my palm and saying: "Stoopid! Stoopid! Stoopid," but of course, being out-of-character for FDR, that wouldn't have helped anything.

Well, now we have the week off. I hope everyone has a happy, healthy, restful week, in anticipation of next weekend's performances! "Man of La Mancha" auditions are this week - starting tonight, in fact!