"Victor/Victoria" Weekend Two

Another weekend of experience under the belt! On Saturday, both Brett and Dian complained of crushed toes, but by Sunday, Brett had forgotten about his injury, so it must not have been too serious. Dian, meanwhile, had reinjured the toe that was battered in DMTC's "Cabaret" rehearsal in August, so she remembered her injury only too well.

Saturday featured several close calls. On both Chez Lui exits, the curtain snagged the stool placed on top of the bar. The first time, the stool fell, along with the cups o' gel, but both cups landed upright (!), so there was no gooey mess to confuse matters. The second time, the stool turned sideways, and almost brought the teacup down with it, but Marcy helped steady it (thanks!)

Age was on my mind: Sunday was my 49th birthday! There was an illuminating dressing-room conversation:

Scott: Did you know I'm older than Bob Baxter?
General Reaction: WOW! That's AMAZING!
Me: Did you know I'm also older than Bob Baxter?
General Reaction: (*yawn*)

I continued to learn new things. In 'Louis Seize' on Saturday, I turned around and all the guys had vanished, just leaving the women center stage. "WTF?", I thought, as I stared at the mirrors and the vacant back stage. (Musical theater is an emotional rollercoaster, but no emotion is more dangerous on stage than "WTF?") Then, I remembered an ancient Ron Cisneros dictum, that we were supposed to hide briefly behind the mirrors, before reemerging to assume our decadent poses. I had dropped the disappearing act in the general chaos of tech week, because we hadn't had mirrors to work with until late, and simply had moseyed upstage and posed decadently (and apparently cluelessly). By Sunday, I had picked up on the clue.

On Sunday, after second Chez Lui, I retrieved the chairs and table from under their new hiding place in the wrong alcove of the stage left wagon, in order to move them to the right alcove, but my exit was blocked by the turning stage left wagon, which had wandered too far upstage. I had also been saddled with the awkward larger table. I ended up being sealed behind the wagons, trapped as if in a sarcophagus, with my larger table, plus two chairs (HELP!) It took a while to squirm out of that!

The "Le Jazz Hot" outfits are causing problems for the guys. The satin left leg isn't very elastic - not nearly as elastic as the right leg - so when our quads pump up while we're doing the butt-slap-plie, we bust out the seam on the left leg. On Saturday, Lillian fixed my seam, which ripped on Friday, but, if anything, the fit is tighter now than before. The result is that I'm compromising the plie, trying to save the fabric, my focus, and my dignity. Not terribly comfortable!

In general, though, we are getting better, and having more fun with the show. We are singing louder and smiling more and moving better. The set changes are faster and we are certainly under 3 hours run time (including intermission). We are in the groove!

There were "Victor/Victoria'-related social activities as well. After Saturday's show, several of us went over to Michael Miiller's new house, not far from Sierra II, for a Halloween party. A (friendly) black cat cozied up to me in the street outside (is that bad luck or good luck?) Inside, there was a colorful mix of people, particularly the Harajuku Giantess and her friend.

On Sunday, after the show, several of us went out for dinner at 'A Taste of Thai' on Broadway. A good time! Then afterwards, a more-somber but nevertheless convivial get-together was had with the Forment family (including Page and Charles from Seattle) at 'Old Spaghetti Factory', following the afternoon service in Woodland for Brian Forment.