Good times…

All week I have been paranoid about forgetting lines or dance steps or just the order of scenes altogether.  It’s made for many a sleepless night.  However, since I don’t usually get that much sleep, I guess it didn’t feel like it’s impacted me that much.  The only way that I know how stressed I have been is that after the final curtain was closed last night, I could feel the tension just fall right out of my shoulders and my back.  And guess what…I remembered my lines, (give or take rearranging of the few words) and everything else.  Well except for a second suitcase that I was supposed to bring out.  Woops.  After the show, the lobby was once again filled with smiling, happy faces.  I had no qualms about telling those faces to let other faces know about the show.  I was even surprised that they said they would be back to see it again!

A few of my coworkers were there too.  I can’t believe that they spent their Friday night watching the show!  I am forever grateful to the kindness and support that Yamagami’s Nursery has not only shown to me as a simple I-don’t-know-nothing-’bout-plantin’-no-gardens cashier but also to West Valley Light Opera and the show itself. Preston, the owner, while he is unintentionally intimidating, is such a great person to work for.  The rest of the management staff is fabulous, and that just keeps going down the ladder to the rest of the employees.  So Ms. Poli, thank you for the referral.  I owe you big time!

But back to the show…

I know that I was harping on and on about having a brush up, which I still fully feel like we should have every week.  Just to be safe.  For the most part everything went smoothly, and for the times that didn’t… well it’s now preserved in the WVLO archives.

Most, if not all theatre companies record at least one performance of the production that they are working on.  It is not something that is available for sale.  They do this so that they have research material if they ever decide in the future that this show or that show is something they’d like to do again.  Then they can see what everything looked like, how they changed the scenes, placement of the orchestra.  They can see what worked well, and what can be changed.  Things of that nature.   It’s a great reference tool.  I know when I worked for AMTSJ, I had to send the copies to an actual library that stored most professional productions.  I am a little bummed that I can’t remember where that is.  I want to say San Francisco, but I am not 100% sure.

While there may have been a few missteps or forgotten lines, the show can often times get away with it because a lot of the numbers take place in “rehearsal settings”.  I just love to not only have a good time on stage, but for everyone else up there with me to have a good time too.  That’s what make the show great, because then the audience has a good time with us.  If you would like to have a good time with us, you can get your tickets by clicking HERE or by calling 408.268.3777.  Tell’em Jery sent ya!  Come and sing along!!

Here’s to some more good times!!

Cheers.

White Christmas after Opening Night.

 

Now that a few days have passed from the high of Opening Night, I become a ball of nerves once again.  Most people think that once a show has begun performances, the hardest part of the process is over.  To me, I think that this line of thinking is a dangerous trap to fall into.  Especially when you have 4 days off in a row.  This is when complacency tends to sneak in.  Complacency because Opening Weekend went so incredibly well. So now, some people could convince themselves that it’s unnecessary to put any energy or thought into the show.  This is when you forget to think about the show, because you have new things to do and think about during the time that you would have been rehearsing.  Some people have significant others to cuddle with during the evening instead of pouring over their scripts or thinking about dance steps.  Personally, I try and figure out what I can do differently, better, but differently.  I tend to dwell on any oddity that happened to me or that I created during the show, and how I can fix it or make it work.  Because of this, I love to have brush up rehearsals so that the first show you return to is just as good as when you left the weekend before.

Well there’s another reason too.

So far this show has sold pretty well, but I really really want West Valley Light Opera to have a HIT!  A big fucking smash hit show.  Sorry for the expletive, but I feel that it was the only word that could emphasize it the way I meant it.

The super-finale is actually more fun than I thought it was going to be because of all the snow. It starts with hearing a room full of people singing a Berlin classic, and then it tears into a frolicking snowy good time and everyone looks so happy!  I love looking out into the audience and seeing the people smiling, or nodding their heads in time to the music or best of all singing along.    That happened on Sunday’s performance.  I saw a bright and cheery lady singing along with me during “Best Things Happen When Your Dancing.”  She was sitting in the third row and just looked like she was having the best time ever and that’s only the fifth song of the show, and there are nearly 20 of them!  To top that off, there was a lady in blue right in the front row that was beaming the biggest smile during “I Love a Piano” when the Duncan Sisters were singing their part.  I know that the possibility for having that hit exists with this production, but I worry that one bad performance could jeopardize that chance.

This Friday’s show isn’t selling the way I hoped that it would, but there are $20 tickets available.  Maybe that will help.  I hope that people who have come to see the show, get the word out that it is a good show.  I do have to say thanks to my BFF over at NotBlueAtAll, for the incredibly kind words and for attending Opening Night. Also, a big thanks to Ronnie Misra for all of his amazing support.

If any of you have seen the show, please leave a review, especially if you loved the show, at Artsopolis. Like Ronnie did!

I love working with this company and I worry about it sometimes.   They are one of the few companies that take chances on their casting and don’t constantly cast the same handful of people for their shows.  Another company that takes chances is Sunnyvale Community Players, and I applaud them for that.  But, they are getting back on track, so they don’t need as much help.  When I began to make the rounds in the area for auditions WVLO was one of the first to give me opportunities and to this day continues to do so.  Needless to say, I feel like I owe them in return because they have always welcomed me with open arms.  I am keeping my fingers crossed  that there are 13 more full houses for this run.  Please cross your fingers with me.

OMG…I thought it would never happen!!!

I have finally forced time to bend and created a way to make a podcast for White Christmas!!  Thank you to Ben Perez, Stephen Evans, and Valerie Valenzuela for taking time out of their day to sit around a table and talk about the show.   Don’t worry, we all love the show! You will too when you come and see it!

Episode 11

(Click to listen)

Show notes to follow shortly!!!