The bottom line is, I liked Wise Women. The script is solid, it has a good pace and a lot of laughs. It manages to be Christmasey and sentimental without feeling like a Lifetime movie. What I didn't like was doing a show in the black heart of winter. It was so cold. Freakishly cold. Unfortunately that led to a short supply of audience and even a cast member.Opening night was solid. We had a respectable crowd and it was going well. However two scenes into the show and Michael, who was playing the role of Donnie, still hadn't arrived for his entrance which was coming quickly in scene 4. It was really looking like he was going to get stuck in the snow and I'd have to make a return to the Valley Theatre stage. Luckily, he made it just in time for me to pin the WWII symbols on his uniform sleeve and send him on stage to dance with Rachel and hit on everyone else. The End.
Not really, because the next night the weather was even worse and on top of that, somehow a duplicate Facebook event sent out a message that the show was cancelled. After dragging my pals into a web of social networking we were able to get the word out that the play was on. Then midway through the afternoon Michael called saying that the weather on his end was awful and that he didn't think he'd be able to make it. This created an interesting problem. There are only 2 men in the play, 3 if you count the director (spoiler alert: me). With Michael as an unlikely maybe, it looked like I'd have to suit up afterall. Luckily Sally had kept the costume so that she could sew the symbols on and I'd seen the show enough to have a decent handle on the lines. Now we just needed people to show up.
People did show up, but they probably could have carpooled in one Astro van. The weather really was terrible. I couldn't blame them for staying home. The show went really well. We got some great pictures. And I played Donnie. I hadn't done the last-minute-fill-in schtick in a while, so it was a fun challenge. I hadn't been in a Valley Theatre play since Art and had only briefly been on stage with Amy and Rachel. I'd never acted with Bekah or Sarah. It was fun.
In the end, Wise Women, was a great experience. Those of us who were involved in it and those who braved the arctic tundra to come see it really enjoyed it. Like any show with low-turnout (Guilty Conscience, Glass Menagerie), I'm just disappointed that more people didn't get to see it.
P.S. In all likelihood, Wise Women was the last time I'll have the pleasure to work with Ben again. I hope not, but probably. That's sad, but I take pride in what a good actor he's become. I hope he sticks with it.
Addendum: 6/26/14. Unbeknownst to me at the time Wise Women ended up being my last chance to work with Amy. I would have liked to have known that ahead of time so that I could have really taken it in. Still, It was nice to go out with a bang and in a small show with most of the core group. I'm proud of her. It's been really great to work with her and watch her progress through the years. Please keep acting, Amy.
