cassaclyzm

Woohoo! Doing dinner theatre again this Thursday, this time with almost a week's notice. Which means I have time to, like, practice. And learn my songs. (Locomotion, anyone? Jump up, jump back?)

It feels like the summer's almost over, but we're hardly a month into it already. Maybe the fact that school is looming in the fall is making me feel like time is short. I think that's a sign that I should write out some goals for what I want to have finished by the end of the summer, and maybe figure out how to go about getting there.

I was going to type it, but for some reason this kind of thing feels better longhand to me.

The show was great. No major screw-ups in the lines or the songs, and all night we were ad-libbing whenever the opportunity arose - which was often, since the show was doubling as a wedding reception. Seriously. They had the place all done up in their decorations, with the four-tier cake and the little gift bags and everything. It was insane, and we had absolutely no idea what we were doing half the time. In short, a pretty hilarious night.

Highlights include:

• sitting backstage (which is hardly more than a closet) before the show and practicing "Don't Worry, Be Happy" a capella, knowing that wedding guests could hear us as they came up the stairs;
  
• having to extend "The Locomotion" because the crowd got so into it they literally locomoted out the side door and back in again, led by the groom;
  
• having people come to me to ask administrative questions because I was playing the part of the long-suffering wife who had organized the whole evening;
  
• watching about 30% of the audience leave before the third act, because the speeches had been made and the cake had been served and they were pretty much ready to call it a night;
  
• getting great laughs for my drinking-related lines ("I tell you what. We'll get you a lovely drink. Everything will start to look better. Remember that people! After a few drinks everything - and everyone! - will start to look better.")

My favourite quote of the evening:

"Oh man, I can't wait to go out there and hit on the bride."

That was Steve, who was playing the infamous lounge singer Stu Delay. And he did, too - I think he asked her what time she had to be back in Heaven.

And I made fifty bucks in tips (we pool them and average them out). Which ain't half bad, if I do say so myself.

So. Much. Fun. When do I get to do this again?

So, uh, I shaved my legs. For the first time in... two years? Probably longer. That was an adventure and a half. The things I do for art. I also did my nails... yes, my toenails, too. In pink. I look like I've been dipped in femme. It's pretty amusing.

Only a few hours to rehearsal, and then it's show time. I keep forgetting that I'm going to have to serve people food and drinks, too. Is it weird that that's the thing that has me the most nervous?


Oh, and has anyone else noticed that all Spam seems to be about these days is either the gaining or losing of inches?

An interesting development in the Dinner Theatre scene. Mum has a gig with her band next Saturday, which she told the Theatre folks about a long while back. They'd said that they'd be getting someone to understudy for her. So mum asked them after the show last night whether everything was set with the understudy.

Apparently, they don't have anybody to do it. They'd completely forgotten about mum's gig. They have someone who could do mum's acting, but what they really need is a bass player.

So guess who got volunteered?

Because I've spent so much time helping mum learn her lines, I know them already. I need to memorize the lyrics for the song mum sings ("Those Were the Days"), buy strings for my (read: mum's) Music Master bass (which is at least 15 years older than me, BTW), and practice 10 or so songs. I learned most of them last night.

Have I mentioned that I've never played bass on stage before? Like, ever? So this would, in essence, be my first ever gig. With just under a week to prepare.

I am confident. I am stoked. I will rock their socks off.