dress rehearsal

Well...we did it! We got through the whole thing! Ok, it was three hours long. And the three little girl soloists didn't make it out for the beginning of their song. And the African-drum-player guy was stuck in Baltimore. But someone stepped in for him on a spare djembe (and did a darn good job), and when two of the little girls did finally get on stage, they started right in and the band followed them, and hey - we'll move through the show faster tomorrow.

The final dress rehearsal is actually done in front of an audience - it's our outreach performance, for people who wouldn't otherwise be able to see the show. It's a really different audience. As our director tells us, some of them have never been in a theater before. They certainly aren't familiar with the rituals and the songs we do every year, so they give off a very different vibe. Not a bad vibe. Just different. When we dance out through the aisles at the end of the first act, they aren't leaping out of their seats to join us. The regular audiences are pretty cute that way. (And when I was an audience member, I was the exact same way. I mean, chance to sing and dance? Hello! Sign me up!)

So, tomorrow night - oops, tonight, it's 12:38 a.m. -we do it for people who paid actual money! Gack!