january 18, 1998
9am sunday morning. final check - do i have the tickets, the banner, tape to hang the banner, the pens for the banner, the camera, the other camera, film, extra film, etc., etc., etc. all set? i think so...let's go!
9:30am dave hammond calls - still want that extra ticket for drew? yes. his other phone rings - hold on - okay, sorry - i'll meet you at the show and give it to you - his other phone rings again - hold on - okay, sorry, that was my niece who had told me she didn't want to go, now she does. sorry sorry sorry! see you at the show. called drew, left a message, no ticket, get to the cancellation line. let's go.
10:00 forgot to bring a coat - go back and get one.
10:30 arrive at the theatre to find the cancellation line has already formed. drew is in it. she and her friends come and sign the banner. more and more ppl sign.
12:00 whoa! we're almost in wall-to-wall ppl now, waiting for the lottery.
12:30 the lottery begins. sabrina wins, dave wins, mike wins. it's a good natured crowd, everyone yelling and clapping for the winners. hallie comes out and draws the last 3 tix. drew gets a cancellation ticket.
i finally get to make a run to otto's :-)
1:00 back to the banner. michael greif comes by. brent comes by, hugs, addresses, love, see you after the show. julia looks up and waves. love this girl! so we go down to the street. we talk a little, more addresses, more hugs. some ppl had made a sign and put it on an easel outside the stage door for cast members to sign. it was cool.
back upstairs, julie larson comes over and reads the banner and takes pics with it, and with lisa, and tina.
time for the show.
christian walks out and the theatre erupts, everyone is immediately on their feet. neil walks out & the screaming & clapping escalates.
the show itself was the BEST i have ever heard them. seriously. every single one of them. they were so UP and so ON. there were lots of tears, lots of cheers, lots of laughing and clapping and yelling. there were no "replaced lines" or anything really out of the ordinary except neil's la vieeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee boheme, and a couple of other moments. the energy level was incredible. it was just a great show with a wildly enthusiastic audience! :-)
intermission: i walked outside to find the street blocked off and the moving trucks ready & waiting to cart everything away. someone burst into tears.
carla was sitting in front of me in michael greif's seat. he went and stood behind us in the sound booth. i talked to her for a while. she's doing well! auditioning for tv/movie roles and working on her music. she mentioned how wierd it was to be watching the show from "out here" - but that it was good! :-) love her.
the show concludes and everyone is on their feet again. flash bulbs going off everywhere. screaming and clapping. the ushers keep coming by and saying "you can't take pictures in here". oh, okay. click. click. click. the show is over.
ah, down to the stage door - uh huh, right. okay, down to somewhere near the stage door. :-) the place is a zoo. we're in the street. really (stephen watch out for that bus!). the cast is wading thru the sea of ppl.
so we just wait and play. laura breaks free, so loaded down with flowers, cards and presents she has to set them on the ground.
paul finally gets thru and wraps tina in a bear hug to console her.
curt comes over, we talk a little and he says he is leaving the show after tempe and that it's been great. i'll miss him alot. talked to bob sprayberry, going to miss him too.
lisa gives roe the banner who has it put on one of the trucks - they'll read it when they get to tempe.
everyone's coming thru now - mark & andy, julia, kye, christian, d'monroe, pierre, brent, neil, & hallie.
it's gettin' late, these folks gotta book for tempe.
brent had bags full of stuff. we waited with pierre for brent to make it up to the street and then hung around awhile longer talking & taking pics. brent, pierre, lisa, teri & i walked to the parking garage and through the parking garage maze to get to the lower levels. we left them on 5, they were on 7. we hugged. and said "see you in tempe in two weeks"! haha! it was a great night.
to jonathan larson & the cast, band & crew:
thank you
to bry, amber, sarah, tiffany, tina, teri, amber, max, laura, lindsey, ernest,
stacey, anji, stephen, denise, sabrina, adam, kevin, lisa, jay, judy, nicki, drew - to all
of you who have made this southern ca run such an unforgettable experience - i love you
all.
the new countdown begins: 199 days 'till costa mesa. ;-)