Saturday I wasn’t supposed to

Saturday I wasn’t supposed to be in the show on Saturday, because Lori Davis was the alternate for that day. But, at nine o’clock on Saturday morning I got a call from Meaghan Moloney (all this time I’ve been misspelling her name - d’oh!) saying “Hey, want to be an alternate again?” and of course I said yes. I was so thrilled. I showed up - and found that once again, I was in William Cole’s cast, doing a Scot Augustson piece. But, this one could not possibly have been more different. It was called “Altar Ego: A History of Vanity and the Church (Yes, these are the jokes folks)”, and was about the silliest play ever. (Silly in a good way, of course.) I don’t think I’ve ever laughed so hard during the first read of any show I’ve ever participated in in my life. Oh - and we were missing two boys at the beginning. Basil was supposed to be in it but nobody knew where he was, and someone else was supposed to be in it but there had been a misunderstanding and he wasn’t there… in any case, Basil was late because he was getting a ride from Imogen and Branden, who were hung over and therefore 45 minutes late (hehe), and we recruited (ie dragged kicking and screaming) Ron Darling. Basil and Ron were gay altar boys, and they made up the entire first two minutes or so of our final performance. Just screwing around, they came up with this great “fag” (meaning cigarette, sort of) bit. It was brilliant. The other members of our cast were Pattie Miles (Eric V.B.’s fiancee) and Shelly Reynolds - who was the other woman in “Reverse Psychology”. What a small, odd, karmic little world.

In the end, our show included a gingham pinafore and ruby slippers, beanies, a beard and bikini of bees, Iranian/British/Jewish shepherds, an Irish lesbian shepherdess, and a patron saint in a graduation gown, halo, and jesus sandals, complete with portable cloud. Our staging just got sillier and sillier as the day progressed. We had such a GREAT time on stage, and everyone was really sad for it to all be over. (My personal favorite parts were making fun of Ron as his alter-shepherd-ego, and being a plant in the audience, where I got to SHREIK and freak everyone out, especially Jena Cane, who was right in front of me. Woo hoo!)

All of the shows were brilliant on Saturday. (They were great on Friday too, but I actually saw ALL of them on Saturday. Or, rather, all but one.) Nate was in this fantastic Michael Neff piece that included him and three other people sitting on a porch and smoking and talking. It was lazy and slow and fantastic, and supposedly it was that way because Imogen and Mark (Dias) were so hung over that morning… and the director said “Yes! That’s it!” The one that really killed me was the last one - it was an anti-play that had Tricia Rodley (dressed as an astronaut), Eric V.B. (as a mariachi-type), and some other guy I don’t know wearing a gorilla suit. They stood in front of music stands, and read from a note sent to them from the playwright. Tricia’s dealt with how the playwright wanted to maybe have them do a re-enactment from Our Town… and while describing the details, she got all choked up - but in such a simple, honest way that by the time she was done, I was seriously weeping in the audience. She is so freaking brilliant. Everyone told me (during Sizemore, when she was the SM and I was the ASM) that she was an amazing actor, and I finally got to see just a little piece of it. Yay, Rodley. You rule.

Then, at the end of the final play, the 14/48 band played “Dream On”, and all the casts came up on stage to dance around and take our bow. The staging of the whole thing was beautiful, and it was a pretty emotional time for everyone, since it was the last show that anyone was going to watch in that space, since ConWorks is moving. The new space is huge and fantastic, but everyone’s obviously a little nostalgic. OH - and there was a video! Gary somebody came in on Thursday and Friday and videotaped everyone doing what they do, and he put together a five minute video of what 14/48 is all about. It was gorgeous, and Meaghan said it really epitomizes why she loves 14/48 so much. I had to agree - even though it was only the first time I’d done it, I was really touched by what the whole thing meant. As Bill Cole (my director) kept saying, “If it wasn’t for 14/48, I would never meet you. You’re connected with Annex, I’m connected with Theatre Babylon, if I ever met you it would be for 3 minutes at an audition, and that would be it. I might ask you one question, but we would never know each other. Now, I know you, and through me everyone I work with will know you. That’s what this is all about.”

On Saturday night, I had another “Oh my GOD, someone recognizes me” moment. After the show was over, I went to grab a beer, and I was stopped by a woman named Tina. She said “Great job tonight, and by the way, I really loved you in Pearl”… and of course, I stood there stupefied for a moment, staring at her like a total idiot. Finally, I thanked her, and talked to her for a moment - but it still freaked me out. Somehow, I think I have developed the belief that I can act for the rest of my life within a little sphere of anonymity where people will see me but then immediately forget. It’s definitely going to take a bit of getting used to. This city is getting smaller and smaller by the day.

Another “aha!” moment this weekend came when I was chatting with Jaedra in the bathroom. She said they were lucky to have me as an alternate, and I said that I couldn’t even believe how lucky I was to be there in the first place. I felt like thanking everyone I saw for letting me in to their “All-Star” show. It was like Oz. We talked about why 14/48 is so important, and she said that it totally renews people’s passion. “It reminds us why we do what we do, and it re-energizes us to keep going.” That was pretty much how I felt too. All ready and raring to go! And then it was…