Two weeks!

So two weeks from tonight is the tech for Old Hickory. I am feeling very confidant right now. I've been running it every day and it has been going well; all the pieces seem to fit and it has a flow. I just want to be on as solid ground as possible when I do this thing, so all the work right now is the foundation that anything else that happens will rest on. If I can establish that now, and in rehearsal with Wallace smooth off the rough edges, then I will have done all I can do in preparation. Then it's up to me when I step out on that stage to deliver.

Not much pressure there, is there? Actually, at the risk of sounding cockier about it than I am, there really isn't. If I didn't think I could do this I would never have sought it out in the first place. Sure I've had my moments of 'what the hell have I gotten myself into?' and I'm sure I'll have more of them: like ten minutes before I go on stage! But you work through all that and trust the preparation, trust the material and go out there swinging.

I'll never forget when I did The Zoo Story in a restaurant in Charleston, WV. Fifteen minutes or so before I went on I was seriously freaked out. I didn't have butterflies, I had gyspy moths! But it passed and we went out there and nailed it. That was the first time I had to carry a show, and it was daunting, but what a joy when it works! About six months after that I got the opportunity to work with Albee, he directing a production of Counting the Ways. At any rate, I don't remember being that freaked before that one . . . maybe I was, but the stark fear the deep questioning of why I was doing this to myself, prior to The Zoo Story, was unique.

That whole Zoo Story thing is a fun story. Bill Rainey and I were both pissed at the Kanawha Players, the community theater group we both worked with, for casting local politicians in leads despite their limitations as actors. So we were commiserating about it and he said, 'I have this little play I'd like you to read, if you like it we can do it in our basement or somewhere, and switch parts'. I read it and my life was changed. I was 29 years old and had never read this play, but when I did, it rocked my world. Something about Jerry spoke to me, and the story of Jerry and the dog, what a masterpiece! So we got together and read it, and it became real clear real fast that I was Jerry and Bill was Peter. Soon after that I went to see some friend play in a local restaurant (this band is now the house band for Mountain Stage by the way) and saw possibilities on that little stage . . . so I went to the owners and said words to the effect of 'How'd you like to have a play here?' They invited us in to read it for them and I could have shot Bill because he kept going on about how heavy the piece is, and the brothers that owned the place said their uncle (another community theater person) had suggested starting with lighter fare. I said, we're here, let us read it . . . what the hell? So he said ok. We had a few friends there, and we got on stage and read it with script in hand. When we were finished the owner said, 'How would you like to do it Monday nights in January?' We filled that place all four nights that we did it, and people were seriously rocked. Absolutely unforgettable.

An interesting note is: before we were even finished with our run the Kanawha Players came in and jumped on the bandwagon. An even more interesting note is: what we were doing, which started as in 'in your face' to the KP, got us some kind of award from them for special contributions to theater or some such. Whatever. It was a whale of a good time; and I will go on record as saying that Bill Rainey is one of the best actors I have ever worked with . . . he's a marvel and was a wonderful Peter. He even designed and built a retractable knife, which worked most of the time. One night it broke and while I was on the floor dying I had to put the blade back in the handle during my speech, without the audience noticing . . . talk about concentration exercise!

Ok enough rambling. A fun story I think though.