6.12.03 – just another day at the office

live theatre, folks. you just never know what’s gonna go wrong. there’s the usuals, the emergencies one can plan for: injuries (have first aid supplies and training on hand), the trap door malfunctioning (have a backup plan for those entrances), inclement weather (have ponchos to protect the costumes and garbage sacks for the audience members), wildlife (mention the skunk in the curtain speech so no one freaks out when she makes an appearance), and so forth. and then, there are those things you couldn’t have imagined. for example, tonight. in midsummer we have an actual 1963 volkswagon beatle that we drive across the stage a number of times during the show. there’s a fair amount of off-stage maneuvering as well, getting the car turned around in small wing space and so forth. after 40 years of loyal service, the horn decided to short out tonight. such that everytime someone turned the wheel more than about 2″, the horn would toot. picture me trying to do a 6-point turn off stage left (engine off, crew pushing the car), all the while the horn is “beep” “beeep” “beep” “BEEEEEP” “beep”ing through one of Puck’s monologues. now that’s comedy, folks.