Blackout / State of the Show

Last night, during "The Most Wonderful Love" the power on the 4th Floor of 380 Broadway went out, meaning that "Marat/Sade" in the Gallery and the third act of my play were suddenly being performed by the emergency lights above the Exit signs.

One thing I love about theatre is that on occasions like this, the audience rallies around you and seems to throw all their love and support and encouragement to the performers. The actors were great and worked their asses off...but it's in those moments you feel a bond between the performers and the spectators. The bizarre and lovely disaster; how sweet it is. That's what you get, I guess, when you mock God.

So where does this leave us?

We've had great reviews and we've got that nice podcast up on nytheatre.com (where we are currently the "Pick of the Week") and interviews and the audiences are making their way in. I've seen a few bloggers at the show (James, Dan, MattJ, Lucas, Isaac) and had a few beers at South's and shown up haggard to my day job, a little later than I should have arrived, apologetic and, of course, unapologetic all at once.

All that's left is audience. So I absolutely encourage anyone who hasn't made it out yet, or has been on the fence, to take a look and check it out. You'll have fun. We have beer. Cold water. We have hugs. We really, really do. At this point, the show has weathered broken air conditioning, blackouts, a tough leading lady working through losing her voice, and even a playwright that lives in a state of perpetual neurotic panic.

I think it's been worth it. We're kicking ass. At least, that's how I feel right now.

Don't quote me on that. Deal?