Ah, the glamorous life of the theatrical producer! This is my cousin Patty who came up from Richmond for a couple of days for a combination of she wanted to, and I was spazzing out and she's someone whose presence makes me calmer. (Not only me, John, the stage manager, said, "Oh, she's awesome, she makes me calmer, too!" So, Catherine, Tommy, Ellen? Recognize?) Unfortunately, we had to forgo the gala luncheon at Le Cirque to prepare for final dress rehearsal last night. Wednesday we fashioned a plum pudding out of two Christmas ornaments, looked for a fake chicken but finally bought a real one (hilariously brought onstage in its Whole Foods bag, prompting Greg to say, "Great, take-out's just been invented!") , swept, picked up staples, glued pads to the bottom of the Cratchits' plates so they wouldn't clink (a somewhat wasted effort as the mashed potatoes they eat on stage dissolved the adhesive later that night), etc. Yesterday, I dropped her off at the theater to meet Taline, the costumer, where she sewed hems on the curtains, made an apron for the poulterer, and other stuff, I saw her sewing something red later, while I went to okay the poster proof and shop for charcoal. Which isn't in season. No problem, just opened a can of Theater Magic on the problem. I decided to cut up some sponges and spray-paint them black. Then we went off in search of florescent tape, which was very hard to come by, came home where I took a power nap and wrote some producer-ly checks for the actors, and made another batch of mashed potatoes. Back at the theater, it was glamor, glamor, glamor, as I washed the Cratchits' dishes in basically a spit-sink with only cold water. Patty punched holes in paper for the ledgers and cleaned all stuff out of the audience. I wondered why the actors were getting into make-up at 6 o'clock, but at some point realized, "ah, because this time all disappears!". We did have a few relaxing minutes working the door together, sipping glasses of well-deserved wine. (How could I forget the most important task of the producer's assistant, wine-bearer!?) Then I went up to the booth to run light cues for John. The production is really gorgeous but it turned out sound and lights need four hands at certain points. But it's all learning and memory-making.

The audience consisted of some local military (but not the 65 who signed up, unfortunately), and a few family and friends of the actors. (One of the actor's mom gave me $60!) Sure, the deck was stacked, but they were really appreciative. One guy who read the program at his seat came back to the box office and said, "You're a character, I can tell!"