That post title has nothing to do with this post, but I liked it.
I got to work at the theater tonight for our Christmas show. Er, shows. Sort of. We have four one-acts prepared and every night we do three of them based on which colorful box the audience encourages the actors to open at the beginning of the show. So you may never see the exact same shows in the exact same order even if you come up to three times! Or four. I got conflicting information on how many scenarios we have this evening. There's also a prize giveaway at some point where people have to pick a box from under the tree to see what prize they'll win. It's kinda like Deal or No Deal. (When I was a kid, I loved Deal or No Deal. I'm not sure why, but I think it was because of the random lame prizes. Hey, why was everyone in the audience dressed up? Man, that show was weird)
Anyway: it was a small crowd tonight, and I had a lot of friends working the show with me, and it's a fairly short evening of entertainment, so it was quite the smooth and pleasant night at the theatre. (I didn't really get to watch the shows because of the stuff I had to be doing--counting ticket stubs, counting concession money, waiting for late seaters, dimming lights, opening doors, etc, but I'll see it one night when I'm a lowly usher and not the mighty House Manager) I absolutely love being at the theatre on show night. I know I've mentioned that before. There's just a magic about it. I enjoy the people who have made something special out of the evening by coming to a show. I love seeing the long-time fans who have come expecting to have a good time. I love hearing the audience reactions from behind the closed box office door while I'm working on something. Hearing people discuss the show or their favorite actors at intermission. Watching husbands take their wives by the hand on the way out the door as the show is over. I love it all. In some ways, I'd rather be working front-of-house type stuff than I would actually be in the show (most shows).
Tonight, however, I also realized that the "night of the show" buzz really irritates my writer's itch. When I'm watching a play--almost any play--I want to write a play. Sadly, by the time I get home and take care of everything, the itch is usually gone. But I can definitely tell that it was there.
Hopefully I'll have something new on paper by the end of 2010. It'll be tough, because Christmas is going to be a busy and hectic season. Honestly, it'll probably be rough from now until...well, at least May, I'd guess. But some of my best stuff has come when I haven't had the time to do it, so I've got that going for me, maybe.
Oh, incidentally, there aren't a lot of competitions out there that really encourage new plays for young audiences in the state of Texas. I'm thinking of starting one. Which would be a bummer, because then I couldn't enter or win it. But I'm sure there are people out there who would appreciate it.
K, I'm tired. I don't want to go back and read this because I'm afraid it won't make much sense. I think I was a lot more awake when I started writing than I am now. Curse you, caffeine crash!
