So, last night we had a read-through for our upcoming show. We were missing a couple of people due to work schedules, and we had to move the whole damn thing to a friend's house because of a massive power outage in my neighborhood, but we read it, by gum.
I have to say though, it was a little weird. It was weird writing it by myself, 'cause I'm used to bouncing ideas and lines off my buddy, Flynn, but he evacuated to Atlanta during the storm, and he doesn't intend to return. We plan to collaborate on projects in the future, but for this one, I dunno.... I'm pretty busy at the moment, and trying to co-write a piece with someone hundreds of miles away seemed a bit much. But maybe more importantly, I think I just wanted to prove to myself that I could write it alone. I don't know that it's as funny as it would've been with Flynn's help, but I did it nonetheless.
It was also a little weird writing it and reading it without most of our core actors. Grenadine is our company's holiday show, and of the eight or so regulars we've had in the piece, five have moved on or are otherwise unavailable. Problem is, over the years, each of these actors has really become her/his character; Jason is Sierra-Britney, Roy is Loretta. I eliminated those characters for this version of the play, but it still feels weird not to have them (or the actors who play them) in the show.
Still, the most important thing is that the show is written. It's different than it has been--the actors are different, the characters are different, the tone is different--but it's written. And we're going to perform it in December. It may not prove to be a brilliant business decision, but hey, somebody's got to do it, right? I mean, there all these actors and directors mumbling about "I guess there's not gonna be any theatre in New Orleans for a while...." Well, no shit! Nothing's going to happen if you don't get up off your asses and do something. Sheesh...
