Lights Out

Yesterday my performance was cancelled because of the storm here in the great pacific northwest (I actually love it here, but the weather lately is making me not too happy).  There were no lights at the theatre and thus pretty much no way the show could happen.

Today, the power was back so we did our fight call and warm ups and got four songs into the show and the power blew again.  Since the show is one that has "power outage" cues, for a second everyone thought it was a cue (it actually happened right as my stage manager called a cue, which was sorta hilarious and misleading), but then the emergency backup lights came on and everyone realized this was for real.  The actors grabbed the prop flashlights scattered throughout the stage (though they actually turned on).

The production team (and the director who happened to be there...actually she's been present a lot, good thing we like her a lot) talked about what to do and we proceeded to do concert versions of the songs.  Very luckily, we had a real piano, a upright bass, and an acoustic guitar (plus drums which also don't require power), so our musicians were able to play while we held flashlights over their music.  It was all very in keeping with the setting of the play, which was supposed to be in an abandoned theatre.

The actors turned on the fake tea lights (also props) and held them while they sat on the front of the stage.  The soloists stood and their peers lit them with flashlights as they sang.  It was actually a very powerful improvised moment.

After we had sung three songs, it soon became clear that the backup lights were going to run out of batteries soon and that we wouldn't be able to finish singing through the show.  The director requested two of the most beloved numbers be done and then we dismissed the actors and audience, ushering them out quickly before the backup lights went out.  Afterward, the entire cast and crew went out to McDonald's (which did have power).

It was an interesting but also really cool night of theatre.

NOTE: I realize I have updated very sparsely lately and I do intend to fix that. I've been doing a lot of sewing and I'm not very good at balancing hobbies, but I will try better.