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The Math of Love: Performance Number Twenty-One

And the weekend just keeps getting better... A GREAT house tonight, both in terms of size and response. I had a lot of Rollins students in attendance as well (Actually, a lot more than I realized until the meet-and-greet in the lobby. Annie Get Your Gun opens this coming weekend at Rollins, so this was the last opportunity for many to check the show out.) I'm really grateful for all the support my students have been giving - it always makes to smile to see them in the house (and there's nothing like wearing pony tails in front of your students to really complicate and equalize the student-teacher relationship!!)

The opening number rocked! We've had a spate of negative emotions as our initial song offer, but tonight a lovely young lady in the front row gave us "hyperactivity" and this got the show off to a rocking start. Charles and the boys in the band were in sync from the start, and the number built wonderfully, culminating in me breaking the chair that I was using as my mimed mechanic horse. Charles got us going as Evan, a 40-year-old man who drove an airport shuttle. His three usual customers were Captain Smith, an alcohol-soused pilot, Mrs. McGillicuddy (we seem to like that name), a devout church-goer, and Polly, an eighteen-year-old "near woman" who not-so-secretly yearned for this older man. Charles rocked the house (as always) when he sang about pursuing love with the younger Polly, despite the age difference. Jay became Joseph (one of my students, in fact, and my current peer mentor), and explored a rather odd relationship with his teacher, Mr. J., his eighth-grade teacher who was ruthlessly exploiting him to build his own house. (There was a fun "Our House" parody here between the two.) Robyn's lisping nerdy Broomie and Charles' show-choir-loving Wolly wrapped up the episode in fine form. Then came Robyn as Beth, a woman with a steep hill to climb and a steeper battle with her family for independence as her husband, a top-hat wearing butcher, and daughter, an asthmatic jogger, put various demands upon her time and energy. Jay's Clara, a triathlete nextdoor neighbor, provided additional comic relief. Lastly, I was Mike, a cowboy bar frequenting young man whose world was thrown into chaos upon the death (or was it murder?) of his favorite mechanical horse. Aided by Pedro, the slightly-stereotypical-Siesta-taking owner of the bar, and "Musician Sue," a low-talking female guitarist, Mike suspected his rival, Big Bart, as the culprit. After singing an "Ode to Joy" (the name of the metal horse), he plotted revenge upon his nemesis, regardless of the personal cost.

The intermission vote was a nail biter by all accounts, and the house management had to actually go to an ensemble member in the audience (who don't usually vote) in order to cast the deciding vote as it was originally tied between Charles' Evan and Jay's Joseph. Charles took it by a nose. We didn't actually learn of this until after the show, but as it turned out, we actually used a lot of the characters from Jay's story line in major roles, so hopefully the audience got the best of both worlds. We also had a really strong second act, so I don't think any of us can really regret the final decision. It just goes to show you though, that unlike some states in the union, your vote really does count at SAK!!!

So, we explored our second May/December relationship of the weekend as we followed Evan on his quest for albeit young love. We had discussed backstage that we were a little wary if this was the chosen story of it becoming unseemly. Jay, with typical acuity, noted that we should just make the love story simple and honest, and that proved to be a great starting point. While I definitely kept Polly's youthful exuberance, Charles did a great job of really falling for this young girl, and as the act progressed, we learnt that he was, in fact, equally as inexperienced when it came to dating and matters of the heart (a great choice on his part.) Robyn's Mrs. McGillicuddy, the founder of the "moral neighborhood watch", and Mr. J., an equally judgmental advocator of abstinence, frowned upon what they viewed as an example of sordid love, and set out to destroy Evan and his newfound love. First they blacklisted his van company, then they let the air out of his tires, and finally, Mr. J. kidnapped Polly in the basement of his incomplete house. Charles led the way with one strong musical number after another (and a really playful duet with Jay's Joseph), and Robyn stepped up to the plate and gave one our most memorable show-stopping numbers of late as the lisping and spelling Broomie. (She's admitted that she's been avoiding tackling this number, and it was a great thing to see her not only take it on, but succeed so thoroughly with it - a great culmination to what was a really strong night for Robyn overall.)

The act ended with a fun series of exchanges as Charles' Evan took on the evil pedagogue, Mr. J. Gina managed to scribble down a bunch of the whimsical quips, such as Mr. J's "Oh, your hands can't harm me... I'm a teacher," then, "What does 18 plus 22 equal?" to which Evan responded, "40," to which Mr. J. responded "Wrong. Dirty." Charles pulled out a great trump, finally, with "You're a teacher, but I'm a Republican!" and Mr. J. quickly melted into a puddle of water under the threatened budget cuts. Finally, Evan and Polly were reunited, their love proving to be pure in spite of what the moral arbiters might have thought, and as they professed their love to one another, Jay's Joseph and Robyn's Mrs. McGillicuddy planned to meet up later when Joseph also turned eighteen! Another really fun ending to a show.

Everyone was really on tonight, from the actors, to the musicians, to the technicians, to the audience! Jim, for example, gave me a particularly playful early-Disneyesque song in the second act in which my Polly sang her love to a variety of woodland creatures. Every time I mimed sending a bird away, Jim would provide a sound effect from the keyboard that would bring it back, keeping me on my toes in the process! While the jury is out as to whether I'll miss the extraordinary amount of energy and focus that this show requires each evening once we close, I know that I'll definitely miss the pure joy I get from singing in collaboration with Jim and Keith. When it hits, it's indescribable. (I had another musical savvy audience member ask tonight in earnest if the musicians were playing from a set list of songs. Most find it incomprehensible that Jim and Keith routinely improvise 20 completely original songs each night!) Charles really led a great and playful second act with some inspired songs and twists; Jay provided his usual story finesse, found some great connections and was in particularly good voice; and Robyn was extra vivacious, supplying some of her greatest characters to date--Broomie's spelling number will haunt me in my sleep! (I also liked her response to kidnapper Mr. J.'s question, "By the way, what do eighteen-year-olds eat...," "Nothing!")

I wonder if the company is slowly realizing that the end is nigh and that nobody wants to leave anything on the field... We're really taking the form and show to new levels. (No pressure Sunday cast!)

Four and counting...

Your mimed-bird-catching Director, David C.