Sighs and whispers behind the curtain

HURON, Ohio -- That huge sigh of relief you hear is the cast of "The Nerd" letting out their collective relief that the show is over. The five-day run flew by and went wonderfully, though not without a few hitches. We pulled in nearly 2,000 people and had them rolling in the seats every night.

The show's energy and tone changed nightly, mostly based on the audience's reactions. The louder the laughter, the more our energy seemed to rise and the faster the show went.

It was probably one of the most rewarding experiences I've ever had, pulling together a great show in less than two weeks. It makes you realize just how much you can achieve in such a short span of time. Janel and I discussed just yesterday how strange it'll be to return to Southeast where we'll be on six-week rehearsal schedules.

Hopefully we'll be able to utilize what we've learned here to improve our work in shows at Southeast, particularly how quickly we memorize lines. Janel and I both had hundreds of lines to memorize in about a week. I think mine totaled somewhere around 400, so you get the idea of how insane the pace is.

A few people from home have come up to visit in the past few weeks, which has been a huge boost. Dennis Seyer (Theater and Dance Department professor at Southeast) and his wife, Ellen, stopped up the week of "Sound of Music" and gave us a huge lift. Janel's family was in town for the weekend of "The Nerd," Marcus's family came to visit and my parents and a few of my friends even made the trip.

It's impossible to tell how much it means to us that people from home are willing to make the 10-hour drive just to see our show.

We've got two shows down and three to go. "Cinderella" opens this evening to a packed house. The musicals here sell absolutely outrageous amounts of tickets, but understandably so. The Huron Playhouse is known for putting together outstanding productions. Next Tuesday, Meagan and the "You Can't Take It With You" cast open, and then we close with "Little Mary Sunshine."

Speaking of "Little Mary Sunshine," some of our first company-wide drama took place after the cast list was posted this past Sunday. One of the company members who had wanted very badly to play the lead, Cpt. Big Jim Warington, was cast as the major supporting lead instead. Our managing director's son, who is not a member of the company and just arrived in town, got the lead.

There was a bit of a ruckus and a great deal of griping for a few days, but it all seems to have subsided now. Unfortunately, it has made a lot of people rethink whether they want to return next summer or not. But everyone seems to agree it's an extremely valuable experience.

Unbelievably enough, we're already counting down the days until we leave. It's less than 20 now. Everyone is tired, but no one seems ready to leave all of the friends we've made here just yet.