It was quite an evening. Any time I get to perform at the Elsinore Theatre is quite an evening. I now know the backstage area better than I do the rest of the theatre, and that ladies and gentlemen, is just the way I like it.
The evening started out with our troupe gathering at our studio to run through our dance a few more times and to make sure everyone had their costume together. While the girls in turn got pincurls to hide their long lengths of hair under their wigs, we jammed and practiced the parts giving us the most trouble.
Stacey, our teacher, had just arrived that day from Israel after weeks of being away. We were so excited not only for the show, but to see her. Walking through downtown to the theatre, we walked to the box office to deliver tickets to Stacey. It was my favorite moment of the whole evening. Walking together along the sidewalk, Stacey spotted us, grinned, and almost immediately bent over she was laughing so hard. I think if I could have chosen a look on her face, that would have been it – pure joy. Of course, all the parparazi stationed outside on the red carpet, interviewed us as a group, flashing pictures and video cameras, and hyping it up. Being the extrovert of the group, I was thrilled with and secretly, I think the others were too!
Stacey gave us all hugs, admired the pink wigs and then went inside to go warm up as we walked around the block to the stage door. Downstairs in the dressing rooms, underneath the stage, we put on the last touches to our makeup. In the halls, we got to talk to the other performers, some we knew, some we didn’t. I then grabbed my coat to cover my costume including the hair and crept upstairs to find out where Stacey was sitting. She’s never to hard to spot with her curly ringlets. Ah! 3rd row, she would to the left of our view when we were on stage. (Not that you can see anything but lights swimming in the blackness.) I went downstairs to tell the rest of the troupe, and then at different times, we slid up to the stage wings to watch the other performers until it was our turn to go on. The Latte Boy was particularly funny and the woman who sang the first half was a kind person. It is really fun to see the “show” and then the SHOW, the show most people don’t get to see. That show takes place in the wings and I find it absolutely fascinating. For example, that song? It ended in heartbreak with Cinda lying on the floor. What the audience didn’t see was Cinda getting up immediately after the curtain went down and running to her friend who had sang it with her for a hug. That was priceless? And us? Well, we quietly walked to our places so when the curtain came back up, we were ready to go. The dance went really well, we smiled and had fun! (That was my Stacey version of a pep talk given on our way to the theatre.) After Stacey left, we rechoreographed the dance together, moving out of an inward facing circle to the audience and then to a chorus line at the end. We hadn’t told Stacey and she loved it just as we thought she would. It also really added to the performance. I can only imagine what she thought of her tappers as she saw us go into new formations, it’s something she had wanted us to do in different pieces for quite some time.
What the audience didn’t see as soon as that curtain went down was us rushing off the stage for a big group hug in the wings. We had worked really hard for that moment and it was worth it.
During intermission, all six of us came out together to find Stacey who held pink roses in her arms for each of us. Mine is displayed in a vase in my bedroom, it is so pretty.
The good news is, no more three rehearsals a week. The bad news is she wants us to perform it again- for her, so I guess it’s not that bad. I think we can oblige. All in all, I do indeed LOVE the stage!
Labels: On Tap, Tap Dancing
