Backstage Notes from a Christmas Carol

Posted on Dec 10, 2006 at 6:48 p.m. by Beverly

What can I say? It's been 2 weeks of performing and at this moment, my mind is mush.

Nonetheless:

1) The Stench of Costumes - Believe it or not, the fancier the costume, the more likely it's a dry-clean job and may retain the faint scent of yesterday (and the day before that, and the day before that, and yada yada) whereas the cotton costumes are laundered on a regular basis. So when you see the fancy girls in the pretty costumes: they stink. The beggar family? They smell like Tide.

2) Opening Night - No better party than a Guthrie party. In fact, before I came to the Guthrie (I'm an out-of-town actor), when I told people I was going to the Guthrie, people smiled mysteriously and said, "Bring a lot of cocktail dresses." Apparently, the Guthrie is known nationwide to throw a darn good time. Opening night was a quiet affair, believe it or not... although all three rehearsal rooms were in full swing: 1 room for alcoholic drinks, 1 room for food, and 1 room for dancing and god help us all, karaoke. But it was a quiet affair...the cast is full of actors with little children so bedtime loomed altogether too soon for them. But, it was probably best, you didn't want to hear Nancy Rodriguez' and my rendition of George Michaels "Freedom 90".

3) Dressing Rooms - They are the actors' locker rooms. We are farting, eating, running around naked, snapping each other with rolled up towels. Well, maybe not the towel part...

What else is there to say? It's a job. Despite it all, it's a job that requires one to be as present as possible, to give 100% when you're on stage...it can be grueling. So now it is the end of the 9th show of the week...and I can barely drink a beer, I'm that tired. Imagine how tired Scrooge must feel!!!

You know who is a pleasure to be around though? Tracey Maloney. She's one of the actors in my dressing room and she'll be playing Laura in the upcoming Glass Menagerie. She rocks. She has a dead-pan quick humor.

You know who also is as funny as hell? Randy Reyes. He'll say stuff under his breath on stage thatÍll force us to stifle laughter. There's a part in the Fezziwig dance where the girl "Pansy" dances, and if you've got a quick eye, you can see Randy mouthing "Touchdown!" in reference to her dance. Watch for it.