Good Musical Memories

The musical ended its run early this week, and I was there closing night. It was a lot of fun, with tons of ad-libs flying about and much slamming of the slimy producers.

My favorites of the night (which make absolutely no sense when taken out of context):

- Does anyone know what day it is tomorrow?
- Payday!

- Come on, dancers! E~~~~~! W~~~~~~!

- You stole the job from my company, Fako Art!

- Oh, what the hell!
- Wah, you got breasts ah?

The post-show reception was suitably shitty because they were too cheap to get good food. Fortunately the sponsors' bar was good, and free. Ample liquor was consumed, and I stole a nice shot glass.

Before the show, my colleague was giving out T-shirts that he'd had made. They read: "I worked on ~~~ The Musical and all I got was this lousy T-shirt". Everyone loved them.

Funny incident:

Macho assistant stage manager (holding out his cigarette): I have to get a drink. Can someone hold this fag for me?
Me (grabbing hold of his wrist): Sure!
Mass hilarity ensues. I can't resist a good set-up. And this was such a perfect one. I mean, I didn't even have to try to get that laugh.

Another line that I regard as comedy gold, uttered at the post-show reception:
- SMS? SMS my cheebye!

I dropped my Billabong visor on the cab ride home, which sucked balls. Fortunately I got a receipt for my ride, and they were able to trace it. I'm picking it up tomorrow morning. Hooray.

Yes, working on the musical meant having to deal with more shit in a week than most people deal with in a month. But in the end, I think what I got out of it was worth it. It was a wonderful group of people to work with, and not just the cast. The crew (at least the competent ones) were all great, optimistic professionals forced to work under circumstances that were just too horrible to be believed. Yet in spite of this, they perservered and delivered. None of the mistakes of the show were their fault, everything could be traced back to the machinations of the producers. And hey, I guess it's kind of like being thrown into the deep end of the pool and left to fend for yourself. I'm glad I managed to keep afloat.

Some other highlights:

Chilling out at K's place after a performance one night. It was a truly beautiful shophouse in the East, completely refurbished inside, with lovely dark woods and antique furniture everywhere. I fell in love with it the moment I stepped inside, and would seriously kill for it. And of course, they were wonderful hosts, conversation was delightful, food was tasty, and alcohol and cigarettes were plentiful. What more can one ask for?

Standing in for the lead actor during a couple of rehearsals. He was too sick to come, and I had to fill in on a couple of full rehearsals. Even though I was only reading from the script and moving around trying to approximate his positions, it still felt good, since I hadn't done any real acting for a while. In Act Two there was one song (and it was the only one I knew how to sing) that I was able to sing on behalf of the musical director, who'd been filling in on the vocals, and I enjoyed doing that. Of course, being the attention whore that I am, I also loved surprising people with what I can do - He can act? He can sing? Oh my God. Hey, the only way you can get ahead in this line is if someone notices what you've done.

We said goodbye to the Stage Manager on Tuesday night. She was flying for Melbourne the next day. She's been a great joy, ever optimistic and loving, and I think she's really fallen in love with the place and the people in the few months she's been here. We'll be waiting for you when you return, may it be soon.

So yeah. Over and done with. All except for the post-mortem tomorrow afternoon.

Then it'll be dead.

Will there be a chance for us to take it abroad? I hope so. I certainly wanna do it, but only if we do it, and do it properly. Here's hoping.