The final run-through at our home studios... Terrifying when it goes badly, and so deeply reassuring when it goes well. How the run goes truly dictates how you're going to feel walking into the auditorium. Thank goodness it was a good day with two solid runs of the show and a smooth load-out.
an empty storage room
the process
By Saturday's end we are out of our home studios and theater in Falmouth and by 8:00 AM on Monday we're well moved into Merrill Auditorium. I walk through the rehearsal hall doors to meet the familiar, comforting, and nerve-arousing smell of a musty old theater, and it is so beautiful. With no less than six packed bags (not counting my purse and backpack), I hobble through the hallways to the company dressing room where I am privileged enough to have the coveted "sink spot" offering two chairs, a plethora of space, a lit mirror, a trashcan within reach, and of course a sink. It's a pretty great set-up! I told you I was going to reduce the amount I packed this year and believe it or not, I think I did.There is something about this time of year that truly is magical. It's overused and over-said but it's true. It's incredibly special to be a part of something bigger than oneself; a part of something that brings people so much joy; a part of something in which you are given the opportunity to give. Every bead of sweat, every blister, every injury we bear is to give: to give to the community, to give to our family, our friends, and even to ourselves. Each year I am reminded of this and each year I find myself grasping tighter to the experience.
We are so lucky.
Some years I'm hit hard with the grandeur of the whole ordeal and consequently find myself emotional all the time, and some years a subtle twinkling trails behind me everywhere I go, reminding me of the other world I'm a part of. An old-timey world of tradition, magical fairies, beautiful creatures, and fantasies come alive. As I walk through the motions of a normal college student's life, sometimes I'll hear the twinkling and smile to myself, missing that world all the more.Along with the Nutcracker season comes the glorious excuse to explore and enjoy the greater Portland area. Lovely lunches, frigid walks through the city that I've somehow come to view fondly, spur-of-the-moment Christmas shopping as we encounter a store we simply cannot pass, and gazing upon the winking lights Portland kindly adorns its foliage with.*sighs*
Christmastime.
a large portion of the backstage help is all volunteer... how much we owe to them!
