Over four weeks of rehearsing The Love List, we had a list of our own to work on.  And with each run-through, we refined and tweaked it, checking and re-checking each item.

It goes without saying – so of course I’m saying it anyway – that the dress rehearsal is one of the last, and therefore most important, steps in that process.  It’s where we take all the pieces we’ve created and collected and put them together to see how they work as a whole.  Set: check.  Props: check.  Costumes: check.  Blocking: check.  Lines memorized: check.  Sound and light: check.  MaMaLu Olivo as our stage manager: check.  It’s our best chance to see how the show will play before we bring the audience into the theater.

We had brought in a selection of trusted friends and family to serve as our test audience, and they provided good feedback on what worked and what needed that little more work.  From there, we fine-tuned the play, tightening the pace where we needed to, building on the laughs where we could, doing all those little things you need to do to make a show audience-ready.

Which brought us to opening night at last.  We had a good crowd for a Halloween-weekend show, and so we were looking forward to seeing how they’d respond to the play and to all the work we’d put into it.  We hoped they’d have as much fun watching the shenanigans as we’d had crafting them.

Me being me, and me being not a little protective of our work, I was backstage to help keep things running smoothly.  While I couldn’t watch the audience from that vantage point, I could hear their response, and so could guess at how well we’d done our job, and how well Byrd’s and Joel’s and Nikki‘s performances would go over with the crowd.  Judging from what I heard – from the laughter during the play to comments made after the curtain call – it all went over really well.

I learned on Rumors that there are few experiences quite like seeing your play come to life before an audience.  And that lesson held true for The Love List.  So, I hope I can speak for the rest of the cast and crew – Kathleen, Byrd, Joel, Nikki, MaMaLu, Yvette, Mark, Jim, and any- and everyone I may have missed – in thanking everyone who came to the Cameo to support us in our opening weekend.

If you haven’t yet, we’d love to have you join us.  The Love List will continue its run through November 27; you can see the full schedule of showtimes, and even buy tickets, at the Cameo’s website.  I’ll be around if you’d like to say hello, and I’m looking forward to laughing with you, and at Joel and Byrd and Nikki.

Or laughing with them… or near them…

Thanks as always for following along, and “be seeing you” at the show…