Opening Night in 57

Busy, busy, busy. Not much time to write even after a splendid Opening Night on Saturday. Watching the show come together over the past couple of weeks, I wasn't sure what I'd think of it. It's a puzzlingly difficult script to illuminate; it's very easy to blur over moments that are pivotal, making the story flat and difficult to relate to. Then the hecticness of tech wreaked havoc on my ability to watch the play. I was too busy watching the lights, or the set, or sound. The costumes were pretty marvelous right from the start so that wasn't an issue. But sure enough, coming first Preview the tech elements fell (mostly) into place, and the actors arose from the ashes of chaos.

Opening night of a World Premiere is truly a thing to behold. Usually, a play takes a big step forward on Opening, becoming richer and more fleshed out. Typically, you have a sense of what to expect/hope for. With a world premiere, you only have the "ideal" of it in your head; you have no idea of whether or not the play can reach that ideal. If it fails to reach the pinnacle of your imagination, it's impossible to know whether it's the fault of the production or the play. I'm very happy with this incarnation of The Tender King. I see my play. On Opening Night the performances were rich and lush, the story clear, and the emotion palpable. I've still no time to really focus on this blog, but here are some images from Opening Night, in 57 seconds. Pardon its hasty construction....