Peppermint & Chai Tea

I'll admit it honestly. Second night was a lot harder. Not only was the cast extremely tired, some of us were coming down with terrible colds. The fabulous actress who played Martirio, came to the green and sounded like there literally was a frog in her throat. As Mr. C would say, her gutter voice.  However, the audience experienced something different last night. They were more emotionally moved, it was a lot more personal.  My sister was completely terrified of the performance, which is fantastic. My goal for Bernarda was to either get the audience to completely fear her, or hate her, or both. :) Many of the audience members were moved to tears and during the first violence scene between me and my eldest daughter, a chorus of sniffles was heard.  I believe it's safe to say we experienced a much more touching show, than energetic.  

Cast party--well, cast parties, are like no other.  There is a specific song on our mix where a bunch of sirens start wailing. That's the cue to drop everything, grab as many pots and pans and start banging them around...while parading around the house.  It's the best thing ever.  You cannot help screaming and laughing along.  Then, we all sat in a circle and told one nice thing about every person.  It was incredible. The cast has come so far, and we have bonded so much, that this afternoon's final performance is going to be heart-wrenching.  I love this cast as my second family, and I cannot bear to lose 8 of the most amazing seniors ever.  We have grown to basically live with each other for the last 9-10 weeks of the rehearsal process. In all honesty, I absolutely adore and respect every single one of them.

But back to the title...Peppermint and Chai Tea. Hmm, well if my director is reading this, he may want to look away. I'm drinking this because, since I got home at 1:20 am after dropping off my good friend who plays Adela. Oops. So when I woke up at 11 am this morning, my voice was a bit guttery and not really present. I'm drinking, well chugging tea because my voice cannot give out on me. I must leave you all now...I have to take a shower...call time is in 45 minutes! 

© Natalie S. 2008