Last night, I was very drunk.
Cait, the AD for Prenzie, asked me point blank as I'm drinking out of a bottle of champagne, "You must not be knocked up yet then, eh?"
Indeed, my dear Cait, I am not knocked up yet.
But last night, I celebrated in style, with the best friends a girl in the theatre community could have, to end what was, one of the most terrifying, heartbreaking, thrilling weeks of my life.
I took the week off of work to focus on last minute details for the show, the company, etc.. After our Wednesday night dress, Rob and I came home to a phone call that my grandpa (mom's dad) had just passed away at 10:35pm.
Now, I've lost grandparents. Both my dad's parents passed 6 and 8 years ago, respectively. The death of my grandmother in 2000 was a heartbreaking loss that I'm not sure I will ever get over. She and I had a close relationship. But for some reason, I took this death of my mother's dad especially hard. Not that I was terribly close to him, but because I hated to see my mother lose a parent. My mom is truly not only my mom, but a close friend. I don't even want to think about what it will be like to lose any of my parents (I have two step-parents, but I never think of them that way). So to witness my mother in such pain incapacitated me for much of my Thursday.
I couldn't help but find it fitting that Grandpa would pass away during tech week of a production entitled Elegies, which each and every song deals with loss and death.
But I made up my mind that the show must go on. Once I spoke to my mother Thursday afternoon, and heard not just grief, but acceptance, I knew she would give her blessing for us to continue on.
Friday, I spent most of the day fine-tuning the details of our opening night. Little did I know that my day was only to get better.
We had a small showing last night of 30 people, but the folks that came LOVED it. So did Ruby Nancy, one of the local theatre critics, who pulled me aside after the show and said "This was great. I'm so glad you all started a theatre organization in the QC". However, this comment was just an addition to the embarassment of riches that put me on cloud 9 yesterday.
RTC will receive a $10,000 start-up grant from the Riverboat Development Authority.
I couldn't believe my ears when Chris Jansen told me, just 5 minutes before curtain last night. When Rob and I wrote that grant in February, I thought it was to be a fart in the wind, never thinking we'd actually get it. But here we are, with 10K in our back pockets. I don't even know how much money that is. It seems that RTC will be around for more than just a season or two!
So last night, we celebrated in style, heading over to D's for an excellent party. I made a toast to everyone in the room, to "young theatre in the Quad Cities", after making our big announcement. What better way to head into your first foray of theatre?
Someone said to me last night "Get ready for greatness, Al". Could they have been right?
skip to main |
skip to sidebar
The musings of a creative genius.
3 comments:
I am so sorry for your loss. Thinking about the eerie and amazing timing of that loss with your show gives me the chills...
I also am so f'ing happy for you that you received that grant! I've been waiting for the list of recipients, hoping that you would receive one. Major congrats on that from someone who has written those grants before. They are one of the tougher/pain in the ass ones to write, so you definitely should brag about this achievement.
Sorry for your loss Al. That's tough, but I'm glad you're staying focused. I wish you continued success with your theater company.
What a week for you! Please accept my sympathy for the loss of your grandfather. I hope the show provides a way to work through all the emotions involved and say farewell. And congratulations on your grant! That's just fantastic. I'm so happy for you.
Post a Comment