We have three more shows. As up and down as this whole thing has been, as frustrating, as upsetting … I am going to miss it. What will I miss? <\/p>\n
— the last moment of the show, the lights dimming, snow falling, smiling at one another … feeling the audience sitting there STUNNED at what they have just seen … That last moment always works, and I love doing it every night. <\/p>\n
— being in Chinatown on a daily basis. I rarely go down there, and I am completely in love with it. Great area of town. <\/p>\n
— the great bar staff at Whiskey Nancy, our after-show hangout. Listen to this: they all CAME to see our play. Took their only nights off and trekked over to see their new regulars in a play. Isn’t that beautiful? <\/p>\n
— I am going to miss my Mary Agnes costume. I love my costume. I wear a clingy jersey-top, made up of different blocks of orangey-brown colors. It looks great on me, for some reason, and makes my hair look absolutely flaming-orange. Then I wear a long clingy dark grey skirt. Nude hose. A lot of girlie jewelry: green sparkley earrings, a Celtic cross necklace, a silver bracelet, and a Claddagh ring. For shoes I wear brown penny loafers … well, they have the look of penny loafers, except they also have high chunky heels. Very glamorous. Not to be vain or anything, it’s just that it is so rare that I actually LIKE what I get to wear in a show. Usually, I have to ignore the pin-pricks of my own Sheila vanity and say to myself, “Now,what would the CHARACTER wear?” But in this case, Mary Agnes, a student at UCD in Dublin, trying to make an impression on her West-of-Ireland country parents, looks nice. I get to look nice. <\/p>\n
— I will miss the set. It is extraordinary. With the small budget that they had, the team created an entire world. It is a beautiful set. It does half our work for us. I walk around on it, looking at things, and it gives me everything I need. Beautiful. Evocative. The little blue and white china plates hanging on the walls, the knick-knack shelf with all of these beautiful little teapots on display … the way they are lit gives them a symbolic feel. The wall paper is busy. Rust-tones. Patterns. A small painting of the Blessed Virgin surrounded by angels over the stove. A busy linoleum floor. Dark rust-red, pale yellow, green blocks of color. It LOOKS like a house in the west of Ireland. And all around the outskirts of the stage, pressing in on the interior, are white drifts of snow. <\/p>\n
— I will miss working with Aedin. <\/p>\n
However: in my heart, I believe that meeting her is one of the primary reasons I have done this show. Like: things are meant to be. We have already begun talking about working together again. <\/p>\n
My parents are coming down tonight to see the show. My sister Siobhan will be there as well. A couple of cousins. A couple of friends. My head is going to explode, trying to handle it all.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
We have three more shows. As up and down as this whole thing has been, as frustrating, as upsetting … I am going to miss it. What will I miss? — the last moment of the show, the lights dimming, … Continue reading