GUYS & DOLLS starring Eddie Mekka as Nathan Detroit
DAY 1: Well, another �10 of 12� out of the way. This one was as boring as OKLAHOMA...Okay, I lied�it wasn�t quite as boring. At least the music is half way decent in GUYS & DOLLS! And the Crapshooter�s Ballet is beautiful! I can�t believe Eddie Mekka actually dances!
Met Freddy today. He�s the drummer in the orchestra. He was in this morning at 10 am working on the riffs for the show. He�s good! AND he�s SO cute! He and I started talking music before tech started. I apologized in advance for the glaring spotlight that was going to be in his eyes.
Later, when we broke for dinner, he was at Raquet�s when Tim(the sound guy), Michele(the props intern) and I got there. He was working on re-writing his part of the Havana scene, but he came over and talked to us for a while. When we got our food, he went back to his table where all his stuff was spread out and got back to work. Because he was a musician, he didn�t have to be back until 7:00 pm, where we had to be back by 6:30.
I nearly made a fool of myself when we got back from break. I went to introduce myself to Mr. Mekka � hell, we all call him Eddie�he�s WAY too laid back for that Mr. crap! Anyway, I walked up to him, knowing that he once played Carmine �The Big Ragoo� Ragusa on Laverne and Shirley (I used to love him, even though I was only a kid). I almost called him Carmine! UGH! I�m sure he gets it all the time, but HOW embarrassing!
I said �Hi� and before I could introduce myself, he said, �Hey Steph! How�s things?�
Needless to say, I nearly dropped dead! He knew me! I don�t know HOW he knew me, considering I had been living in the spot booth all day, but he did! How cool is that?!
DAY 2: Michele went home with pneumonia before the beginning of Act II dress rehearsal.
DAY 3: One performance day. Got to the theater at 6:30, out and on the way home by 11:30. Back at 11 am tomorrow. Sleep is imminent and I might actually get 8 hours tonight! Woo hoo!
DAY 4: Thursday, Double Day #1
Matinee and Night show today. We lost �com� during matinee. It�s a darn good thing I got in the habit of writing down my cues. I was a bit nervous for Spencer (master electrician and light board operator) though. He had no way of knowing what to do! Then, Terry, the Stage Manager called him on his cell phone and they went through until the end of the act that way! As for the spots�we were cool�nothing major, THANK GOD!
Luckily, we had com back before Act II and the Crapshooter�s Ballet. There are something like 35 light cues just in that section alone! UGH!
Freddy and I had dinner together tonight. We talked a bit about teaching and education of the arts to kids�it was an extremely cool conversation. Afterward, we both decided to go crash for an hour before the next show. We laid down on the floor between Row A and the orchestra pit and promptly fell asleep! Spencer and Jimmy woke us up.
Spence�s sarcastic comment: �Great! Steph and Freddy are sleepin� together in the house!�
Just the rumor I need floating around!
After the second show, several of the cast members went up to Pinhead�s, the restaurant my husband runs, to go bowling. We started out with quite a crowd, but when Adam (he was being a butthead) refused to make appetizers for those in need, several left, including Eddie Mekka. Those that stayed bowled and ate a lot of chips from the bowling counter!
During the evening, I talked to Lisa, a regular at Pinhead�s on Karaoke night. Her husband (I�ll call him Tom) had seen Eddie just before he�d left. When Tom told Lisa who he�d seen, she told him he was drunk�Which is funny since he doesn�t drink! Later, I asked if she�d seen Eddie. She about flipped when she found out that it was actually him!