Last night was opening night for our local theatre workshop's 2008 musical, Me and My Girl. Four months of rehearsals, lines learned, songs sung, danced choreographed, costumes made, set construction and props sourcing - all culminating in a final frenzy of stress, nerves and excitement. I shared directing duties on the show, but also found myself among the cast, bolstering the ranks of men.
Back when we had auditions, it was a bitterly cold January and four months seemed like all the time in the world to get a musical ready. Last Sunday we had dress rehearsal and quite a few people were despairing after the first run-through. But something magical happens when you run a show twice in one day. Despite all the exhaustion and emotional fragility, the second time of asking is always better than the first. So it was on Sunday.
The band came together, the cast transmorgified into a singing, dancing ensemble of toffs and cockneys, sets opened and closed as required - suddenly we had a show. Despite all the odds that seemed to stack up against us, Me and My Girl has hit the stage and it's a credit to the Biggar Theatre Workshop. I couldn't be more proud of everyone involved or the efforts made.
After the first performance, everyone was buzzing. We'd done it, despite torn ligaments and lost voices. The audience enjoyed it, we had a great time and - best of all - we've got four more performances to savour. When we started, it was the dead of winter. Now Biggar's basking in something of a heatwave. If only we could figure out how to turn off the theatre's heating...
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