It’s true. I had no choice but to walk onstage wearing only red plaid boxer shorts.
The show was the comedy See How They Run. The time was twenty short minutes before the curtain rose. The auditorium was filling up with people. As the director, I was greeting patrons as they arrived. Then came the phone call. A main character was sick in bed and could not be in the show. Panic!
I held a meeting with the cast. Fifteen minutes left. We discussed re-arranging of characters. No one felt comfortable filling in for the missing lead role. Ten minutes left. The chatter of the audience members awaiting the final performance grew louder. The show must go on. What to do?
Live theatre is not a television show or a movie. In those mediums the unexpected and the mistakes are edited out of the final product. Live theatre is just that: Live. In the Moment. Here and Now. Regardless of what happens. Theres is no stopping for a “do-over.” Only instantaneous reactions and teamwork keep the story going and convince the audience that all is well.
It is this very nature of live theatre that attracts both actors and playgoers. One never knows what is going to happen. Oh, everyone expects everything to run smoothly, just as rehearsed. The audience will see every scene performed perfectly. Weeks of work will culminate in a flawless exhibition. Silly people. It seldom does.
Your own Off Broadway Players have had their share of mishaps, too. Talented OBP President Terri Hoover remembers her role as the blind woman Suzy Hendrix in the mystery Wait Until Dark: “One night in a performance my friend was playing opposite of me in the character of Roat. Roat is a very bad man. My friend completely forgot his lines and could not get himself back into the scene. In desperation he looked at the other man on stage and said, ‘Could you show me to the bathroom?’ Mind you, the setting of the play is in MY character’s house, and he asked someone who doesn’t live there where the bathroom is. They both exit the stage and I’m left alone on stage, portraying a blind woman. To cover for them, all I could do was mutter to myself and look confused (which I was) until they returned. Once they came back onstage, the show resumed, but I’m pretty sure everyone in the audience was in on what happened.”
OBP’s regular patrons know the skills of veteran actor Richard Clem. Richard shares an unforgettable moment that occurred years ago, but one he vividly recalls. “It was the opening night of Sordid Lives at Schultz Theatre in New Market. I was playing Wardell, the bartender, standing behind the bar as the show opened. I was “cleaning up”…wiping down the countertop while other characters were conversing. I accidentally set a glass down too hard and it shattered all over the counter. Quickly recovering, I used the bar towel to clean up the glass and hide the broken pieces under the bar…….all in the first two minutes of the show!”
Actors may later laugh at such mishaps, but in the moment they occur, they can be harrowing. Another OBP star, Lori Smilowitz, shares her experience: “I can recall a lighting miscue during Three Viewings. I played Mac. It was my final scene with beautiful music in the background and very subtle lighting cues. In the middle of my very poignant scene, as the lights were supposed to dim gradually, the light suddenly went to black. Just black nothingness for about 5 long seconds. You cannot print the words that I said in my head, but let’s just say I was stunned for an instant and didn’t know how to proceed. I didn’t continue with my lines until the lights came back on, and I don’t know if anyone in the audience knew or not.”
Seth Simmers, a stalwart OBP favorite, is one of the most reliable actors on stage. He is always ready to keep the show going, no matter what happens. Yet, even Seth has had his moments, such as in The Play That Goes Wrong! The set included a second floor supported by one pillar rigged to dislodge and tip the actors standing on it. Seth’s character, who carried a dog leash with no dog, was to run into the pillar and “accidentally” knock it over, thus tipping the floor, sending both actors and the furniture tumbling dangerously close to the edge.
Seth recalls, “Instead, when I ran into the pillar, it didn’t dislodge. I then tried to kick it out, but it wouldn’t budge. Alas, something that was supposed to go ‘wrong’ did not! I was embarrassed and didn’t know what to do. I twirled the dog leash with the imaginary dog in a desperate attempt to buy some time. My cast mate, John McMurray, began to adlib and I joined in. We worked together to cover the mistake and finally dislodged the pillar, spilling the actors and furniture, just slightly off cue. The rest of the show went smoothly but that was, by far, the most daunting mishap I’ve ever had on stage, but, no matter what, the show always goes on!”
As an actor and a director, I have had the unexpected occur at every level of theatre—church skits, school plays, community theatre, and, yes, in professional productions, too. No one is perfect. But, in every situation, actors work with whatever happens to make it a part of the show, to keep the story going.
Live theatre offers an experience unlike any recorded media. The actors and the audience share a connection that is, well, alive. The communication between them is a vital ingredient. Audience reactions contribute to the production, and since every audience is different, every performance is different, too. If you haven’t given an Off Broadway Players production a try, come join the fun. Come more than once. Be a part of what makes stage theatre an exciting, organic, thrilling adventure, and different every time. You never know what you may see.
Oh, and the red plaid boxers I wore that fateful night? Yeah, that was part of the scene. My See How They Run cast unanimously decided that I, the director, should stand in for the missing actor for the final performance. Dressed as a priest, I, too, had a few mishaps during that show. My plastic priest’s collar snapped in two on stage and only my double chin held it in place. The heel of my shoe came off and had to be quickly repaired backstage. Stalwart Seth, playing another priest, covered an entrance I missed by adlibbing, “Oh, my! What would Jesus do?”
But, I was very grateful that our missing actor had left his red plaid boxer shorts with the rest of his costume; otherwise . . . well, let’s not go there. With the help of my talented cast, we ended the show’s run with a rousing performance that brought the audience to their feet in the curtain call. As Seth said, “The show always goes on.”
