My current project is a one-man show: a bluegrass musical based on the Gospel of Matthew; music and lyrics by Harry Chapin. I've posted several things about it on Facebook, but there's more interesting stuff beneath dates, times and ticket prices.
I began rehearsals while still performing Max in The Producers at SCT (dir: Ken Sonkin), and right after The Producers closed, I got sick. So I missed some early rehearsals and things got tricky. Now we're right around ten performances into the run and there are some interesting things to note about this show, the intimate setting and the audiences.
Cotton Patch Gospel is an unabashedly straightforward telling of the Gospel of Matthew, basically the life of Christ from conception to death to resurrection. (Sorry for the spoilers, there, but if you don't know that story then I would like to know the mineral content of the stone under which you've been living.) San Francisco audiences seem to be somewhat taken aback by the Jesusy goodness of it all. Our first preview was for Custom Made Theatre Company Members, and they were ... unreceptive. In fact, there was one guy in the back who went to sleep a little way in to the show. Others sat there with their arms crossed, clearly pissed. There was the distinct feeling of discomfort and weirdness. Audiences after that have been quite warm, and when we heard that Trinity Episcopal bought the house for 11/29, we were thrilled. After all, church people seem to like the show, right?
Wrong. Quiet discomfort. A chuckle here and there. Some stifled belly laughs. My theory is that churchy people in a group are uncomfortable laughing about religious matters. And this is a funny show, when it's funny. So some jokes landed like a bowling ball in a molasses swamp. It's also tricky when the front row is full of uncomfortables. The front row of small theatres should always, always be sold at steep discounts to people willing to wait in line. Their excitement creates a ripple effect, and this makes for an amazing show.
Tonight's Goldstar tix are already sold out. I'll have at least four people in the audience, possibly more. So that's nice. The show works best with a full house. Laughter and chagrin are equally contagious, and numbers tend to increase laughter. I will update this blog as the show progresses.
Until then, I hope you'll come see the show. All of you who read my blog. All ... what, two? Three of you?
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Update: 12/06/2009
A superb audience last night; they were totally tuned in from the beginning of the show; there were even some friendly stragglers who came in right before Jesus turned water into wine, and their presence added even more to the show.
Truth be told, the stragglers were George, Brandon, Brandon, Shelly and Rebecca. I was so delighted to have them there, I had to resist playing the entire show directly to them. Frankly, their presence in the front two rows -- even of the house left / stage right section -- added even more to the show. Not just for me, though the energy feedback was high. It's that ripple effect again.
Tonight, my parents and my brother and sister-in-law and her mother and mother's companion and possibly my nephew and his girlfriend are coming to see the show. I certainly hope they all attend. I'm worried, as usual, about my parents making it in time; my mother tends to re-format hard drives or steam clean the carpets before she leaves the house. And they refuse to plan ahead or map things out, so they tend to end up at the wrong location. It's not because they're older, it's because they're stubborn.
I get nervous when people I know are supposed to attend are not in the audience. I know within the first five minutes who is there, because the space is so small and I am so close to everyone; I try to make direct eye contact with a lot of them, though I have now shifted away from direct eye contact with the front row of the middle section: they seem to get the most uncomfortable, as though they suspect I am going to fondle them. Or perhaps they want me to fondle them and they are uncomfortable that I haven't started the fondling. We shall see. Tonight, I will fondle whichever woman in the audience is the hottest. I will do it as Jesus, though, so that will be okay.
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12/06/2009
Update: A wonderful audience tonight. It helped that I had a lot of family there, but the performance felt good. HOWEVER, there was a trio of strangeness downstage right / house left. Bald guy, woman with curly hair and asiatic chick. Asiatic chick was nicely responsive, but bald and curly made discomfort and apparent anger into some kind of performance art. If I was singing a song and threw a line their way, the portcullis would slam down and they would turn to look in another direction. We wondered during intermission if they would leave, but no! They were still there at the top of Act II! And I made a little eye contact with them on some spoken lines, they didn't look away, so I thought maybe it was okay.
Nope. When I sent them a sung line, it was Prince and Princess We-Don't-Wanna! So strange. If you hate the contact, don't sit in the first row you ignorant fuckmooks!
So, aside from those fuckos, the audience was wonderful. They were on their feet the minute the lights came up for curtain call. I wanted to hug them all. Even the weirdos. Mostly because I would have fondled the curly haired woman, then blamed it on Jesus. Oh well. Next time I will take action.
© 2009, Edward Hightower. All Rights Reserved.
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