Show’s over, nothing more to see. No more reviews, by me or anyone else. It’s back to blogging for no reason, (which is surely the point of blogging anyway).
I was planning to write about Sunday’s show yesterday but was unfortunately interrupted by a serious bout of hangover which involved much sickyness and groaning and staying in my pyjamas until 4pm. Erik and I stayed up late Sunday night talking, drinking and eating chocolate while sitting on the kitchen floor with Storm. It was as unhygenic as it sounds. And tremendous fun. Our conversations recently have been of the ‘can you do this for me too’ kind and very one-sided. It took a bottle of wine, a needy dog and the remnants of my Super Bowl of chocolate to remind us of what’s important and why we still absolutely adore each other.
There isn’t really that much to say about the final show. It went well, we had a good sized audience, I felt strong and very in tune with my characters. Barry had his best show ever after the previous night’s weirdness and Erik thought it was my strongest performance overall. Now that it’s over, I wish it had been a longer run. But I’m not switching off from it completely and if opportunities come up to perform it again, I’ll gladly take them. And there’s still the video to watch and the new photos to print up.
Best part of the day was the conclusion to the nemesis story. I didn’t actually meet GW until Wednesday evening when my show followed one of hers. I saw her standing in the lobby talking to a group of people so I thought I could just sidle by without being seen. Which would have worked had Sami, my props manager, not crashed the chair she was carrying into the trash can, sending it flying across the floor. I made some comment about Sami’s coolness which further attracted GW’s attention. Our big confrontation went something like this:
‘oh hi, you must be the other Brit’
‘yes, hi, I’m Maggie’
‘nice to meet you, have a good show’
‘thanks, you too’
Powerful stuff. And that’s how it began, her plot to disarm me, which resulted in us trading emails about how she might increase her rather poor audience turnout and in me ultimately paying $12 to see her show on Thursday night. It was a good show, well performed and very different to mine. Maybe everyone was right, maybe GW wasn’t so bad after all.
Sunday afternoon and GW has the show before mine. I place my Super Bowl of candy on the box office ledge with a big sign saying ‘Gallant’s Super Bowl’. Coming back from the car I notice her show has let out and everyone seems to be eating chocolate. My chocolate. ‘Thanks for the M&M’s’ says GW’s fellow performer to the woman next to him who points out the bowl. I immediately call out, ‘you can thank me actually’ in a slightly menacing tone, thus positioning myself as a bit of a twat who gets obsessive over a bag of M&Ms.
I childishly tell the box office staff to hide the bowl and grumble backstage to anyone who would listen.
After the show, we have to strike our set so I can’t spend any time with my friends who were waiting for me in the lobby. So I miss GW apparently accosting my audience members, trying to get them to come to her final 8pm show. I discover all this from my friends when we go out for a drink later. Her lure? That hers is a British show too and that she performs 20 characters to my mere 8, including a bird, a cat and a hamster. As one of my friends later told me, ‘it all seemed a bit desperate’. If only she’d brought some chocolate with her.
So did she come to my show, or did she come back an hour later to try and rustle up some business? Who knows, but as I write this story, I’m smiling. Vindicated.
Keep your friends close.