May 31/07 Café

May 31

A busy Café this month. Sher was finishing her run of Blood Wedding, Pip is still doing follow-spot on Beauty and the Beast and Steven is working evenings to save money for his summer in France. So Ivan Frisken (from DaPoPo's The Modern World, The Sex Play) came on board to swell the ranks with Garry, Eric, Andrea, Mike and Kim. We had a new Queerified Combo on the menu and a special "Carolin's Combo" for our friend Carolin Anthes who was at her last Café before travelling and moving back to Germany.

We had a large attendance again, which is encouraging. Logistics still are a challenge, especially regarding getting all orders satisfied in a timely manner, seating and reservations, "back stage" shuffling. All in good time, my dears. As long as people still are having a good time, having a good experience... all in good time.

Ivan and Garry as Juliet and Nurse

Some thoughts about the night from the cast:

Mike: It was great to see both returning regulars and new faces at the May 31 show. The highlights for me were the enthusiastic response to our new Big Ensemble Number, which we had put a lot of work into; somehow pulling off the Fuge Aus Der Geographie without getting off track as we usually did in rehearsals; and doing "Famous Blue Raincoat" as a special request for Kevin and Annie. I felt bad for the people who had to wait a long time for their order because it was so busy, but overall it was a good night.

Kim: Eric and I finally had stuff ordered that we've had prepped for months: scenes from All's Well That Ends Well and The Sex Play. It's very satisfying to be able to do the things you're ready to do. On the other hand, it's a bit freaky to do the things you aren't quite as ready for! Case in point: I learned Shtev's part in "The Mad Tea Party" in a matter of days. It's almost entirely in German. I do not speak German. I was, frankly, stressed, but our lovely patrons were forgiving of my horrendous accent and miraculously, without actually rehearsing with the others, we did a good scene. And - drumroll please - I sang a non-character song solo. That's huge for me. Right before I started, I had the feeling of being on the edge of a cliff about to jump off. That's the Cafe thing. It's so great for a performer... There's a push to "do." The opportunity to try. Possibly fail. Try again... fail better (an idea unabashedly adapted from Samuel Beckett). Or to just enjoy the enjoyment of the souls around you for those wonderfully chaotic 3 or 4 hours.