First Reading: Hedda

Did I write I was ready to collapse when I got home yesterday?  No, that came later.
Very unusual (unusually?) for me, I didn't check my e-mail until about 5:30 yesterday, although I had been home since a bit after 3:00. What's more, I hadn't looked at it while I was away, either.  I opened it and was horrified to see there was a Hedda Gabler first reading at the H.'s at 5:00!
Desi had told me at dress rehearsal on Tuesday that Hedda had been scratched, as we hadn't been able to get an appropriate man for the major part of Hedda's husband.  I hadn't checked my mail to see the message Mary H. sent that we were meeting, plus Ellen V. pointed out later that Desi had misspelled my e-mail address, so I didn't get his message, either.
Well, I called the H.'s, Jim answered and said they were underway (everybody thought I was still out of town), so I rushed over.
My part opens the play, then I appear again at the beginning of the last act.  After the other actors had gone through the whole play, we read the first act, with just "Hedda" (Brittany H.), "Berta (Ellen), Desi reading for "George," the part we still have to fill, and me. It went well and we then sat and chatted with wine and nibbles.
It was all very enjoyable, but hey, it's a long, long, arduous way from first reading to opening night and is always fraught.  Still, I loved being part of it, as I always do.  Got home about 9:30, tried to Skype Ellen, but couldn't (heard from her this morning) and this time, really did collapse into bed.
Now to pull together all the details surrounding For Better Or Worse, which goes on--yoicks!--tomorrow evening at 7:00.