Opening Night

Last night was--well, what can I say?  We left out lots of ddialogue here and there and some of the minor players still had problems with their lines.  I thought it was a fiasco, but the important thing was that the audience loved it.  They didn't notice the missed cues and skipped dialogues and that's all that counts.
Nephew Dave and his Polly were there, in addition to Aline, Marilyn and Jay P., Bea and Pat A., and other neighbors and friends.  We did indeed, as was planned, circulate during intermission, which I thought and still think, was a huge mistake. It breaks the illusion we try to portray on stage and is exhausting for performers, most already wrung out.  Also, after all the hype about wine being served then, it wasn't.  Presumably, last-minute sensibility to possible insurance problems prevailed, but the omission raises an interesting question:  We promised wine and charged an extra five bucks a pop for admission because of it ($15 on Friday, as opposed to $10 for the other two performances), yet we didn't provide it, so shouldn't we refund the five bucks?
There were some infuriating oversights and careless mistakes, including the fact that my mic didn't work during the first act.  Worst of all--I was so pissed!~-in the last, pivotal scene, when I get the carafe of poisoned "wine" from the sideboard, I found it was empty.  I had to fake pouring the lethal glass for "Mr. Witherspoon," and he had to do the same with an empty glass.  Amateur night at Surflight.    
There were plenty of bright spots, though.  The audience seemed well engaged and laughed at all the right places.  No scenery fell down and nobody literally broke a leg.  Eric Mc D., who played the villain, Jonathan and is a marvelous actor, came in our dressing room and presented Chris and me with bouquets of fresh flowers.  Now that's a class act.
It's fun to have Dave and Polly here.  We sat up talking--and drinking wine--until 1 am and had a ball.  Right now, they're talking to, and seeing their son and daughter-in-law, who live in Jakarta, on Polly's iPad.  The others will be here for brunch at 11:00, so I'd better get busy cutting fruit and otherwise preparing.
Tonight, our second performance of three and I hope the wrinkles are ironed out.