When you create a new play or musical you never know what you have until the audience shows up and tells you. Yesterday they showed up for both a preview matinee and the evening’s official opening night. And if we are to judge from just those two audiences I’d say we did our jobs and created something special.
The matinee audience leapt to their feet immediately for a standing ovation at the end of the show. But it didn’t take us that long to realize we had won them over. By design this odd little show, Southern Crossroads starts slowly and then grows as you get to know the characters, the music, and the musicianship of the performers. After getting to know the family and their excellent music, the story kicks into high gear when the banker and his wife show up to clear them off the streets in front of the theatre that his bank just foreclosed on. The show directly engages the audience, not just through the music, but as an integral character as these are the folks in this depression era small Virginia town who show up to hear the Greene Family Singers play. The characters interact with the audience as if they were a crowd on the street. When the banker tries to shut down the impromptu performance on the street, the crowd did what I hoped in my wildest dream they would. They booed and hissed loudly chasing, as designed, the banker and his wife off the stage.
The Greene Family Singers are also hoping that the crowd will toss a few nickels into their open instrument cases so that they can raise enough money to buy train tickets to their next show. The crowd on Saturday afternoon was also tossing nickels at the stage in the first act and throughout.
When you can pull an audience in like that it is really gratifying. We knew they would love the music (it is superb and our musicians are incredible) but we never knew if they would follow the story. But immediately, they seem to love the characters and the story, and as we found out in conversations later, they love the historical references that are in the story as well.
After the matinee our exuberance was tempered because we knew we had to refuel and then get ready for the all important opening night performance. No two performances are ever the same, and admittedly because we have literally been creating this on our feet, we weren’t as confidant in what we had as we usually are.
But the Opening night performance went off brilliantly. No one threw money at the stage for that show, but the audience was right with the characters and the story in the same way as earlier in the day. And again, the audience rose to a standing ovation at the end of the show. The comments after the show were amazingly warm and full of good wishes. Folks love what we created and several have already bought tickets to return again, which is a wonderful thing.
I’ve created new pieces before and I’ve experienced magical openings many a time, but because our backs were truly against the wall, and we have felt like we were creating a show that would determine the survivability of the theatre, this one ranks right up there at the top of the list.
I’ve got a lot more to say about this experience and it will probably find its way here in the days and weeks to come. But for today, I’m going to enjoy a little rest while basking in an amazing response to the efforts of a group of artists who I will put on stage with any others at any time. Wayside Theatre, and I owe them so much for giving their talents to this effort. To say some of the emotions I’m dealing with today are overwhelming would be an understatement. As my collaborator Steve Przybylksi said yesterday, this thing could have failed, and probably should have failed, at so many different times the fact that it is now alive and running is something to behold.
I’ll be getting some pictures up later today.
