North Carolina State Of Mind

Today was so completely different from yesterday, I had to pinch myself, gentle readers, which resulted in two things. A) I realized that I wasn't dreaming and today really WAS going as smoothly as it seemed to be, and B) I added a brand-new bruise to my collection. Oy. But it really was like night and day, and I don't mean a song by Cole Porter. As much of a bulging hemorrhoid that yesterday's space had been, today's was a Tuck's medicated pad. Easy-to-get-to dock, professional crew, and a swift, non-lethal load-in. It was everything you could ask for. God bless Raleigh. AND the show was sold out, crammed full of kids who were so into the show that when I smacked the old man in Tell-Tale Heart with the lantern, a girl screamed. They were engrossed in every single story, and gave us so much energy that every single one of us had a ball doing the show today, which I think was imperative considering what a tough day we had yesterday. Today was the type of experience that reminds me exactly why I do shit like this for a living. It was filled with the unbridled joy you really only get from a theatre full of kids. Adults bridle their joy, except on rare occasions, which I think is a sad thing. Because to be honest, we (adults, that is, among which I must count myself, at least legally speaking) don't bridle any of the negative emotions we have. We are quick to unbridle our anger or our derision or our hate. We are also quick to unbridle our jealousy or our depression (which of course brings our therapists joy which, being good therapists, they bridle at the first symptom) or our greed (AIG, anyone?) I have a feeling that if we were to work as hard at bridling those emotions and go ahead and rip the bridles off our joy, then a lot of the problems we have might just work themselves out. So remember--Pond in 2012--Burn The Bridles! (I think that's a winner)

I have to take a moment and say something about the crew we had today at the venue. They were great. They've been doing the show for awhile, from what I understand, so that always helps. But the reason I thought they were great was because they had North Carolina accents so thick you could pour them over pancakes. The head tech guy sounded exactly like Olympia Dukakis in Steel Magnolias, which made me giggle like nobody's business. (Though I did manage to wait until I was out of earshot. I think giggling in his face would've been a faux pas) And the ride after the show was short (Raleigh to Greensboro is a hop, skip and a jump) and Levitt was in the truck while I was in the van, so all was well. In fact, the only black mark on the day happened right away, first thing in the morning and, while ti didn't manage to cast a pall over the whole day (it was way too good a day for that) it did reinforce my dislike for Levitt as a human being and not just as a stage manager. 

Levitt and Flo are roommates. Levitt is neurotic about everyone being IN the van, ready to drive away at van call. Not putting your luggage in the van, not putting your self in the van, but in the van, doors closed, ready to pull away. Levitt always leaves the room and gets down to breakfast before Flo does. I know this because I am usually down at breakfast before Levitt gets there. So it's not unusual to see Levitt eating breakfast but no Flo. However, Flo always gets down there by at least fifteen minutes before van call. This morning, I'm down there eating, and Levitt comes in, and then slowly, one by one, everyone trickles in. Except Flo. Soon, it's five minutes before van call and Flo hasn't shown up. I'm heading out to the truck, and I'm thinking, "I wonder where she is." I was worried that maybe she had overslept and wasn't awake yet, but then I told myself, "no, that's not possible. Levitt is her roommate and surely Levitt made sure Flo was awake when she left the room. I'm sure she was just running behind and she'll get down before van call." That's what I get for assuming. Turns out Flo did oversleep. She woke up four minutes before van call. Two minutes later, Levitt decided to call to see where she was. That in and of itself was stupid, but what pisses me (and everyone else) off is the fact that Levitt knew Flo was asleep when she left the room at 6:50. Van call was at 7:30. According to Flo, Levitt never even turned on a light, just got ready and left. Levitt said that the reason she didn't say something as she was leaving, like, oh I don't know, "Hey, Flo, it's almost 7:00. You awake?" was because she "Didn't want to be her mother." I honestly have a hard time not thinking she's doing shit like this on purpose. Being her mother would be something like shaking her awake and making sure she got out of bed and was ready to go at the same time you were. Reminding her of the time and then going on your way is just being a considerate human being, especially since you have this hard-line stance on what van call means. I do that. I remind Ted what time it is. I make sure he's awake before I leave the room. Not up, necessarily, just conscious. It's a courtesy, since you would want someone to do that for you. Hell, I did that for Michael on the last tour. I'd be leaving the room and I'd say to him, "See you down there--it's _______(fill in time here) To not do that makes you look like you want that person to be late. It's a shitty thing to do to someone. Period. And there's no reason for NOT saying something. NOW of course she's all over being Flo's backup. It's crap. And it just reinforces for me the fact that Levitt has zero people skills, zero interest in anyone besides herself, and zero consideration for other people's feelings. The only reason she apologizes for anything (usually a day or two later) is because of the fact she wants people to think good things about her, not because she thinks she did anything wrong. And how do I know this? Because she's never wrong. And I don't mean like I'M never wrong--in a joking way, I mean like she will tell you flat out that the facts don't exist and you have obviously mistaken them and her way is the only right way. It's insane. She's the type of person who will be moving something heavy by herself and constantly rebuff offers of help, then when she is unable to move it by herself correctly, will say the reason it fell, broke, got messed up, what have you, is because no-one was helping her.

So that was today. Thankfully the positive outweighed the negative in a big way, and everyone settled into Greensboro happy and content on this St. Patrick's Day where not a single one of us went out to drink ourselves into oblivion. Except Levitt. I'm hoping that makes her more pleasant. It also makes me want to call her room tomorrow REALLY early to make sure everyone's awake....but I'd NEVER do that....would I?