The weather, which had been superb, turned a bit gloomy today. Given the extreme heat in many parts of the world, it would be churlish to complain about how cold it was—and I am not complaining, just noting that there was a chill in the air and it felt peculiar for late August.
There was a bit of a chill over our rehearsal today too. We worked through the whole show before tea break, with my dear friend Max Rudin listening in the very empty, very echoey hall. It is great to have an audience, but I have to admit that when there is just one person, everything seems to hinge on his personal reaction to the music. Max was both graceful and grateful, but I came out of the run-through feeling unsettled.
There were two issues today. One was that the singers were tired. They put out, they sang well, they knew their stuff, but the zing of the past few days seemed to be missing. We were also dealing with the platforms that serve as our stage for the first time, and one of them made some fairly alarming noises when the singers stepped onto it. I was exhausted too, starting out fine but fighting for concentration as the show went on. Not to mention accuracy.
The other issue happened at home before rehearsal. A houseguest who had been staying with us since Monday came down with an alarming cough that turned out to be Covid. There was a 60-minute period around lunchtime, just after I got the news, when I feared I might have to cancel the show. A housemate went off in search of Covid tests, which are (1) hugely expensive right now and (2) very difficult to find. Eventually the kits showed up, I swabbed my nose, did the dunk, swiped the card. We set the clock for ten minutes, and waited. My husband Jim was upbeat. “You’ll be fine.” Another housemate reassured me. “You’re asymptomatic. You’ve probably been in contact with Covid without knowing many times in the last months, and you haven’t gotten sick. You’re OK.”
The alarm went off. Negative. Other housemate did her test. Negative. A disaster averted.
Hoping for a sweeter day tomorrow.
Get your tickets to 100 Years of Broadway Love here! Sun, Aug 27 at 3pm, Poquatuck Hall in Orient, NY.
Stay safe and healthy dear friend. Mid week has usually been the hardest time.