Today is a special day.  Now, certainly it’s the penultimate performance of Barefoot in the Park, and we hope you’ll agree that that’s a pretty exciting event.  But it is no match for the fact that today is Jayce’s birthday!

I mean, seriously, who can pull off a purple velvet beret like this?  Not many people, I can tell you!  So join us in celebrating the anniversary of the Birth of the Jayce!  HUZZAH!!!

So maybe I’ll try doing a little live blogging during tonight’s performance of Barefoot in the Park… let’s see how that goes.

12:29 - Just got back home and settled in after another fun Theatre Thursday at the Northgate Soda Shop.  Good night, Greenville!

11:00 - Elizabeth really wants a taco… and apparently wanting a taco turns her into a Care Bear.

9:13 - The folks from Upstate Shakes just returned from the park… despite the weather predictions, they made it through!

8:32 - We’re speculating as to whether there are any bony toes buried in the mudroom in the basement of the Warehouse Theatre.

7:48 - "It was back in the day - I was less hairy."

7:38 - "Chevelle No. 5 - this one sounds like transmission fluid.  Now you’re turning my crank."

7:37 - That’s not a second child, that’s an intelligence gathering system.

7:25 - "Sometimes ranch is like Chanel #5." - Rick

7:20 - "I’ve worn the gigantic butt before." - Jen

7:17 - Every time Kevin takes off his shirt, he hears Carmina Barana.

7:14 - Jen is going to write a play called Sucked into Solitaire.

6:22 - Insert chicken noises here.

6:19 - Insert vomit noises here.

6:17 - Insert inappropriate sex noises here.

6:14 - we are currently doing a line through, and discovering the actors’ subtext from time to time… see if you can spot the "dipshit" and "dumb bitch" moments.

I know - it always sounds strange to talk about improv rehearsal.  I mean - it’s improv, right?  But I tend to describe it in terms of football - you have practice where you run plays and practice skills that you’re going to use in the game, but when it comes down to it, whatever happens in the game is up to the other team… and in our case, that’s you!

So anyway, we had improv rehearsal last night in preparation for this weekend’s improv shows, and we thought we’d share a couple of choice tidbits, getting you all ready improv this weekend:

"can you grab another one of these nipples and start blowing."

"I had, like, a little grassy knoww thing going on there."

"This chick has three eyes."

"Not only do they bring you the joy of Easter, they can see the future."

"What about those of us who have large vocabularies and varied syntax, huh?"

"I paid for the collar, and then she put it on.  I tried it on the dog, and she put it on."

"Cupcakes… fascist cupcakes."

If you have any suggestions of games you want to see us play this weekend, let us know in the comments.  But either way, I hope we’ll see you this weekend!

One of the great things about live theatre is that, during a performance, just about anything can happen.  On Friday night, Thomas (who plays Paul in Barefoot in the Park) accidentally knocked over a lamp.  Now, the lamp is fixed, and it was no big deal, but when we arrived at the theatre on Sunday, this is what we found:

Now don’t get worried.  Thomas has made a full apology to the lamp and they have begun the first steps toward what I believe will be a full reconciliation.

While we LOVE the reviews that Stephanie Young writes over at Ubertati, we also love the reviews we get from all of you!  So now that we’ve gotten through our first weekend of Barefoot and Beyond, we thought we might give you a few delightful tidbits from our audience members:

 "I haven’t had a chance to see Barefoot in the Park, but Beyond Therapy was hysterical last night!  Well done and sold out!!… it’s so funny because it’s true… you will definitely find yourself within and Beyond Therapy!  Great job guys!" 

"To the cast and crew of Barefoot in the Park: Fantastic opening night!  I loved it, and I’m going to try to bring some friends with me to see it again."

"Really enjoyed the show. [Beyond Therapy]  Great script, even better performers.  Did note that several of you have 2-3 other jibs, jacks, jokes, what was the word I was thinking of - oh yea, jobs.  Look forward to seeing you again."

"You’ve renewed my faith in Neil Simon - and that was no mean feat."

Just a few of the marvelous comments we’ve received.  Care to add your two cents’ worth?  Hit the comment box, baby!!  And if you haven’t seen them yet, you’re lucky… we have two more weekends!  So come on down!  We’ll be seeing you soon!

P.S. If you haven’t seen the Warehouse Theatre’s Hear What’s in the Heart, you really should.  There happens to be a performance Monday night!  You only have 4 more chances to see this show before it heads off to the Fringe Festival in New York.  

Well, as of last night, we now have two shows up and running!  Very exciting!  And, even more exciting, it appears that they’re both pretty darn good!  For the opening of Barefoot in the Park we were sold out - and our reviewer seemed to think we were doing something right too!  So read her review of Barefoot… then call The Warehouse at 235-6948 to make your reservations for both shows, because man… this is just too much fun!

Check out what’s being said about our summer season that kicked off last night with Beyond Therapy–http://www.ubertati.com/

then, come on out tonight to see Barefoot in the Park!

and there’s extra fun on Saturday night–you will get a chance to experience what the world will be like when Michele is its Supreme Ruler!  At 8, Beyond Therapy.  Then, stick around for a super-special late night concert with Michele’s favorite band, The Winter Sounds!  you can check them out ahead of time at www.thewintersounds.com.  You will not only hear some great music, you will see Michele turn into the giddy fangirl she tries (not successfully at all) to hide from the public.

You know, not everyone has a headshot readily available.  And since we like to put up bios and headshots in the lobby, that means that sometimes I do some last minute headshot shooting.  And sometimes… just sometimes…

Yup.

See you Soon!

Well, we worked our distracted little butts off this weekend, working all day Saturday and Sunday tweaking and adding crazy new technical elements left and right… and frankly, it went much more smoothly than many tech rehearsals of which we’ve been a part.  A little stopping and starting, but overall… it was pretty painless.  And it’s always amazing to see how these shows come to life with lights and costumes.

So, before you read the marvelous preview article from The Greenville News, I wanted to give you a few choice tidbits from some of our tech weekend and latest rehearsals:

"I want the audience to see Prudence as a person, not a giant coochie waiting to pop out."

"Give in to the awkward."

"The Snoopy snot bit was a lot better."

"This is like Tetris in a file cabinet."

"You gave me a kiss on the cheek, I gave you head sweat."

Sarah is starting a trend - "Electrician chic."

Sadly, some of our funniest moments from Barefoot in the Park notes the other night are just a little too risque for even me to post.  Suffice it to say, Websearch image searches of Barefoot in the Park yield some… unexpected results.

At any rate… get ready for some serious fun this summer!  We open on Thursday and Friday of this week… and I hope we’ll see you there!

In my family, we take pictures… of everything.  And so… on this, our 5th birthday, I insisted on a family picture.  So here ya go!

Happy Birthday To Us!