So Good You'll Sweat

Last night was our performance of "The Resignation" in N.U.F.A.N's Seven Plays in Seven Days. We didn't necessarily have our complete seven days to put up the show. We had all of 3 days. We met twice and were on our way to a dynamite play. The performance went well. Every seat was filled and even a few people sat in the aisles. Becky and Greg had about 1,000 more lines than I did and I know that they got caught up a few times. But we had fun and most importantly, I SHINED as the waitress. I know that some agent out there was just nodding and mumbling to themself "that waitress was just fabulous. Her seven lines really stole the show...that part where she says 'I love you' three times, you could totally tell the difference in each utterance. Sign that girl up!" Oh, and I looked the part in a black pencil skirt and white button down.

The atmosphere proved to be the most interesting part of the night for me. Take the hottest day of the year in Chicago and add an un-airconditioned theater with a side of long sleeved costumes and you have yourself one sweaty mess. I felt like I was at camp dreaming about standing in the walk in freezer just to cool off. I could have served french fries to everyone courtesy of the oil build up on my face. We sat in the dark green room trying not to move too much for fear of pit stains. By the end, no one really cared. Even the audience was sweating.

Theater brings together all different kinds of people. Waiting for our play to go up allowed for prime people watching opportunities. Some people warmed up by sitting still with their eyes closed and meditating. Others practiced some form of Tai Chi to remain focused. A few drank oversized Old Styles while wearing cardboard costumes representing the World Trade Center. That's another thing, the costumes were interesting as well. We only had to wear suits or nice clothes in our play. One play had a man wearing an oversized heating blanket as a coat. All he had underneath was a shiny pair of white spandex pants leaving nothing to the imagination. Becky leaned over and said, "He's wearing boxers under those. You can tell because everything is crinkly." He turned his back to us and you could tell there were NO boxers. She followed up with, "...or maybe it's just crinkly. Ewwww."

Overall it was a fun experience and I hope to do more of it soon!