Hooray for the kids!

Opening night is here again! It's kind of refreshing to go to a show, knowing that even with the reception afterwards you're likely to be home by 10pm. It's been a long week. Productive. But long.

This morning I popped into the show with the grade school audience. I always like to see their reactions before viewing the show the more inhibited adults. It is a children's theatre after all. Their cheers, laughs, screams and clapping add such life to the performance. And the actors eat it up. I don't know. Kids shows just feel a little more alive than the standard fare. The plots are simple. The shows run under an hour. And most of the theatrics are simple sleight of hand. No fancy special effects. It's pure storytelling. It makes me feel young. And reaffirms my decision to come out here in the first place.

The next touring show is packed and ready for it's first Oahu stop this week. Then I think it's off to Maui. And two shows left to build. My co-worker is at her wits end with the director for the pre-school show, but management finally stepped in and put their collective foot down. I'm sorry, but if you're a guest director for a theatre you still need to abide by the schedule and limitations of the theatre. But Yalees will always be Yalees. Egos and all. If you think they're big fish on the mainland, imagine the havoc they can reek on a theatre starved island.

But the last two shows should be fun. I'm looking forward to next week. Once the shop's been cleaned, it's kind of like we're starting with a clean plate. A new project will be a nice change of pace.