Friday, February 24th, 2006: Fifteen actors for Romeo and Juliet are lounging around waiting for rehearsal to begin, we are two weeks before opening. Pat, the technical director (and a big guy), decides to give us all a ‘safety’ lecture. The metal swords that we’d originally spent $400 on were falling apart, and the wooden swords we bought to replace them are getting broken too. One of the swordfighters is an overzealous lad we’ll call Derek, ‘cuz that’s his name… we don’t protect the innocent around here as you’ll soon see. He was the cause of several of the broken swords and as the rest of us glanced uncomfortably at each other as Pat’s tone escalated as he warmed to his subject we were all thinking that. I’ve listened to many of Pat’s rants before and this one, on a scale of one to 5 – one being the lowest – was probably a three. He was rather adamant on our being more careful with the swords and for God’s sake stop breaking them! We all nodded, a little uneasy, a little bored, but glad that the rant was over. On with the show! As the rehearsal progressed and it was Derek’s turn to come out he never did. We waited and he still didn’t come out. We hollered for him to no effect. Finally cast members went to go look for him and discovered his car was gone.
That night when Pat and Judy (the director) got home, there was a message on the machine from Darrek stating in apparently strong terms how very upset he was to be yelled at by Pat and wanted an apology.
Saturday, February 25th, 2006: Pat called Derek first thing in the morning and got the machine. Pat apologized to the machine and asked that Derek call him back. Later that morning Pat got the machine again. Early afternoon Pat called again and it just rang, meaning the machine had been disconnected. Then Lowell called Pat. Lowell is Judy’s ex-husband and also in the cast. Lowell said that he’d heard from Derek and that Derek was working today and was still upset and so that’s why he didn’t want to talk to Pat. Pat said he was trying to apologize but the little jerk wasn’t letting him. Lowell said that he felt Derek was treated very unjustly. It was downhill from there. Rose (my mother-in-law) take on the proceeding was that she was surprised other people in the mall didn’t ask us to leave, Pat was yelling so loudly at Lowell to stay out of it that the people there to work on the set were a little scared.
That evening we had an emergency board meeting. Pat had just gotten off the phone to Derek where they’d patched things up. Judy and Pat then turned to the board and presented the case as thus: Derek ditched in the middle of a rehearsal and played games all afternoon avoiding Pat. He also left in the middle of another rehearsal and didn’t come back until after he was supposed to on (that was probably an accident), he obviously had anger management issues because he kept breaking the swords. He was a loaner who never talked to anyone and didn’t make any friends with the cast. He will more than likely do this to us again if anyone upsets him, possibly during a performance. Therefore he must be replaced. Marla, Darren, Lowell, Rose and I were (more foreshadowing) on the board, Lowell, Derek’s defender, couldn’t make it to this meeting. The rest of us didn’t really know Derek and hadn’t had more than one-word conversations with him. We all looked at each other and said that if it was a threat to the show and if we could find a replacement then we should can him. Rose was the only one there that said it was a mistake, that she didn’t have a good feeling about it.
Sunday, February 26th, 2006: Derek is informed by Jon, our vice-president, that he is no longer a member of the cast. My little brother Taylor is asked to take over his part, much to my parents chagrin. Lowell sends out an email depicting his sadness in the boards decision and restating that he disagrees, but that he will go along with whatever the board decides.
Darek sends emails to all of the cast members apologizing for his behavior and wishes us luck. Wow, huh? Many of the cast had apparently become close him and were outraged at this decision. None of them had votes on the board and weren’t tapped for their opinion.
Monday, February 27th, 2006: That evening’s rehearsal the cast was still upset at the decision but welcomed Taylor anyway. Judy had just gotten back from Ashland with a boatload of costumes and we were happily trying to get into them long enough to show them to her. Lowell, in a full length gold robe, was mincing to himself at the side of the stage. Pat was sitting in the audience, brooding to himself. Judy was furiously scribbling notes as actors lined up tugging and pulling on their various flounces and bows and trying to guess if they’d put their costume on backwards or not. Out of the blue Pat roars above the happy chatter. “I told you to get away from me!� Everyone freezes for a fraction of a second. Judy asked what was going on. “I told Lowell not to stand next me and yet he’s standing RIGHT THERE. Tell him to get the hell away from me!� I was halfway off stage and turned to see Judy shrug to Pat and Lowell take a half step back.
“I didn’t do anything.� Said Lowell.
“Whatever.� Said Judy, turning back to the cast.
“I told you to get the FUCK away from me!� Pat yelled. Two more women joined me in the women’s dressing room and we all stopped to look at each other.
“What is your problem!� Judy demanded.
“HE is my problem. I’m not putting up with his SHIT anymore! I can’t stand the man – �
“You need to calm down and go home!� Judy yelled at him.
“I didn’t do anything.� Lowell said.
“Look, I love you,� Pat was obviously pointing at Judy even though we couldn’t see him. “But HIM I have a problem with. He is keeps fucking me over! He fucked me over last week, he did again this last weekend, he’s doing it to me NOW! Get the FUCK away from me!� He bellowed at the top of his lungs.
By this time the dressing room was crammed with all of the women in the cast fleeing the scene, everyone was crying and scared, bewildered at this turn of events.
“THAT’S IT!� Judy screamed. “Everyone get out of your costumes and go home, the play is cancelled.�
I’ve never seen anyone change that fast in my life. Little Gwynn who plays Juliet was out of her three layer, laced in, corseted dress faster than I could pull a shirt on. Everyone with the exception of the stifled sobs was dead silent. Rose and I helped get people out of costumes as quickly as possible so that they could flee the terror. Judy kept screaming for Pat to leave but Pat kept screaming back that he was shutting the theater down and then proceeded to make trips back and forth turning lights out. Everyone in his way scattered with the exception of Lowell. “GO THE OTHER WAY!� Pat screamed as he barreled down the narrow hallway from the greenroom to the stage. Lowell like a frightened rabbit evidently stood stock-still in the doorway.
“I don’t understand.� He said.
“I said GO THE OTHER WAY!� Pat raged. We all froze. There was an audible thump as Pat grabbed Lowell and threw him against the wall out of the way.
“That’s it, I’m getting the police, he physically assaulted me.� Lowell exclaimed, heading for the backdoor. Judy tried to call after him that the police weren’t needed, Lowell came back to get his stuff and she tried to tell him that she would get the stuff for him. He wasn’t paying attention.
“Emilie.� It was Chris, his voice was low and tense, like a man on a mission. “Get mother and go to the car, I’ll get your things.�
I pushed mom toward the door, telling her get outside. “Let me check on the guys.� I said, stepping out into the greenroom long enough to see Darren hustle his ten-year-old son Mathew out the door with him. Oh God. I’d forgotten Mathew was here. The mens dressing room was as silent as the womens, only one guy was left and he was pulling his shoes on. Pat was still hollering so I went outside and found Rose crying with Don trying to comfort here. Chris was out a split second later and we headed for the car, and from there to Daves for some beer and pizza… much to my chagrin, I didn’t get to have any beer. While at dinner we tried to puzzle out the whole thing. Was the show really cancelled? What the hell happened to normal fun loving Pat to make him such a raving maniac? What the hell had Lowell done anyway? When we got back to mom’s house, Darren called just as we stepped in the door. He told us that Pat had sent out an email apologizing for his actions and resigning from board. Then he said Judy had sent out an email saying that she was done with the theater, she wasn’t stepping foot back inside, and that she hoped some board member will tell the cast that the show is definitely cancelled. We were in shock. Pat resigning made sense. Judy resigning didn’t. This was her life, she created this theater, she had nothing to do with Pat’s blowup, she was ditching us!
Tuesday, February 28th, 2006: I made many phone calls to the board that day, explaining to those who weren’t there what happened and that we had to meet.
That evening the board recapped again what happened and tried to figure out what to do next. The play apprantely was over, the theater was tanked. How does one go about dismantling a 501(3)c non-profit organization? None of us knew. Cory, the president, was not happy at being left with the bag. Cast members began trickling in, either used to hysterics or there to plead the cause of the show. The board was inclined to take it at Judy’s word and cancel the show and figure out the rest later. The cast protested; we’re only two weeks from opening, we have a good show, can’t we limp on without Judy? Not really, she was trying to play the part of the Nurse and direct too. We began making a list of what was left to be done. It was quite a lot, Judy was running behind schedule and posters and programs still needed to be made, the stage had to be painted, curtains hung, people were still missing costumes and above all how would we fill the big part of the nurse on such short notice? IF we found a nurse, we could probably pull off the show with Darren and myself co-directing, as long as we push the show back two more weeks. However, if we had even one other cast member drop out due to the menacing presentation last night then there was no way we could go on. One by one the cast polled, everyone was in – even Lowell, people were starting to nod and get excited, then we got to Toni who said flat out that even though she came tonight she didn’t think she had the heart to go through with it. Gwynn burst into tears, so did half of the board. This was Gywnns last play in this town, next year she’s going off to some fancy drama college. Zyme, her boyfriend, plays Romeo. It was the perfect end play to go out on and together they are really really good. “No offense,� Gwynn said through tears. “But Toni’s part is not a big one, can’t we find someone else? To cancel based on a bit part is… surely we can find somebody…� she ran out of words and the rest of us didn’t dare look at Toni but we all started nodding again. If we find a nurse, the show will go on even without Toni, if we can’t find a nurse then we’ll have to cancel. Everyone agreed to this and the board sent them home and began making phone calls. The first person we tried was Jonna, who was in the last play with me and who’d we’d spend this last New Years playing Apples to Apples with in her luxury hotel suite run by her husband Hank. Marla posed the quandary and the question to her and she instantly agreed to take on the roll. Jonna totally rocks! We quickly called everyone back and confirmed that we were one for Thursday rehearsal. The show will go on!
Wednesday, March 1st, 2006: That morning Lowell stops by office on his way to his office (he’s an Acupressurist). Lowell was very sad to the point of tears, he tells me that Judy is very sad, and that this whole thing is a mess and that we need to get Judy to come back. I tell him that she made her decision, we can’t force her to come back. What I don’t tell him is that I too am vaguely mad at her for leaving us holding the bag. Rose gets a call at work from Pat of all people. He’s in tears saying that Judy threatened to commit suicide this morning and will Rose go up to her office to make sure she’s okay. Rose runs up to Lowell’s office (Judy is his secretary. Yes, very weird.) Judy was fine but very depressed, she kept asking Rose what was going to become of the theater and how did the cast take it when we cancelled. Rose uncomfortably told her that we were going on without her, that we found a replacement for the nurse and for the lights since Pat wasn’t going to be around to do those. Judy apparently nodded and muttered that that made sense. Rose left her nodding to herself. Elissa, Judy and Lowell’s daughter, called me. She’s unofficially dating my boss and had heard what went down. I filled her in on the whole story and she immediately said that I needed to get Judy back as the director, that she was so miserable, this would save her. That I should find a way to get her back. “She NEEDS this Emilie, you have to help her.� I’m told. Lowell called just after that to re-emphasize the same point. “All she wants is to be asked back, she knows she made a mistake.� He said. I call every member of the board I can get a hold of to get their opinion. Half of them say ‘sure why not’, the other half say ‘if she want’s to come back she has to ask, we’re not gonna’ beg.’ I finally called Judy and asked her to meet with some of the board members that night at the theater, I had to do some quick talking to get Lowell not to come.
That night, Cory, Jon, Darren, Rose and I met with Judy and tried to determine where she really stood. Somehow I ended up as the designated spokesperson. I started by telling her what she already knew, the play would go on. “Well you don’t need me then.� Judy said flatly. That threw me off a bit. So I tried telling her Darren and I were asked to direct but… “Then you don’t need me.� Judy said again, tossing her head back in best dramatic fashion. I tried to change tact by telling her that it was our impression she didn’t want to come back, was that true? (I was proud of that one, it would force her to answer that she wanted to come back.) “Well, I supposed, if want me to.� (Damn, foiled again!) I was stumped. I turned to Jon for help. He caved and flat out told her that we wanted her back. Judy shrugged a little and finally said that she would. Cory looked disgusted but then turned to Rose and asked Rose if she had anything to say. Rose, feeling forced by the spotlight told Judy that she’d thought about it and that she was going to resign from the board at the end of Romeo and Juliet. Judy kind of shrugged again and said okay, like the hours and years of work that Rose has designated to the theater didn’t mean anything. Nice. Jon took the opportunity to show Judy the poster he mocked up, a lovely picture taken from a cigarette ad over a 100 years old that used Romeo and Juliet on the cover. It was very pretty. Judy asked him if he got the poster that she had sent to him. He looked confused and said he hadn’t. “Oh. I made one a few weeks ago, but yours is okay, we can use yours if you really want to, but I’ll send you mine again.� We all looked at Jon and sighed and went home.
Thursday, March 2nd, 2006: The next morning we received an email stating that Jon had resigned from the board.
That evening we had a rehearsal as planned. The cast was surprised to see Judy but by now they were taking things in stride. Judy apologized to the cast and said that the reason Pat flipped out was because he’d been off his medication for the previous eight days. “Whatever medication you take to keep you from being a homicidal maniac you should probably take every day.� Was Chris’ observation.
Monday, March 6th, 2006: Judy sends out an email that says even though she’d told us that she didn’t want to direct the next play (Quilters) she has changed her mind and decided that she does. She says that in order for this to happen she must be invited to re-join the board (she wasn’t a voting member for the past several years, she felt it was a conflict of interest) and get a vote back as soon as possible. And that we need to tell her of our intent to invite her back by this Friday.
Tuesday, March 7th – March 10th, 2006: Cory is ticked but she polls the board who generally agree that Judy can come back to the board.
Wednesday, March 15th, 2006: Lowell sends a surprise email saying that after much consideration if the theater is going to grow in happiness he needs to step down from the board and that he wishes us all luck. Chris, Rose and I all are all sure that Judy had her daughters talk him into it, ‘cuz he’d never come to this conclusion on his own.
So far rehearsals have gone more or less as planned. Jonna is absolutely phenomenal as the nurse and Taylor is making a great Tybalt. I’m a bit part and Rose and I are co-backstage managers, plus we’ve taken over all of the necessary costume corrections and Chris and Taylor didn’t even have costumes for the second act, on top of that we’re the only people left to finish the set so we painted, cleaned, set up audience chairs, cleaned the greenroom and ironed everyone’s costumes. Judy is incredibly hostile to both of us, especially Rose. It was as though we stabbed her in the back… Rose for wanting to leave and me for even thinking I could take over directing.
Friday March 17th, 2006: Everyone is getting ready for the second full run through we’ve ever done. The play opens next week and we’ve only done the whole thing once before. Everyone is getting into costume when Judy calls us out. I hadn’t seen eighteen year-old Canaan and his father Doug yet so I was worried she was going to yell at me. She told us that she’s just received a phone call that told her that Canaan and Doug had had a tragedy. She couldn’t tell us what it was but that they were both okay. She then (even though the rest of us were all there) told us she was canceling the rehearsal, which would leave us with only two rehearsals before we open. She sent us all home wildly speculating about what happened to Canaan’s family. She did however say that the show would go on.
Sunday, March 19th 2006: We had our regularly scheduled board meeting. Judy said she’d held the first meeting of the cast of Quilters. (of which Darren and I were supposed to be cast in but weren’t invited to the cast meeting) Darren looked surprised but I already knew she was going to cut me out without really talking to me about it. We formally accepted the resignation of those that had put in their resignations, as well as Cory’s who put in her official resignation letter at this meeting, and I announced my intention to officially resign at the end of Romeo and Juliet too. That would only leave Darren, Marla and Jack as original board members. Judy shrugged all of this off and proposed that we not accept Pat’s resignation from the board due to ‘mitigating circumstances’. When we all just looked at her she explained that Pat had been ‘protecting’ us from Lowell that night. Now, I – the pregnant chick – could beat up Lowell if it came down to it. Protecting us by ranting, swearing, and physically accosting someone with a ten year-old present? Gimme a’ break. But by then half of us were practically off the board and the other half didn’t want to have to spend more time at the theater if they weren’t on stage. Pat, Judy and Rose did most of the hard work, do that work instead would not be fun. We all voted Pat back onto the board. Judy next stated that with Cory leaving the role as president and Rose leaving the role of Treasurer and Jon having left the role of Vice-president that SHE should be president and Pat should be vice-president / Treasurer. Since Darren, Marla and Jack didn’t want to be any of those things they agreed. She then said she had plenty of people she can bring on the board to replace the rest of us. Nice.
She also informed us of what exactly happened with Canaan and Doug. It seems that Canaan broke up with his girlfriend last Thursday. Friday she asked him to meet him by the rope swing to discuss it. He went there with a friend after school and found that she’d hung herself with the rope swing.
Tuesday, March 22nd, 2006: We had a full dress run through of the play. Canaan and Doug were both there and though a little shaky they seemed okay, I guess only time will tell. This Friday the show is supposed to open and it’s going to be really really good, if we can make it that far. I guess we’ll see. The show will go on.
Posted by Emilie in Uncategorized