There was plenty of excitement tonight at the Racine Theater Guild, and not just during tonight’s preview performance of “The Producer.” (Which went amazingly well, by the way.) For me, the biggest excitement came afterwards, as the cast was greeting well-wishers down in the green room and the crew was putting things away. As I was exiting the green room in search of my wife (to let her know that I was heading home) I noticed Brian Shalk (a friend of ours and a member of the cast) racing across the far end of the room in a huge hurry- which struck me as odd, but I wasn’t about to stick around and investigate. As I walked into the backstage hallway, I suddenly noticed Mary Kveton – one of the dirty-minded little old ladies in the cast- and Dan Martino – our one-legged Max – standing over someone who was sitting down, holding their head in their hands. And then I realized that the someone in question was my wife!
It turns out that Kathy and another crew member were picking up in another part of the backstage area when they noticed a glove where it wasn’t supposed to be- either on or behind some scenery from our “Beauty and the Beast” production of a couple of years ago. And somehow in grabbing the glove, they bumped this piece of scenery and a big beam perched rather precariously on top of it came tumbling down- just grazing the other crew member but crashing right on top of Kathy and hitting her squarely on the head.
Fortunately, the mishap occurred at the RTG- where there were all kinds of people around, wanting to help. In a matter of moments she was surrounded by concerned folks wanting to make sure that she was okay. And a few moments later, Brian reappeared with a baggie full of ice. (That’s why he’d been racing across the green room.) And for basically the rest of the evening, my wife had that home-made ice pack pressed to her aching head, frustrated at what had occurred but feeling grateful that it hadn’t been worse.
And for me, the best part of the night was in seeing so many cast and crew members come over to see what had happened and how she was doing. It really underscored for me just how much she is loved at the RTG and what a family it is. And although she has a nasty headache tonight (and expects to have an easier worse headache tomorrow) she’s not dizzy or nauseous or suffering any other symptoms that might suggest a concussion. And last I looked, she was upstairs sleeping soundly- and I suspect that her last thoughts as she drifted off to sleep was how lucky she was that this wasn’t anything more serious. And as for director Doug Instenes, I’m thinking that his last thoughts tonight will be “what black cat crossed my path that this production has suffered all these mishaps? Enough, already!” Fortunately, this show is a Smash Hit in the best sense of the word. . .and not just because cast and crew members keep rupturing tendons, breaking fingers, and having piece of the set fall on them. And Lord willing, we will make it through this run without any more bumps and bruises. Lord knows we’ve already had more than our share!
pictured above: Kathy in the green room after tonight’s preview performance. That’s fellow crew member Ellie Hammond standing next to her.
The official opening of “The Producers” is Friday night. Get there and see this show if you can- it’s a feast for both the eye and ear.