TALKBACK

We had our first talkback Sunday afternoon and about 20 people stayed. It couldn't have gone any better if I had scripted it myself. 

Mario, Whitney, Patrick, Doug, Jeff, and Peyton stayed to participate. I know Rita sat out in the house and I think LD was out there, too. The actors onstage regaled everyone with how they prepared for their roles, what kinds of research they had done, and so on. 

The audience was VERY complimentary of all of your performances. One woman, in the front row, kept saying that the show was a real eye opener. We discussed the setting of the show being in a small town and at first, everyone thought that small towns were inherently better. People are happier there.

I was able to point out that Grover's Corners inhabitants, as you guys portrayed them, are no happier than anyone else. Simon Stimson certainly isn't happy. Mrs. Webb and Mrs. Gibbs lead lives that are filled with unanswered yearnings and missed opportunities. I think Jeff's Mr. Webb is committed to staying married and raising his kids, but I think he sometimes wonders if he didn't make a mistake at the altar. And L.D. shows us a Mr. Gibbs that is saddled with a burden of grief in his later years.

The themes there are universal. Some people may prefer small towns over metroplexes. But even in complex urban communities, people tend to subdivide their lives into smaller groups of co-workers, school groups, or church friends. You created a community of very real people that the audience particularly liked.

An older lady, who looked like she was a grandma several times over, noted that the two moms in the play seemed to be too busy to always connect with their children. She said that she felt exactly the same way when she was raising her children. Now, from the vantage point of her senior years, she has loads of time. She offered encouragement to the younger parents and it made me wonder why Wilder wrote about such nuclear families in the 1930's. There are no grandparents portrayed or even mentioned in the Webb's or Gibb's households.

Someone else (I think it was Estus' mom) asked Whitney how she went from being a bustling mother in Act I to dead in Act III. Another man asked how the show has evolved or changed over the years. (Our show is obviously the best production of Our Town ever!) Another inquired if Our Town had ever been made into a movie.

The best comment came at the very end. As I was wrapping up, one woman in row three waved her hand frantically in the air saying that she had a comment. She said that she and her husband had lived in New Jersey for 15-20 years and had just moved back to the Houston area. They had seen shows on Broadway on a regular basis during that time. AND everything that had seen at HFAC was as good, if not better, than what she had seen in New York!

I think it was Patrick (or maybe Doug) who told her that her check would be in the lobby at the box office!

You guys should be very proud of the work that you have done. You obviously touched a lot of hearts over the weekend.

Check the blog over the next few days. If we get a review, I'll post it here.

Just a reminder, we have a pick up on Thursday. No lights, no sound, just lines. It would be best to do all of your blocking, but you needn't pull out all the stops emotionally. I am actually out of town that evening, but I'll see if Tracy can "baby sit." I'm very particular that pick ups NOT dissolve into an evening of who can say their line in the funniest manner. That simply wastes time and some of you drive quite a distance to get there.

One more thing, Rita will be appearing in The Nacirema Society opening on Sep 22  (previews) and running through Oct 21 at Ensemble Theatre. Why don't we all get together and go support our Mrs. Webb??? Right now, all of those dates work for me except Oct 6. Would anyone like to attend the Friday Oct 12 or Sat Oct 13 performances? Post a reply and we'll put together a Rita-night!