Sunday night was hot! Final show sold out

Last night, our final show was probably the best. Saturday night was great - and we had it taped, so that's good, but Sunday was a home run for everyone. I think we were just so happy to have one final chance to do the show and we were sold out, people were sitting on the floor, they just wanted to get in. I think we could easily do another weekend and fill up the place. Word of mouth seemed to be really good and people were calling, asking if they could get in at the door and we had a waiting list and had to turn a few people away.

Anyway - it was one of the most challenging and scary things I've ever done and also thrilling. All day yesterday I kept thinking, "This is insane. Why am I doing this?" I kept running the lines and obsessing about how it worked so well on Thursday and Saturday, so "tonight I'm going to bomb." But then seeing the audience, so open and energized and ready to be entertained - it just felt like a wonderful exchange and I totally relaxed and let all the fears go.

And it was fantastic that so many of our friends came out to support us and that several people came up to me afterward to thank me for tackling a difficult subject with humor.

Anyway, right now my brain is fried from having gone out late with the cast and friends of Karen's (it was her birthday) so we really had to celebrate.

It was a perfect run: first night, great audience, filled with so many of my friends, cotton mouth - sheer terror.

Second night, Friday night (notoriously a bad night in theater and it was Halloween) smaller audience, less laughs, felt a big letdown, but we all did our best.

Saturday night we did really well, great crowd, Steve's friend Peter, (who he's known since 7th grade) was sitting in the front row laughing loudly and sitting next to one of my dearest friends (they are both from Northern California) - and another wonderful new friend was in the front row beaming throughout the performance.

And last night - before going on, we heard that we had a sold out crowd. Wow!

What a wonderful, abundant experience with really amazing people. Matt, Karen, John, Shawn, Garry Novikoff and his excellent music, Michael Johnz our stage manager, the box office people who came every night to help out, Michael Holmes' great design for our cards and emails, and especially the audience - who couldn't have been more supportive or laughed any harder. I think it was truly one of the high points of my life. I can't wait to do it again. (We should do it soon!) I have to talk to Matt...and Karen, Shawn and John.

And now on to November 4th!!

Cotton mouth and victory!

Well, we made it through the first show. And I would have to say it went really well. First of all we had a sold out crowd and they were fantastic. And everybody did so well - Karen, Shawn and John were all terrific. Going first is not my favorite place to be, but I did well too.

I now know what cotton mouth is, why actors put Vasoline on their teeth. When I got on-stage I could see pretty much everyone in the theater and it was a bit distracting. Usually you only see the first row, but I saw everyone...and then I got a little scared...and then my mouth went totally dry. I literally almost asked someone in the first row to let me have their water. And it felt like an out of body experience, performing while also thinking "Oh, is that Sybil and Martin? Oh, shit! They are seriously great writers...they actually came?"

But then I got into it and it was so gratifying afterwards when a few people I didn't know thanked me and said that they had had similiar experiences and really appreciated the show.

The hard part is staying up so late and trying to get going this morning. And people are calling about coming this weekend, so I have to get back to them.

Yay! Opening nights are always really scary and I'm glad that we have that one under our belt.

Tech rehearsals

It feels so good to be back in the world I love, theater, show business, whatever. It may be a small show, but it feels so great to be working on cues and rehearsing with an audience, instead of doing it alone.

It just feels like home to me and I'm so grateful.

"Souvenirs" Oct 30- Nov 2nd - Our show!

4 Solo Shows - 4 Nights
347 W. 36th Street - 13th floor
Blackbird Theatre - Where Eagles Dare Studios

8 pm Thurs, Oct. 30, Fri Oct. 31, Sat Nov. 1st
7 pm Sunday, Nov 2nd

Smarttix.com

http://www.matthoverman.com/Souvenirs.html

(click on the image below to see all the info)