The Show Must Go On!

It is Saturday night and An Empty Plate in the Café du Grand Boeuf is beginning its first preview for the first show of Main Street Theater's 30th Anniversary Season!

The show is sold out, happy patrons are sitting in the audience amusing themselves with trying to pronouncee the name.

Finally, the lights go down, cell phones are dutifully turned off and the play begins. After a few baubles with lines, the cast gets into a groove. I, having taken up the Baritone Horn for the role, get through my first playing of Lady of Spain respectably. The first big dramatic moment in the play happens, and then it all goes to pot.

Lights start flashing, horrible popping and zapping noises can be heard from the booth. "Oh, great!", I think, "One of the light circuits is shorting out."

The director comes out on stage, stops the show and asks every to step outside. The actors all progress to the dressing room. The audience applaudes.

I, thinking shutting off the dimmer pack will arrest the situation, go into the booth to do so. While completing this feat, I see that it is not the dimmers or circuits that are sparking and smoking, but the meter box where the power enters the building!

SNAP! I shut off power to the stage lights. Still sparks and noise. BEAT IT! I turn and exit the back of the building.

That is when you hear that the horrible noise has also joined you outside the theater. You see over the roof of the one story building, flashes, hear snaps and pops and booms as one transformer blows. The people at the front of the building in the lobby are all of a sudden at the back of the building. Then another transformer blows.

No one is panicked. All is calm. I turn into the Company Manager and great people as the come out, warning then of the step off as they reach the property line and enter the parking lot for Buffalo Wild Wings.

"We are so disappointed!", they say.
"Me too!" I say.

"You were doing a great job!"
"Thank you so much!"

"We hope we can come back and see the rest of it!"
"So do I!"

In due time, firemen and power company personnel show up and do their jobs. The theater is cleared of smoke, the building is disconnected from the power grid, and a dark lonely theater is locked up. Everyone got out safely. No real damage other than the electrical juntion occurred that could be seen that night. We don't live in the Astrodome. These are blessings.

The fate of the theater and show are unsure. Today's preview is cancelled. An electircian was called and hopefully will asses the situation today. We have some room to push the show back. We also can possibly move the show to our other location, and perform on a disguised version of the set for Alexander Who's Not, Not, Not, Not, Not, Not Going to Move. Not my first choice, but you do what you have to do.

Keep Main Street Theater, Houston Texas in your happy, positive, thoughts today!