Mrs. Warren Closing

Feb. 17th CLOSING

Spent the day packing up before and after the matinee. Pussies will be glad to be home and able to go outside once again.

I am sad to be saying goodbye. Even though I won’t particularly miss doing this role, I’ve met some good people here and it’s a wonderful place to work. Our director, Preston, was just a joy and a hoot - self effacing, dry wit, a laugh riot, incredibly bright and wonderfully wacky. He’s multi-talented, thoroughly professional, and a tremendous supporter of the arts in the community. Greensboro is lucky to have him, and I feel fortunate to have worked with him

I believe we are the second highest grossing show for a three week run. And this was the first time a Shaw play has ever been presented at Triad Stage. A credit to Mr. Shaw and our production I daresay.

I was rather teary when I got to the theatre today. Nothing like trying to put on false eyelashes when you’re crying. In Act III, during my long absence from the stage, I took down all the photos and cards, dangling beads, etc. from around my dressingroom mirror, washed up the makeup brushes and put away most of the makeup. It looks so barren when you do that. The entire room loses all persona and goes back to being a blank.

The staff and crew are gearing up for the next show (they have been for the past week). You’re about to be part of their past. And you really feel it. There’s a huge psychological change that occurs. You’re not only saying goodbye to everybody you’ve been with for the past 7 weeks (in this case), but you’re saying goodbye to the character you wore six days a week. Long runs are particularly hard to let go of.

You’re off to - who knows what. If you’re lucky, another job. If not, back to being unemployed. I can count the number of jobs I’ve had consecutively in this business on one hand. That statistic is not changing in this instance. It is said that 90% of professional actors are out of work at any given time. We must be nuts to be in this business.....

Ta.