Mrs. Warren February 10th

---- Feb. 10th ---

After the matinee. One nice, but very odd house today. They were very responsive and thought I was a laugh riot. Even laughed at my ranting at the end. And applauded as the slip set went back and the lights started to dim at the end of the play. But by the time the full blackout came, they had stopped applauding altogether. So the actors had to begin their curtain call just to the music.

Husband had made 15 bean soup the other day which we had for dinner between shows. He’s a master soup creator.

Last night in the last scene there was a black mustache on the floor by the down left bench. I kept glancing at it and wondering if it really WAS a mustache and what it was doing there. Rather a distraction to say the least. You’re going along talking and..talking and....talking, (this IS Shaw don’t forget), and reacting, and you have your normal character inner monologue going on, and at the same time an entire part of your brain is doing a mustache querying dance. “Is that a mustache? How could it be? It sure looks like one. That’s absurd, it can’t be. But it is. How did it get there? Am I losing my mind....?” Turns out they had some high school play reading on stage earlier in the afternoon yesterday and apparently some youth sat on one of our set benches backstage and there removed his fake mustache. Nobody noticed it when the benches were set up in Act IV for our show, and one of us must have sat on it and then swept it off onto the stage floor when we got up. Truly amazing how such a little thing can turn your focus.

The trouser hose I wear in the show are so tight they leave a mark around my calf for several hours after the show. This afternoon in an effort to relieve the pain, I stretched them around the light cages in my dressing room. (The lights that circle the mirror in the dressing room are surrounded by cages. Who knows why. To protect one from burning oneself?) Doubt it will do a thing. Very tough nylon it is.

Two more good reviews came in. I blew several lines this afternoon. Why? Not enough sleep last night? Only 7 hrs. Funky audience off putting? Strange audiences can mess up your timing and your focus. As can black mustaches.....