With James in law school, I still didn't think I was ready to take on a full-length play by myself yet. The last show in February was all the traveling I could handle for one year, so I decided to do something locally. For some reason, I could not actually gain access to the church or the community theater in the area for a venue. There were few venue options around that were close by, and I had to figure out what I was doing soon, so I could advertise for auditions.

Dinner theater kept popping into my mind.

I had toyed with the idea before. I had approached hotels for room rentals and catering options, but everything was completely out of our price range. There were no real restaurants in the area to conduct such a project...so I approached my boss from the local coffee shop with the idea. They had a separate room upstairs, which also had a wing the actors could block off and use for a backstage, as well as multiple entrance options. With some rearranging of the old furniture, white tablecloths, and logistical planning, I thought I could do it. It would also help me out by having guests order food straight from the coffee shop - I didn't have to pay for a catering option, nor did I have to rent the room - and the coffee shop would make money through the sales boost and my advertising.

My boss liked the idea, but there were a number of hurdles to overcome. First, they always had live music on the weekends. We couldn't compete with any musicians that were scheduled, but we also couldn't cancel the music for one weekend, because literally, it was one of the few things in the town to do that was popular! Second, I was shooting for July or August, the hottest months of the year in VA - as in 100% humidity and 100 degrees - and the only cooling options were two window air conditioning units. Fit 50 people upstairs, and you have yourself a nice oven. Third, we would have to provide our own "wait staff" so to speak, so the baristas on the clock could serve regular customers downstairs in the actual coffee shop without worrying about a play going on.

The only way around the weekend music was to compromise a bit - I bent for them by agreeing to have the show done four nights in the same week, as opposed to taking up two weekends. We performed on a Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday night, the last week of July. They bent for us by agreeing to push the live music time for that weekend to 8pm instead of 7. That way, we could start seating and dinner at 6, the play could start at 7, and we would be well done by 8. We were doing two one-acts back to back again, and it amounted to an hour long including intermission.

Providing wait staff was more tricky. I didn't have extra volunteers, so I had to have my actors help out in shifts. Fortunately, I did not double cast anyone, so whoever was in the first act was only in the first act, and whoever was in the second act was only in the second act. So, I had a few actors who were in the second act serve as wait staff during the first act, and actors who were in the first act served as waitstaff during the second act. I had all actors serving as wait staff stand up in the middle of the audience to show the audience that these were the people to summon if they had any dinner needs. The actors lined the walls and stood there until someone called them over for service.

Good idea? Actually it was a great idea...all except the venue itself. The floors and stairs creaked and moaned like nobody's business no matter what we did. The building was an old relic, one of the most beautiful antiques you would find in the area, but it sure showed those colors with a 21st century theater troupe trying to shut the floorboards up by tiptoeing around. Unfortunately, nothing could be done. And actually, if it weren't for the third problem, the creaking floors would probably not have been that big of a deal.

But the air conditioning units were the real concern. Each night, we got there an hour earlier to run the units. That cleared much of the humidity and heat out of the place, which was great. We also allowed the air to run during the dinner hour. That helped as well. By that time, it was 7pm, so the real heat of the day was gone, technically. But then, each night, we had one of two problems: either shut the air off during the hour of the show, which allowed you to actually hear the performers, but everyone started melting half way through...or, keep the air on and keep everyone cool, but the actors had to yell to no avail, leaving the audience in the back catching barely every other word. No matter how we sliced it, there was no solution. During tech week the week before, I sat in the back, front, sides, near and far from the units, trying to coach the actors to the best volume, and we came up with a happy medium...but it all went out the window once the audiences coughing, sneezing, baby coos, and floorboard creaks were added into the picture.

The first two nights were not very heavily attended. Tuesday and Wednesday - not the firsts nights you think of when you think about live theater. But the upside was they were able to sit closer, so the air conditioning units were not as overpowering as the last two nights. The final two nights, we tried shutting the units during the show, turning them on briefly during intermission. It helped the sound, but not the temperature. It just is not comfortable to sit in a crowded room at 80 or higher degrees no matter how you slice it.

And forget about the actors! We had put curtains up to divide the wing from the main room, so the actors could have their backstage area...which meant the air conditioning units didn't even reach where they were, the curtains blocked the air! They had a large fan blowing back there, but as they kept saying over and over "Doesn't help when it is blowing hot air." I agreed.

The tech for that show was by far the worst, though we conquered it. I didn't bother trying to keep the cast backstage during the show, letting them sneak out for better air every once in a while, or congregate downstairs in the cafe during intermission, which is something I highly never allow. And at first I did try to keep them all crammed back there, but it was just too much. No one should be required to be that die hard.

But that was the tech side of things. Now for the show side of things.

To be continued...

Dinner Theater, Part 1: Technical Difficulties