May 8

(This is more personal than usual but I just had to share!)
Tuesday morning I should have read the tea leaves to see what the next 24-48 hours would hold for me. Some days you just shouldn't get out of bed.

About 9:30 am Tuesday morning Jim Keeney, Chris Simpson, and I loaded the theatre flatbed trailer with the orchestra pit cover (six 4' x 8' pieces each weighing about 200 lbs) and took them to the warehouse located inside the Easter Seals building. We unloaded the platforms and then loaded up 3 large rolling wall units (6' x 8' pieces each weighing about 250 lbs.) that were built for Kiss Me Kate and took those to the theatre. As we unloaded and put the units on stage I stretched my back and a disc I've had problems in the past with shifted. (This is an old college theatre injury that only seems to get worse with age. In common terms "my back went out" My daughter Jade the first time I said that to her asked me where it went?) I went to the Chiropractor immediately that afternoon to get some attention. My biggest concern was that in the play Zink I play the father. During one of the scenes I have to carry my daughter (Sydney Hughes) onstage and set her onto a platform as she is dying. I knew that I was going to be in big trouble if my back stayed out.

At the Zink dress rehearsal Tuesday night I told her that I couldn't carry her that night and for her to just walk on with me. We did the rehearsal and I left Paducah right after the rehearsal and drove 4 hours to Frankfort for the Kentucky Arts Council Grant Review. I arrived at the hotel at midnight eastern time. The four hours in one position didn't help my back. I didn't sleep well that night because of my back and woke up that morning and found that my back had locked in position and I couldn't get out of bed. I lay there thinking "I'm in a hotel in a town 4 hours from home. I have a grant review meeting in 1 1/2 hours and I can't get up. What am I going to do if I can't get up? Maybe the house keeping staff will find me lying here later in the day and help me get up? Will I have to stay for another night because I can't get out of bed? What will happen with the grant review? What will happen with Zink final dress rehearsal? I looked across the room at my cell phone and cursed myself for not leaving it closer. I glanced at the phone by the bed and wondered how you call the front desk to ask for help getting out of bed? I thought this is the perfect comedy situation for a play! (I always try to find the humor in even the worst moments. It's either a sickness in me or a strength. Sometimes I can't tell which!) With a great deal of struggle I slid out of bed and crawled over to a piece of furniture and finally pulled myself up to a standing position. I convinced myself I could do this! Once I began moving slowly about my back unlocked. Although I walked like I was 103 years old.

The grant review panel was meeting in the hotel I was staying at so I didn't have to go far. I made it to the meeting room by 9 am and then waited for our grant to be reviewed. We were 11th in order that morning and they got to us about 10:15. The panel had good comments as well as some questions about the theatre. Unfortunately the panel is set up as a public meeting but the public is not allowed to comment unless the organization representative was recognized and specifically requested to comment. The panel did not recognize me so I was not able to comment. The MHT grant application review lasted 5 minutes. I got in my car and drove back 4 hours to Paducah for the Wednesday evening final dress rehearsal. I was prepared to attend a city commission meeting at 5:30 on Wednesday when I got back. I found out that somehow I had confused the date and the commission meeting was on Tuesday the 6th. I had missed it. The city was very nice and they rescheduled me for next Tuesday.

As I got into costume for the Wednesday night final dress I couldn't bend over to tie my shows. Alexis from the box office took pity on me and tied my shoes for me. (Although Marsha Cash told her she should demand a raise while I was not in a condition to refuse!) I still couldn't lift Sydney so we walked through the motions. I went home last night exhausted and hoped that Thursday would be a better day. It has been so far.

Zink opens for the general public tonight at 7:30 pm. It officially opened this morning at 9 am. Two school matinees were held this morning- 9 am. & 11:30 am. The show went very well.
Although I'm still not lifting Becky my back has improved significantly. There is a blackout just before I'm supposed to carry her onstage and we've been moving on in the blackout and pretending that I carried her there. We will keep doing that until I'm sure I won't drop her.

Tonight's show is selling very well with just a couple of tickets left. The kids at the school matinee really enjoyed the show. The adults all cried. April noted that the 3rd graders at the school matinee really enjoyed the show. They were able to leap into the world created in Zink and really enjoy it. Adults seemed to be more in tune with the loss of a child than the fact that the play is about courage and that Becky learns how to face her fears and how to move through that process. The zebras in the show are all symbolic of Becky's will to live and help her face her fears. Because they are symbolic they have very human characteristics. It is funny to hear a "foreign zebra" in the Zebra talent show do a joke about a Rabbi, a Priest, and a Minister in a boat in a kind of gibberish language. There are some deeply moving parts in the play as well as some very funny parts. Maybe for adults it is harder to see beyond the pain sometimes.

So break a leg to the Zink cast and crew! (I don't like saying that as much since that really happened a couple of years ago on opening night at Market House for Oklahoma.) Come see the show and if you're an adult be prepared to cry and laugh. I think it will be one of those great shows MHT puts on that people will talk about for a long time. There are still plenty of tickets left.