People of a certain vintage, like me, will not have forgotten the Bugs Bunny Show which was a feature of our undersized televisions back in the day.
It always
started with an opening theme song. Bugs and Daffy marched onstage with their
canes and straw boater hats (Bugs’ hat had holes in it for his ears to stick through).
Immediately they would launch into their well-known vaudeville-like song-and-dance
routine.
The lyrics
were pretty memorable:
Overture, curtains, lights
This is it, the night of nights
No more rehearsing and nursing a part
We know every part by heart
Overture, curtains, lights
This is it, you'll hit the heights
And oh what heights we’ll hit
On with the show this is it
In more recent years, the song tends to remind me of Ethel
Merman belting out ‘You’ll be Swell, You’ll be Great’ as she performs ‘Everything’s
Coming up Roses’ from ‘Gypsy’. On a less informed note, I have never-once been
able to look at Michael Flatley dancing without thinking of Bugs Bunny.
I saw
somebody on Twitter this week referring to Bugs’ and Daffy’s routine. He said
that there is hardly a better description available of the feeling one gets
when you are involved in a show and the rehearsals are largely all done, and it
is finally time for the show to go on.
That’s where we’re at this week. On Thursday and Friday, at The Linenhall Arts Centre, our three plays will go on.
Our time in
the lovely Scouts Den is all done. Our invaluable borrowed moments in the
theatre are just about over too, though we still have Tech and Dress to
complete.
All that
will be left, by Thursday at teatime, will be to light it up, get into the glad
rags, and get it done.
It’s a bit nerve-racking, for sure, but the upcoming evenings of Thursday and Friday of this week is why we do it. It’s why we turn up in twilight rooms, when we could be at home watching Eastenders or out having a nice stroll. It's why we scour the town for props and learn silly lines untl they are coming out of our ears.
We get to
put on a show.
All through this weekend, people have been coming up to me and saying, “We’ll see you Thursday”, or “We’ll see you Friday night.” They may not see me. I’ll be in a darkened control room sweating over music and lighting cues. But that’s not what they mean. They may not entirely know it, but they mean they will see the show, and, in that way, they will see me. I appreciate that people will come out and pay good money to see what we might do. I appreciate very much the people who have come out over the past weeks and months to do it with me. You guys rock my world.
I keep saying it but, dammit, it’s true.
I’m a lucky
duck…
…or perhaps a lucky
bunny.
Take your
pick.
There
are still some tickets available at www.the linenhall.com or on 094 90 23733 but please don’t leave it too late to grab 'em.
1 comment:
Ach! Dammit. You've ruined Michael Flatley for me. Is he still on the go? I suppose he is. Doing Riverdance Part 17 or something. I'm afraid that kind of thing gets old quick. Like Death in Paradise or Strictly, both of which we've finally given up on.
I do remember watching Bugs and Daffy as a kid but not the song although I get the comparison with Ethel Merman who I remember more from her cameo in Airplane! than the original I'm afraid.
So, anyway, I expect you'll be reading this after the event and all I can say is I hope your leg is in a cast.
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