We arrive at the venue around 8:15am for a 10am show. It's a quaint little theatre that seats about 500 and was apparently wired by the lowest bidder.

The Technical Director tells me about ten minutes into load in not to plug my audio equipment into anything yet because they are trying to run down an electrical problem.

The "problem" they were trying to run down was the fact that the feed from the street was varying anywhere from 90 to 130 VAC. Needless to say, this is not a situation to be plugging anything into.

After about 20 minutes, they inform me that there will be no electricity for the show. The house and work lights are on a separate feed, so they will be on, but nothing else will be.

Now, I mic my actors. No big deal, they can project, right? No, no, wait, let's not forget that the entire SCORE is on minidisk: a piece of equipment which tends to malfunction when not supplied with electricity--inasmuch that it doesn't work AT ALL.

So, imagine if you will a musical, without music. Beautiful harmonies that are too complex to find without the accompaniment. Songs which are transformed into sonnets, spoken sonnets. Quite possibly the most ridiculous live event I have ever witnessed, let alone be a part of. The only good thing was that I had an easy show. With no cues whatsoever, all I had to do was wince as the actors plowed their spoken way through songs as quickly as humanly possible. That, and panicking when our ladder tipped over and bashed my lead on the temple--not the electricity's fault.

Between shows, the power company worked furiously to repair the problem. I had my actors get their mics on and wait. Half hour to show, fifteen to show, five to show, places, showtime...no power. Ten minutes after we are supposed to start, the power comes on. As the audience piles in, I have to run a mic check over a full, noisy house. I have no idea how it sounded. I finally gave up, lied to the actors that everything sounded great and pushed ahead so as to end this incredibly strange day that felt more like one of those dreams when you find yourself back in high school, but naked.

I guess the second show went well. I was "mixing" it from backstage, so it could have sounded like Caribou mating and I wouldn't have been any the wiser. But we got out of there without further incident.

Let's hear it for touring!!