Today was the day from hell. It started with us walking to breakfast. (Good food at the Pepper Mill) It was slow and when we came out, after wolfing the food down. It was raining.
So– we drive to Washington Elementary. We’re there at 7:45. No lights. No people. At close to 8:00 J– remembers a small typed thing on the contract. “3 performances at Central Elementary” No address. So we’re driving down the street looking for a phone booth. I leap out and am frantically looking up Central, while J– accosts some children and asks them. We both arrive with same answer. 2 blocks down on the left.
So it’s close at least. I run in and find the auditorium and remember the school. Last year F– and I picked up Rush Limbaugh on our sound system. And there are stairs, it’s pouring rain. We can’t get the van backed up ’cause the driveway is mud and the tires just spin. AND the stage is carpeted. Deeply padded carpet, which means our rolling stools are out.
G–, the custodian, helps up load in.We’re scrambling trying to make 9:00. The principal agrees to shift the shows half an hour later.
We get set up, J– plugs in the sound system and radio comes out. Like we were tuned to the station.
So he gets a boom box and is thinking that we’ll manage to turn it on and off somehow. I remember someone saying something about unplugging cords. Which I try and the radio goes away. We’ve got tape and footswitch now, but no mikes. Fortuently there are mikes hanging above the stage. G– comes to the rescue and gets those working for us.
Finally we’re doing the show we get to the Piper luring the rats away and CLICK– blow a fuse. Lights and sound. So while we’re waiting for the circuit breakers to be reset J– talks about lights and sound to the audience.
Lights and sound are restored and we continue until the kids go into the mountain. CLICK. Fortunently G– was a speedy learner. House lights came up. He sprinted onstage and got the breaker reset and we made it to the end.
Then we did two more shows. We unplugged a light for the next show.
After all of that we loaded out in the pouring rain and looked like drowned rats.
I drove us home. J– read “Godson” by Roger Zelazny to me. Got back here to Boise had dinner. Rented “An American in Paris” and now it’s bedtime.
