Last week, when doing Nutcrackers, it was warm enough that I thought I could have left my coat at home. (I still brought it, as I’m wimpy that way.) Tonight was a different story. I was freezing after walking from my car to the pit, and never did fully warm up. Now I’m home, sitting underneath a wonderfully warm blanket, enjoying a cup of tea. (I initially had a nice large glass of milk. Cold as it was, it still hit the spot. Am I one party animal or what?)
I sit at the edge of the pit, closest to the audience, right under the conductor’s right arm. There’s a gaping hole next to me; it’s an area that’s underneath the first rows of the audience seating. I think it’s because there’s this hole that there’s a lot of cold air that comes up when we have weather like this. It was draftier than usual. I have to be extra careful with my instruments, making sure I’m not getting water in the octave keys. Ah, the life of the woodwind player! In addition, I think the vents that are outside the stage door entrance must be causing me to breathe a bit of cigarette smoke. (Both the stage crew and the dancers do a good (or is that “bad”) amount of smoking.)
Okay. Whining over. Really. It’s great to see the little kids bouncing their way back to their cars. Too darn cute. Even the ones who, usually at the start of the Pas de Deux, start to cry. (I think that’s probably at about the 2 hour mark, and it seems that some reach their limit about then; our Nutcracker is about 2 hours and 15 minutes.) I also like to hear people chatting as they leave. The other night one man was just ecstatic about the performance. That’s encouraging to hear.
Tomorrow it’s a double service day, so the morning will be a take-it-easy sort of time. I’m trying to remember how I did all of this when our three children were young. I guess that’s why most of us have kids we get too old, eh? I know I couldn’t manage now. Or at least I think I’d be a basket case!
Three more Nutcrackers for me. Then I’m officially off of work until January 4. No students, no playing work. Just family time. Nice!
