The sigh of relief heard 'round the world.

There is something special about an opening night.

Some people get that surge of adrenalin you usually pay good money to feel; you can feel it coming off of them like shock waves.  They are figuratively (and in some cases, literally) bouncing off the walls, talking a blue streak.  Usually, loudly.

And there are other people who can be heard making deep, exhaling noises, shaking themselves to remove the tension, running tongue twisters to loosen the tongue; ticking off scenes in their head.  Making one last look at the script.

And others, hoping to keep their dinners on the inside.  The actors with Olivier's Stomach.

I fall into the last two categories, of course.  Openings are nerve wracking. It's not Christmas Day for me; it's more like the Cask of Amontillado.

And like the proverb that speaks of the darkness before the dawn, it gets worse just before the lights come up.

The first lines are the hardest, but once they are out and you hear a reaction, then the muscles relax, the focus becomes lasered, and it's "lead, follow or get the f*** out of the way."

THAT'S the moment I look forward to.

It's a good solid show; it gets subtle but telling reactions from the audience.  The pace is solid, if occasionally breakneck, and as the old saying goes, "ten thirty always comes."

It's a good group of kids, who came to work every day and put in the extra time to build the set and hang the lights and all the stuff college theatre students do.  They are, at this point, pristine; they are doing it not for a paycheck, but strictly for the love of it.  For the fun of being part of a group; for the fun of playing make-believe for a few hours a night, for a few days a month.

I met Dan Rogers, the director and Sherpa of all theatre travelers, two years or so ago, while doing THE TAMING OF THE SHREW for Capitol Shakespeare.  There are a lot of reasons to immediately like somebody; usually, it's because you think alike.  Dan reminds me a lot of another one of my major influences, the Great Sonny Bell.  Dan, like Sonny, and by extension, like ME, looks at the play, and the character, as living breathing things....with stories from the past, untold things of influence to them.  As an actor, he LISTENS.  As a director, he allows for a great deal of collaboration; he allows for experimentation; and he admires creativity.

And he tends to forgive exhaustion; which was fortunate for me.

We do this for another couple of nights; if you are in the Bismarck area, come see it.  It's on the campus of Bismarck State College, the evening start is 7:30, the Sunday matinee is 2:30.

Hey.  You don't get a chance to see me on stage that much anymore.