Every night, my first feel of the audience would be when Rory and I were sent onstage for the pre-show. In the few actions that allowed me to cross the set, check in with people, and set up a part of the stage, I was able to take in some of the energy provided by the seats slowly packing up and the sometimes still buzzing conversations. This always served as the initial way to excite me and get me pumped and ready for the show. Simply the presence of the audience—the basic fact of them physically being there was enough to get me started. We had people there who were willing (and hopefully eager and excited themselves) to watch this story unfold.

After the initial moments in the play, (i.e. the beginning scenes), the role of the audience in our production became more important. I felt dependent on their involvement and on their reactions in order to propagate the story. I don’t mean that on nights when they were more unresponsive I felt like throwing in the towel and saying “BYE” to the ingrates, but it definitely was somewhat disheartening. I think we all lived and shined more as characters when the audience was engaged and alive with us, consistently feeding us back with responsiveness.

Most nights, I made a final judgment on the audience based on how they received my “you’re such a special, special man…” line as I escort Phil offstage. It was almost always met by laughter, but I was always measuring how much laughter. There was one show where they didn’t laugh at all—the first Saturday matinee— but in general, people tended to be pretty receptive to it, which I liked. Overall, I think this play was pretty great and well received, and I am proud to have been a part of it.