Last night, I finished the first of two fundraising Cabarets with Zucchini Grotto. This is the third Cabaret I've stage managed for this group and it's a real joy every time. It's always wonderful to work with people this organized and professional. Now, I'm not a stage manager, but I have done it in the past (and I think every actor should experience the life of a stage manager at least once so they can understand how truly difficult it is), but what I do here is not real stage management. I haven't sat in on rehearsals, I don't create a prompt book, and I don't touch any of the buttons in the booth. In fact, yesterday was the first time I had some real responsibility because I had to build the cues with the lighting board operator. Also, I'm not a technician which makes working at the NAC 4th Stage such a thrill. If anything goes wrong, there are two technicians ready to swoop in and fix it. Those guys own that space. My biggest stress? Make sure everything gets done before the techs need to take their union break.

And the music is such a treat too. My appreciation and understanding of the musical theatre scene grows with each performance I attend. Did you know someone actually wrote a musical about leprechauns? Leprechauns in the Southern United Sates who helps fight segregation? I'd link the answer here but a certain someone will probably take care of that tonight anyway. You see, this Cabaret differs from the others in that it involves trivia questions. The questions can be kind of hard, but a certain performer who shall remain nameless has picked up a nasty habit of letting all the answers slip out. So much so that I actually had to shut the lights off on him so he'd stop. (True story!)

I guess I love working with Zucchini Grotto because I find it to be such an incredibly, unbelievably easy gig. I mean, society conditions us that work, "real" work, should never be this fun and easy, right?

Then again, maybe I'm just really good at what I do.