What If…

Posted by Cliff Chamberlain

I did a show once where I was positive
I was going to fall off the stage into the audience at one point during the run.
Thankfully that is not a concern to me during Magnolia.

However…

I have a sneaking suspicion that during one performance
I will forget to wear my character glasses in the first scene,
forcing me to not wear glasses for the rest of the play.
You know.
For consistency.

I also worry that during one performance
I will forget to take off my wedding ring in the first scene.
(This is the first play I’ve done since getting married.)
Doing this will change my character’s arc in the play considerably,
seeing as he lives by himself, kisses another girl and never talks about having a wife.

I’ve also had a nightmare that during one performance
I will trip and fall while making one of my entrances
and the guitar I am playing will get caught between two of the moving set pieces
and it will snap in two onstage
and there will be no way to pretend it was, you know, just part of the show.

I am always ready for my guitar to be wildly out of tune.
Even if I’ve just tuned it the second before I hit the stage.

My dressing roommates and I have agreed to watch each other’s backs,
just in case one of us forgets to change outfits during intermission.
This has almost happened to us.
Twice.

But yeah,
Like I said,
Not falling off stage is totally within my reach.