‘The Hound of the Baskervilles’
Conejo Players Theatre
351 W. Moorpark Rd
Thousand Oaks, CA
8pm
Everyone in theatre has a favorite show. A favorite building to work in. A particular night that keeps them coming back.
Dress Rehearsal Thursday is unlike the rest of a show’s run. In here there’s still time to adjust a light, paint a last part of the set, juxtapose a line, trip over something or someone one last time. It’s the last night an actor can fall in the forest and not be heard.
We’re so close to perfect. We’ve been working for months on character, their back stories, why they do what they do. The crew has given us everything we need. As actors we’ve come to know each others moves, and as people we’ve been in each others pockets every night lately. On our way into the building we’ll say hello, quote one of the lines from the show and suddenly begin an impromptu line-thru. We like one another, and that will show when you see us.
Tonight, there will be a sense of relaxation among the cast and crew that will vaporize the following day. On Opening Night, those people will have paid to see our best, and they’ll come backstage afterward to mingle and chat, have finger foods and sparkling apple cider. We’ll catch up with faces we haven’t seen in years and listen to what new projects they have in the works.
But for now, this one more night, we’re still perfectly imperfect. And at 8pm we’ll recite a contemporary rendition of Sherlock Holmes’ famous tale for everyone who wants to come out, watch, and spend the warmest night in theatre I know.
Conejo Players Theatre
351 W. Moorpark Rd
Thousand Oaks, CA
Admission: Free tonight, 8pm
