For our first show of 2016, we had planned to do our old tried-and-true redneck wedding show Podunk Pandemonium at La Paz in Destin (a great venue, and all you Destin residents should throw your support behind Chatham Morgan's just-announced City Council bid). We had an informal rehearsal the Tuesday prior (okay, we drank and ate a lot and might have gone over some of the script) and everything seemed fine.
Friday, as my job description as the Act4 Ninja specifies, I got the Podunk props, along with my guitar, harmonica, costume and finally-broke-in cowboy boots together early so I could work on my other job as editor of the local entertainment publication The Beachcomber. I planned to arrive at La Paz around 5 p.m. to get the show ready prior to the guests' arrival around 6:30.
At around 3, I received notification that one of the cast members had been rushed to the hospital and would obviously not be able to perform. Since we didn't have an understudy for this particular role, we freaked out for a while and then decided we'd put on our go-to show Decked Out for Death. This show was written by Act4 founder Paula Hilton with the idea that we could switch out any or all of the characters and actors and still make sense.
Phone calls were made, and two of the actors not in Podunk graciously came in at the last minute, while the remainder of us had to brush up on completely different characters and dialogue.
And somehow that first show of the new year went off without a hitch. Literally. Because nobody got hitched, because we didn't do the redneck wedding show.
Anyway, big thanks to my cast mates Joe Chase, Sally Whitesell, Cynthia Bergquist and Kay Yarbrough for your spectacular hoop jumping. The cast member that had to go to the hospital is doing fine by the way.
We're excited to be back at La Paz Friday, Jan. 22, for A Condo to Kill For. Or maybe something else depending on how things go.
Because you just never know, do you?
- Chris
