We now return you to our regularly scheduled program

We have been experiencing technical difficulties. Do not adjust your set. This is only a test.

And speaking of tests, that was an 'interesting' month or so, in the vein of that old curse, "May you live in interesting times." Note to self: never stage manage two stage plays back-to-back. These are the choices that lead to nervous breakdowns.

And there were technical difficulties with the first show. Oh yes, there were. 70 cues into a 110-cue show, the headsets went dead. Luckily, it was only a loose connection backstage that was immediately identified by a quick-thinking assistant stage manager (ASM) and on we went. Another night, the same ASM's microphone connection dissolved into total static and she was reduced to communicating by flashing the call light once for 'no' and twice for 'yes.' And the light tech lost his mic connection for the last three shows.

The second show didn't suffer any technical difficulties and really only had a couple of glitches, the most notable being an errand costume piece that rolled away from an actor and out of the light and caused a few moments of concern. We quickly plotted a rescue mission over the headsets, but the piece was found before we needed to launch it.

But that's all in the past now. We had good houses for both shows and the audiences seemed to enjoy themselves. Only a month until auditions for the next show... arrrrgh!!!!!