Every theatre you go to is going to have a different opening night tradition. For some, it’s a big deal. For others, it’s just the start of things. And I suppose, for many, it’s a little of both. Most of my experience is from opening nights at People’s Light. My child actor days were a very long time ago, and I don’t remember much from them, and I only had two opening nights working in NYC. But I think more than anything, I want to talk about what opening nights have always meant to me.
I think there’s something magical about opening nights. Sure, you usually have to go through an invited dress and some previews to get there, but opening night is the “official” presentation of your finished product. I don’t think a show is ever fully polished, not even until closing, but opening night is the proper start to a very exciting journey. It’s a sort of high before you fall into a routine with a show. It’s the day/night where everything is static and everyone is both on edge and excited.
It’s not just the cast and crew that feels this, of course. I remember when I worked front of house at People’s Light, opening nights were a grand affair. After the show, there’d be a big party catered by the restaurant next door, often with themed foods. Everyone looked their best, usually in fancy wear. It was always a lot of fun. We’d all just float from person to person, wishing each other a happy opening night, giving hugs, and having a good time in general. My first time working front of house, the house manager wouldn’t schedule someone for opening night until they had been working there for awhile and she trusted them. Even after that, it was rare to regularly be scheduled opening nights. I was lucky enough to work most of them.
Opening night is more than just excitement and celebrating. Personally, when I was acting or working on a show, I always got opening night jitters. For as exhilarating as it all was, I was officially giving a show life. The audience was giving the show life. Whether the audience realized it or not, this was us giving life to a play. We had put in tons and tons of work to make this show. Whether it was a professional play, the ensemble I worked with, or even a class presentation, I was a bit nervous about giving something that close to me.
There’s no way I could have gotten through an opening night if it wasn’t for the people I was working with. When I was acting as a child, it was the older actors reassuring me. When I was working with New Voices in high school, it was my ensemble, my family who would make everything that much easier. And when I was stage managing in NYC, it was the professional cast and the rest of the crew not treating me any different from anyone else in the group. It was truly my adult awakening.
I think opening nights are definitely a good reason for celebrating. From someone who has been through a lot of them, from all sides of the play, I think it’s important to celebrate them. It’s that push to get a play to the next stage of things, the very highest peak before you go plunging down into a (hopefully) successful run. It’s a moment of a show that can never be replicated. Everyone is bright eyed and bushy tailed, and ready to just go for it.
Over the years, I’ve had some magnificent opening nights. I remember nights where I learned something totally new with someone, right in the moment. Things that were never rehearsed, but just happened and were so brilliant we kept them in. I’ve also had some disastrous opening nights, where people forgot their lines or blocking…or both. But we always make it work. That’s the thing about theatre in general. As much as we celebrate opening nights, we also have to learn from them…no matter which way they go. I don’t think there’s such a thing as a middle ground opening.
So what happens after opening night? Well for me, the show just keeps getting better and better. No matter how much you think you know about it all from rehearsals and getting the show up, you’re going to keep learning as you go along. New things are going to happen every show. Some people may forget their lines, and improvs have to happen. Things get incorporated into shows as you continue to learn from your fellow cast and crew mates. Theatre is all about going with the flow. Opening night is the true start to that. I guess in a way, it’s sort of like a roller coaster. Opening is the top before you freefall down.
Opening nights will always have a special place in my heart, and I’m sure in many others’. They’re fun and exciting, but also scary and daunting. You can’t have a real start to a show without an opening night, so we definitely have to love them for that. And remember…there’s a beauty there, a magic shared by everyone experiencing that pinnacle of a show. Bask in that, and love that. It’s felt all over a theatre, I can promise you that.
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