KCRF Final Weekend

….and it’s over. Now begins the week-long sprint to Saturday’s wedding.

In the meantime, for posterity’s sake:

The Good:

• The final Chess Match performances — to put it in the words of a patron woman who came up to me after Saturday’s show: “Of all of the shows that ask for money….we would have gladly paid for this one.” A fine cast, some killer bits, and the sort of cameraderie that was absent when I did Court/Scenario.
• Pub Sing on the last day, when the Limey Birds & Mental Pause came out in drag, dressed as Chuey and the Jolly Rogers.
• The final Last Huzzah, which featured a virgin guitar, tuned and played for one performance of “Nelson’s Blood”, and then smashed to bits in a total RAWK STAR MOMENT by . Best bits of that entire thing: Watching the Queen’s shock, followed by a huge-ass grin…..and then watching the crowd of teenage choir girls scramble on the cobblestones for guitar fragment souvenirs. Within seconds, the stones were cleared.
• After the final cannon of the 2006 season, having the Director seek me out on the cobblestones, give me a huge hug, and say “Thank You.” During the hug, I said, into his ear — “Thanks for the second chance.” He looks me dead in the eye and says: “You’re worth it.” I start getting all teary-eyed again. The spectre of the single-day firing has been dispelled.

The Bad:

• Some members of the cast turning into vampires late in the day, to promo the “Phantom’s Feaste” Halloween event that will be running for the next two weekends. As Leonardo said to me in the lanes…”that’s crap. That’s not what people have paid to see.” Made all the worse by the over-enthusiastic goofery that some of the newly-minted performers throw into their vampire schticks, which often cross the line into truly annoying and masturbatory. I understand why the Directoral choice is made….but perhaps a bit more instruction on how to do it without stepping on the Renaissance experience, and how not to involve performers who are not interested in playing along, would make things a bit better in that regard.
• The Director announcing at Sunday’s morning meeting that we had actually received a few complaints that there was too much entertainment available. WHAT. THE. FUCK. The first instinct is to blow it off as the Director joking that he had no negative notes for the cast….but no, sadly, there are midwesterners who are like that. Who will come to a RenFest, and complain. Usually, it’s complaints about bawdiness. “Too much entertainment” is a new one.

The Ugly:

• We paid the karmic debit of 15 performance days of near-perfect weather with what we got on the last day: The morning saw temps in the 40s, with a steady downpour of cold rain. Getting dressed during that soaked me to the bone, and completely threw my temperature control out the window for the day. Muscles cramping, shivers, etc….which continued even after the weather settled down into a much-more-tolerable overcast and high 50s. As a friend of mine in college used to say: BRRRRRRRFUCK.

The Sum Of The Season: KCRF 2006

Wow. Without a doubt, the best season I’ve ever experienced. A single black mark (the mouthing-off and getting fired thing….which was pretty fucking bad) mars what otherwise was a PERFECT season, and even with the presence of that event, it still stands head and shoulders above any other season I’ve performed. I was playing a role that I truly enjoyed, working with two beautiful and talented women who supported me in every sense of the word. The weight loss of the past year had me better able to play as I wished to, and the combination of that with the character I was portraying had me actually feeling downright attractive at times, which is something that I haven’t experienced in quite a while, and something that I’ll never forget.

The energy on the site was palpable, from the most experienced performers down to the first-years. From the new Queen who is a marvel, to the street characters who truly “brought their A Games”, the whole place glowed. My friends in the cast (both old and new) were truly radiant, and playing off you, or even watching you interact with others, truly took my breath away. I stand in awe of your talent, your professionalism and your beauty.

It used to be that when I thought of the KCRF site, I imagined the way it was in the late 80s. Not any more. Now, I’ll picture this last season — a perfect, shining moment.

The final cannon echoes away….

…Brigadoon fades again.

…T-minus 45 weeks and counting.