That. Was. HIGH FIDELITY. "Good Night! And Shalom!"

My knees hurt. My hair is longer than it has ever been in my whole life. I'm a tad hungover. I have 5 days worth of stubble on my face. I think I bruised my heel. My abs are sore from laughing. My tear ducts are dry. I have microphone tape residue on my neck hairs. My voice is tired. My sleep patterns are off. "And I wouldn't change a thing about it. No, I wouldn't wanna change a thing...."

High Fidelity closed last night. I'm not quite sure where to start, and I may have quite a bit to say, so please forgive me if this gets a little long...

So, we knew early in the week that Thursday and Saturday were going to sell out. Would you believe Friday (the 4th of July) sold out as well?! That is truly a surprise... Who knew that a full-house of people would come sit in a dark theatre on a gorgeous holiday evening, and during primo fireworks time?! Hopefully we gave 'em some fireworks onstage, though...

I'd humbly venture to say that we did. These last three shows really rocked...

Let's start with Thursday. We all arrived at the theatre excited to perform as usual, but maybe with a bit more energy and excitement than most Thursdays, since almost everyone in the cast had the next day off from work. The show moved like clockwork - very cool, rock-and-roll clockwork - and we had a great audience response. After the show, part of the cast went to the Loop and part went to Denny's, I believe. I was unfortunately able to do either, but it was cool because I got to go to a friend's birthday party. This was a theatre friend, Alice, and there were lots of great friends there enjoying the awesome weather and excellent food and drink. Several had either been to see HI FI, or were attending this weekend, so actually the show was the topic of several conversations. That was kinda cool...

Friday was an awesome day all around. I love the 4th of July - it's always been one of my all time top five holidays. I love the fact that we get to celebrate our great country and the freedoms that it offers, I love fire(works), and I love beer and grilled meat! I slept late in the morning, which was fantastic, and just enjoyed some downtime at home for a change. Then in the early afternoon I went to a pool party at my good friend John's house. More theatre folk and more very cool comments about the show. Some of the revelers were headed there that evening, actually. I stayed only for about an hour so that I could get home and shower up, etc. before heading to the theater. Another great show. A huge shout out to our band director, Chris Petersen. A couple of the other band members had other gigs or commitments on the 4th, so Chris beautifully made the magic happen in their absence. After the show, we had a great cast party at Trisha and Mike's very cool pad (thanks, guys!). Zachary and Peanut live in the apartment upstairs from them, so I got to see their cool place too. We had tons of food and beverages to enjoy, and even a firepit with s'mores and stuff. It was a great night...

So that brings us to Saturday. I woke up knowing that it was going to be a very full day and very late night. Mine started with a rehearsal at 11:00 for a cabaret benefit I'm part of with Stray Dog Theatre next month (shameless plug: Aug 2 at Tower Grove Abbey, www.straydogtheatre.com). Then, believe it or not, I went to another pool party in the afternoon! This was a surprise party for my friend, Mara - she was totally surprised, which always is so funny to watch... Again, I stayed only for a while, but I enjoyed it. So then on the way home, I stopped by the Record Exchange. I was looking for some sort of trinket or momento to give to the cast and crew, and I had no idea what that would be. But I found something cool - little album cover photos that had been turned into pin-on buttons. Perfect! I was selecting a whole bunch of them when the owner, Jean, walked up to me and asked how the show was going. This guy is so cool, and has been so great about helping us to publicize the show. Scott had given him some comps and he attended during the second Friday, I believe. He couldn't stop raving about the show and how much he could relate to it. He said "I know all of those characters. And then some." I found out that he had created these buttons by hand as well - awesome!

We all arrived at the theatre between 6:30 and 7:00 as usual, and you could sense the mixed feelings we all had. We got dressed, did our vocal warm-ups, sound checks, and all the other prep. Show time arrived and the house was packed. I really believe that everyone took it up a notch with this one. All of the performances have had major energy, but this one was just that one step further in the right direction. A final standing ovation and lots of hootin' and hollerin' (sorry, I'm from Arkansas...) - what a way to end it...

I talked afterwards with a bunch of friends and co-workers who were in the audience - it was so humbling to have at least a few folks there that I knew each night... I reluctantly left them to go help with striking the show. I was reluctant not only because manual labor is not on my top five list of favorite things to do, but also because it was going to be very weird for me to tear this set down. Anyway, everyone pitched in and we actually got it done in about an hour and a half or so. Not bad!

Then on to the final cast party at Kimi's. What a blast! Kimi and Jim have an awesome home, and damn, this girl can cook!!!!! We enjoyed another night of unseasonably nice weather on their great patio. Now we didn't even arrive until almost 12:30, so it was destined to go late. And it did. I had never before sung "Bohemian Rhapsody" by Queen with about 12 other people at 4:00am, nor did I think I ever would, nor do I think I will likely ever again, but I did last night. And then I got to watch Zak and Peanut do their dance for the first part of "Conflict Resolution." My back was always to them at this point onstage, so this is the first time I saw it. Dudes, I almost wet myself laughing...

I just got up a little while ago and obviously the show is in the front seat of my mind. Words cannot describe what the entire experience was like for me, and I think truly for everyone involved. I told some folks last night that when I walked into the dressing room after the final show, I felt like I had exhaled for the first time in about three months. I will absolutely miss the show and the people immensely, but it was just a huge sense of relief and satisfaction that we had made it through with no major disasters, with intact voices, and with this great audience response... Kudos to all involved.

Again, I can't really put words on what this has all been like. What I do know is that I am so very thankful to have had this amazing opportunity, and to work with these incredible people. I'm not going to post to this blog after I finish this (long) entry, although I think I might do this for future shows because I've enjoyed it so much and it's given me a chance to revisit all of the cool moments.

Okay, I've been sitting here for several minutes and I can't think of how to end this. I could keep going for a while, but I doubt anyone has actually read this far, so I'd better stop. I have loved playing Rob Gordon in High Fidelity. The experience was daunting and trying at times, but so very rewarding... I don't think I've ever poured so much of myself into a character before, so to have the response that we've had is very humbling. Rob is an incredibly complex man. So is Jeff Wright. I think we're going to keep hanging out for a long time to see what else we can figure out together...

Rock on, folks.

Jeffrey