These have been short but sweet sets before the Follies show at Touchstone, as folks wander into the cafe before the doors open to the theater. Tonight, a few familiar folks came in but there was no critical mass of listeners. In fact, a group of chatterers came in and blocked the entrance to the room;they started in on gabbing while others in the room were listening to the music. It made it hard on the rest of us. But then, that’s the nature of the gig. And, as usual, folks emptied out at 7:45 and I played to an empty room for 15 minutes.
Tonight, I decided to put in some extra effort and play the intermission. It’s been hit or miss, and tonight was slim pickings though my friend Nick, who loves to sing, came in, pulled up a chair and we did Deck the Halls, and a couple of other carols together, so that was good enough for me. Folks tended to stay in the theater for the intermission. Again, it’s part of the gig.
All in all, I was very glad to have the gig as well as the open weekend slots to do it. The money goes towards the ole ‘child-care’ bill for January, I had a chance to work on my holiday material, connect with some intelligent patrons of the arts, and, most importantly, reconnect with Touchstone Theatre, who has played a major part in my development as a performer. I’ll have to write about those days in the next few weeks.
Tomorrow, my annual Carol Sing at Godfrey’s and then down time til next weekend.