Scot directed the 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee a few years back. The cast was small, close friends became closer, new freinds were made, and during the final performance, the song that set up one of the main plots for the rest of the show never played (with our pre-recorded accompaniment)! My Friend The Dictionary tell the audience that Olive Ostrovsky's (one of the spelling bee contestants) father is a workaholic who barely spends time with her, and that her mother has resided in another country for quite some time. Without that song, the I Love You Song in the 2nd act wouldn't make any sense, therefore diminishing the significance of her and William Barfée being the final two spellers! At intermission, every cast member went into the greenroom to troublshoot how we can improvise to set the plot up for the second act. We pulled together to come up with a solution that worked - adding the song to the beginning of act 2 - rearranging some lines to fit the made-up-scene we created, and to top it all off, this was the one performance that Scot DIDN't attend.
It was scary, exciting, and it happened at one of my favorite places in the world with some of my favorite people.
