Friday, August 01, 2003

Opening day...my favorite. It's a kind of ritual and holiday for performers, in the classic sense--much as normal folks look forward to holidays with a mixture of eagerness and mounting dread, so too are openings. Even with a show as nailed down at 21DY, I still get hit with the whole range of nerves...and I suspect strongly that when that stops happening it will be time to pack it in for this lifetime.

First, take a look of this picture, taken from where I am sitting right now, in a Starbucks on Princes Street with WiFi access:


Isn't that something? I'm something of a Starbucks conisseur, and I have to say that this very well may be the nicest Starbucks I've been to on three continents...between the amazing view, the vivacious Scottish hospitallity and the internet access, I think I've stumbled upon a small slice of heaven.

In just a few hours I have the press junket, where I will perform a section of the show for reporters and press in a delightful dog-and-pony show. I'll answer the same questions I've been asked 1,000 times with zest and elan, then head home, try to nap, review my pieces and get ready for the opening tonight.

Last night's BBC interview was a fucking hoot. The segment before me was pure BBC--it was 4 different design professionals discussing the impeccable merits of the French Citroen. Even NPR would have held these people to a 5 minute segment, but somehow they talked about the wonders of this car for over 20 minutes...in the process making the most outlandish connections. My favorite was the guy who compared the Citroen to the work of Roland Barth, and another panelist spoke about how the car itself resembles Barth's writing. Then the host had to say that she had seen a Citroen with five cigarette lighters, to which a panelist responded, "Ah, the French really know how to live!" Then they all nodded audibly into their microphones.

Had I not been busy stabbing out my eyes I would have asked wittily how this segment fell on the BBC's ironclad promise never to shill for corporate interests, but I sensed that these professors had a very poorly developed sense of humor about the Citroen, industrial car design and the universe in general, so I abstained and resumed quietly sobbing through the absolutely interminable segment. The 5 people in Scotland who were still listening when I got on the air will get free tickets to my show if they make it down to the Assembly Rooms this week.

Opening Day!

3:34 AM