The show started about seven minutes late, due to a packed house of patrons, critics and New Village Arts’ Ensemble members.  Daren Scott began his performance of Crumpet the Elf, and as the director of the piece, I must admit that it was his strongest work I had seen to date.  It was thrilling to watch all the time we had spent in rehearsal come together in front of an enthusiastic audience.

About two-thirds of the way through the performance, Mother Nature took over.  Carlsbad had been experiencing an unusually strong winter storm, and at 8:45 PM, the power went out - on the entire block.  At first we all froze - Daren on stage - the audience under the emergency lighting that went on.  Then I jumped up and explained that “Macy’s Santaland was undergoing technical difficulties.”  I raced back to the breakers where I met up with my Dad and Becky Pierce (our former technical director, who was in the audience that night).  Everything was as it should be, so we ran out to the street to check out the rest of the block - it was dark.  I ran back into the theatre and asked The Fabulous Earrings, a singing trio that had entertained us before the show began to come up on stage and lead the audience in some Christmas carols.  At the same time, Adam Brick (Ensemble member and sound designer), Becky Pierce, Managing Director Alex Scollon and my mom, Laura, passed out flashlights to the front row.  The front row trained those flashlights onto The Fabulous Earrings and a rousing rendition of JINGLE BELLS began.

Ted Owen, the president of Carlsbad’s Chamber of Commerce, happened to be in the audience that night and he stepped out to make some calls to see how long we might be “in the dark”.  It didn’t look good.

I met Sam Sherman (stage manager), Anthony Phifer (ASM) and Daren Scott backstage to discuss what we were going to do.  While we were discussing, The Earrings switched over to WE WISH YOU A MERRY CHRISTMAS - the audience singing along.

I was so thrilled with the work that Daren was doing that I didn’t want it to stop.  “Shall we do this by flashlight?”  “Yes, we shall.”

The Fabulous Earrings led the audience in one more carol and Daren and I went back onto stage.

I explained to the audience that I wanted to see Daren finish the play - and the audience agreed with a rousing ovation.  The front row was instructed to keep their flashlights trained on Daren, I took my seat in the back row, and the magic began.

For the next twenty minutes, the audience sat transfixed by the flashlight on Daren’s face.  The jokes were funnier, the poignant moments absolutely beautiful.

At one point in the script, there are announcements made over the loudspeaker - that was out, since we didn’t have power.  From the tech booth came the voice of Stage Manager Sam Sherman, who called out the lines from above.  I don’t think I’ll ever forget the look of joy and gratitude on Daren’s face when he felt Sam with him on this adventure.

We got to the last line of the show, Daren finished the play, and the audience immediately rose to their feet, celebrating the magic of live theatre, the bravery of the performance and the unforgettable sense of being involved in an event that none of us would soon forget.

The audience was invited to carefully exit the theatre and join us in the lobby for a candlelight celebration of the night, complete with more caroling, Irish coffees and the kind of comradeship that can only happen from having a shared experience together.

Those of us on the creative team and in the Ensemble were reluctant to leave the theatre that night.  Something special had occurred, and we all felt lucky to be there.  I think it reminded all of us of why we do this - why we create theatre to share with our community.  I know I’ll never forget the experience - and I doubt that the other one hundred people there will soon forget. 

Happy Holidays to you all - thanks for all you do to keep live performance important and thriving.  There really is nothing like it.