Oh what a night…

Friday night we had a huge First Friday event. It was a partnership with DrinkPhilly, Philly Love Notes and Philebrity. Hipster organizations all. We had drink vendors (read, alcohol) as well as restaurants. For a $5 “donation” you got four tickets. All ticket money went to the theatre.

It was a sweet deal. Okay, it was sort of a sweet deal. 98% of the people there didn’t give a hoot about the theatre, they just wanted beer and food. That’s okay. We had 700 RSVPs hoping that at least half of them would not show up. I’d say that was about right, half.

All was going well, the end time came and we were getting ready to shut everything down when the lights went out. All the lights, the building went dark. One good note, the emergency lights worked well. Always look for a silver linine! Everyone thought it was us shutting down the party. Most thought it was cool. As we scurried around looking for the tripped breakers – of course we thought we had done it – folks were happily partying in the dark. In my head a little voice was poking at me…. “ha ha, you broke the building.” Sometimes that voice in my head is so bizarre, but that’s  different post. We had tripped breakers a number of times before but never the whole building. What was going on?

Once we figured out it was more than us, (is it bad I was secretly happy that almost 500 customers were out of power), we started to empty the building. That was mostly smooth except for the stubborn few. “But I still have beer!” “Hey, relax, I’m getting to it.” Always my favorite. Always. I LOVE it when people tell me to relax.

Then came the fun part. We started to clean the building in the dark. Now of course you know that by dark, I mean there were emergency lights all through the building, but let me assure you they help to see to get out, not to sweep floors. It was late, we were exhausted and adrenalin pumping at the same time. Oh did I mention that right around this time we got word that power was also out at our Actor House, where we put up out of town actors.  The night was getting better and better.  The only saving grace was that we never lost power at the main theatre building where not one but two shows were in progress.

Punchy, feet so tired of standing on concrete floors they were ready to fall off we began the process of resetting the building. We had to. We had Girl Scout Day the next day and could not leave the building smelling like a brewery. And it did. Smell like a brewery. Or a fraternity house. I understand one of our guest got sick earlier in the night but we had the “A” team on they were kind enough to spare me that one.

Back to cleaning up… all the kegs had to come down the stairs – power was out. All the tables, down the stairs - power was out. Makes you realize how much auto pilot we use. Walk in to a room and hit the light switch. Duh, power is out. My phone was dying and I was so annoyed because I only had the USB not the part you plug into the wall.  “Hey, Hannah, the power is out.” One guy wanted to vacuum the mat by the front door because it looked like crap – “Hey, Matt, no vacuuming, the power is out.” Even as I type this, I get it. It is only funny to us. We thought it was funny. It was just one of those nights.

Finally, after finding a bottle of Febreze in someone’s car we left the building smelling like beer with  fruity, flowery overtones. Not sure it was a better smell, but we knew it wasn’t worse.

The power came on at 12:30 am and life was good. Thank you PECO for calling me a 7:00 am the next day to confirm that.

The crew that set up for Girl Scout Day was kind. A bit of Mac and cheese in this corner, some trampled caramel bits in that one... but all in all, it wasn't so bad. And it only smelled a little stale. You know, like someone had a party the night before. The Girl Scouts didn't care. They were on a craft mission and nothing would stand between them and their patch!

Fast forward to last night. Opening night for Sideways Stories from Wayside School, our first children’s theatre of the year. We had some activities in the new building but most were in the theatre building. About 5 minutes after the show goes up, power goes down. It was like déjà vu all over again. No biggie, we had this down, now. Luckily, it was short lived and only about an hour.

I think the way to handle this is quit fighting and start programming. Party in the Dark? Theatre by candlelight? Maybe radio dramas? Headlamps for staff? Who knows what today brings. If we’re lucky, it includes power.