Journey to Hometown, Part 24
I was ready to get back on stage last night, not really knowing what to do with time on my hands. Our three full days off from the show have added several hours of sleep to our nocturnal horizontal time, some have been battling colds and sore voices boxes, all have missed our Hometown family. When you go so heavy and so hard for so many weeks, it feels odd when everything stops. The body and mind sometimes don't know how to respond. We'll have that similar sensation on Sunday when we wake up to realize that the journey is done.
Last night, I grabbed another speech that we heard on Friday during the season announcement event and posted it on Soundcloud. Alan Roberts, Director of Keyano Theatre & Arts Centre, shared that this is his 25th season and that Hometown marks his 112th production. The numbers he shared were staggering, but the one that seemed to resonate the most was the approximated total volunteer hours compiled during the Hometown...The Musical! process: 12,000 for the cast and another 800 for the volunteer crew.
Every show is different in terms of its impact. Hometown seems to be completely unique in that regard as it has been so personal, for those performing and for those watching. I have heard directly from people who were in one moment laughing hysterically and the next weeping inconsolably, people who were gobsmacked at the dancers or perfectly delighted with the authenticity of what they were seeing. Praise has been heaped on the Shantelle Davidson Band for delivering a knock-out performance, tackling some pretty intense rock classics and a few selections that require incredible finesse and nuance.
As we head into the private show tonight - Rohit has bought the entire house for a client appreciation event - and onward to four more performances in the next three days, we are seeing available seats dwindling rapidly. By my count, looking at the online ticketing inventory, only 15 tickets remain for Thursday night and 26 for Saturday night. Friday night has a bit more room with 68 seats with matinee seats in good supply.
When Hometown is all said and done, it will land at #4 or #3 on our all-time list of box office successes, an incredible accomplishment for a collective creation that was conceived and created right here in Wood Buffalo.
Meanwhile, people keep flocking to the Hometown Harlem Shake video. Uploaded Saturday afternoon, it has already inspired over 3,800 views. For our small part of the world, that's pretty impressive. What is the predominant audience? Males and females ages 45 to 64. Moms, dads, grandmas and grandpas are watching in droves, undoubtedly trying to find the apple of their eye a midst the chaos and fun.
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