Prank Night

Even though I was in four musicals in junior high and high school I had never heard of prank night.

Until Saturday that is.

I was hiding in the auditorium until it was time to tell anxious people that there were no tickets left (that's really something you have to work up to) when one of the leads came in with Bitter Orange. He was telling a few of the other cast members about it and one brave soul even volunteered to try it. Apparently Bitter Orange is a spray to keep cats and dogs away from areas. The taste of it will ensure that they don't ever go there again. When I asked where they were planning on putting it I got the answer I was expecting but afraid of.

The whistle.I couldn't help it, I cracked up. I bent over with laughter. Tears came out of my eyes. And then I did the unthinkable. I tasted it. My mouth will never be the same. After my eyes stopped watering I headed to the water fountain and drank until I thought I'd float. And then I dug through my camera bag searching for gum. It took nearly an hour before I couldn't taste it anymore.

When the musical got to the scene where Captain Von Trapp blew it for the first time I was poised in the back with my telephoto lens on ready for the reaction. He is such a good actor that it didn't phase him a bit.

But when Maria had to blow it?

It took her three tries.

I was poised and ready when Mother Abbess was sitting at her desk, but she didn't react to the scary picture hidden in her paperwork. And when Maria looked at herself in her wedding gown with a hand mirror she didn't crack a smile when she saw the funny picture taped to it.

And who was behind the pranks? That would be the director. She was in her fair share of musicals in college and learned all about pranks. She made sure that nothing would cause harm or disrupt anything, but still made it fun.

It just makes me love her even more.