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Two Little Men Out of the Chair

posted by Robert Sweibel on Fri, Apr 24, 2009
in Our shows

The Lieutenant of Inishmore opened to the press on Wednesday night. So as you can imagine, we sat on pins and needles all day Thursday waiting for the reviews. The major daily papers would post them on their web sites. We'd bet they'd be good because we think the show's a riot. But you never know.

For Lieutenant, the reviews needed to be bloody good. We (the Theatre) set the audience / financial goal for this show very high. Based on past experience with the playwright, and other considerations, we took a calculated BIG risk. And that was before the economy got bled.

So yesterday was particularly nerve-wracking.

• First, raves from San Jose Mercury News: "A savagely funny comedy of errors, cats, and carnage that will have you howling with laughter!"
• Followed by raves from the Bay Area News Group (which includes the Contra Costa Times and Oakland Tribune): "A bloody triumph... has you laughing uproariously from beginning to end!"

And then we waited for the Chronicle review which -- I'm sure you know this -- wields the biggest club. It runs in the Friday paper, but usually appears online sometime Thursday afternoon. So we waited.

And waited. And...

As it happened, Managing Director Susie Medak and I were together at a meeting last night. At just after 8pm, Susie's Blackberry beeped. It was Terence, our PR director. "Out of his chair," he had written. The Chronicle's little man was out of his chair -- his highest approval.

My hands shot into the air and I was pretty much on my feet. This little man was also out of his chair.

In the photo: Two men (James Carpenter and Adam Farabee) looking quite comfortable in their chairs (photo courtesy of kevinberne.com).