As Mr. and Mrs. Beaver said, "Bye-bye, Narnia."

So The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe closed its 3rd run last night. It's so sad to see it end.

We started the day in Meralco yesterday by going to the basement at noon to watch The Happy Prince, performed by a bunch of Trumpets resident artists, including Narnia's very own Tito Carlo (Orosa), Tita Sweet (Plantado), and Crisel. Such a sweet tale. It seemed like a kids' story, but it really touched our hearts. I even caught Dein sniffling a couple of times.

While we were getting ready for the last matinee show, everyone was going about, asking each other to sign programs and taking pictures of one another. Heheheheh, Bing and I also brought our own cameras. And all the while, everyone was getting so sentimental about the end of the run. As for Tito Jaime, he told the entire company about the "no playtime" rule for the last couple of shows. And what's even more interesting, since Franco was closing the evening show as Peter, Paolo decided to play the Tree Spirit and Blue Squirrel once again, while Chevy decided to play the long-absent Orange Squirrel (Ana left the show in the middle of the run), with our dear director's permission, of course.

So from noon up until late night, there was organized chaos backstage. People running to and fro, crew members getting ready for the strike, production staff keeping track of everything coming in and out, cast fixing their make-up, kids from the cast who keep saying, "Oh no, I'm gonna cry..." Y'know, all that schtuff.

Oh yeah, I had to surrender my copy of the script. Darn it. But I didn't return my copy of the running list, waheheheheh. ^.~

I finally got my Lion jacket around dinner time, and I loved it as much as the pep jacket Ari lent me. I sported it around over my yellow-orange Lion shirt (most of the cast and crew wore their Lion shirts yesterday) after receiving it.

The evening show was like a countdown. The make-up room was such a mess. The cast painted the mirrors with their make-up, writing messages like, "I'll miss you all!" and stuff. As for the crew, with Tita Jinggay's permission, they got to fool around with the make-up, painting their faces as well. Dobi even made herself up as Maugrim (Lorenz) the wolf. Bing and I, along with the others who brought cameras, were taking pictures like crazy (too bad I only brought one roll of 24 shots).

Of course, Tita Menchu and Tita Enchang couldn't resist a teeny bit of playtime that night. They grabbed flashlights and teased the kids, and made Tito Audie and Tita Carla laugh by wearing the other Aslan's wig.

In Act Two, Dan grabbed me and dragged me upstairs when he saw that I wasn't doing anything. Since all of them will be onstage during half the act, he asked me to write the usual "We Love You" sign for the cast to see behind the wardrobe. I had to rush to both stage left and stage right to post it.

It was all over by curtain call. After the final bow, the alternate cast was introduced, and then all of us rushed onstage for the company photo. Lucky I followed Bing when we ran onstage. We got a good spot right in front with the kids, heheheheh. Chaos reigned once again. Amidst all that, though, I managed to spot Anna, Kaisa and Dari in the audience.

A huge bunch of us went to Congo Grill after the show. I was kinda guilty that Bing and I joined them while most of the crew stayed in the theater for an inventory until 1 in the morning. Anyhoo, that's where we went. So that was where we were until past 1 am. After eating, cameras started flashing once more, and I went around hugging and thanking everyone.

Bing, Dein, Chevy and I hitched a ride home with Sundee. We dropped off Bing at the Ayala MRT station, and didn't leave until she safely boarded a bus.

Wow, and it was over. Just like that.

Another thought. This one really scared me. Tinay (Jamie's girlfriend) was supposed to come to the evening show last night to be an usher. Then we heard that she couldn't come after all because her best friend suddenly died. Jamie said that she was found unconscious in her room. Oh my gosh. It was such a scare. I sure hope she's doing OK.