The showcase is over. But even though the stars have dimmed over Luntiang Parang, which we fondly call Our Town, I believe this is just the beginning for its denizens.

Last Thursday, we held our DTR at the Tanghalang Huseng Batute. It was freezing cold, and though we were warned to bring jackets and anything to keep us warm, we eventually had to shed them off because we had to get used to just wearing our costumes.

Yesterday, after call time, we started throwing lines, and then somewhere in the middle of it, Miss Tess stopped it and she started going over a few scenes. As we rehearsed the 3rd act, suddenly the play's message got to me. We've all been hearing the lines since the very first script reading, and as Mimay fleshed everything out, the lines started poking...

"Do any human being ever realize life as they live it... Every minute?"

Then suddenly I felt as if I was up on the balcony, looking down at all of us as we ran through the scene. I saw everyone's faces, and as they looked on the scene as well. I've spent most of my evenings for over a month with these people, and sometimes it feels as if spending most of my time with them was never enough, even with those Friday-night-until-Saturday-morning sessions.

And then before I realized that I was about to go into withdrawal period, I shrugged it off and rehearsed the curtain call.

We took a break and ate at the buffeteria, then we returned to the theater and started getting ready. We were called onstage by Ian for warmup, then at one point we were told what we could give to one another. A hugfest ensued, aw. As we filed back to the lone dressing room, organized chaos occured. A whole bunch of people (including me) flocked to Fiancee for makeup help. Then when most of us were all ready, Miss Tess came in and hugged each of us and gave the perfunctory (but sincere) "break a leg." Aw...

Showtime! By the time we filed into the theater during the chimes, I didn't feel any anxiety or anything. I guess I didn't have time to be nervous. Everyone nailed it, and when we heard the laughter and other similar reactions from the audience, we all got comfortable and I kept seeing and hearing adlibs everywhere.

After the show, a bunch of us retired to Julia's house to hang out and talk and drink and think over mind games. It's never boring at "BagTay", hahaha.

Now I'm at home, and back with a cough. Rawr.

Some photos are uploaded to my Multiply site and can be found HERE.