BWW Blog: Michael Hartung - The Calm Beforrrre The Storm

Before a word is spoken, our show starts on our sturdy pirate ship as a raging storm throws us from one side of the "boat" to the other. At this point in our process, the tumultuous weather looks a lot like a group of guys rolling around on the floor, but that's nothing a of week of rehearsal and some great lighting can't fix! From this point forward, we arrre in "go" mode until we open. Yesterday was our last real day off until opening night and it sort of feels like we arrre actually heading into a crazy storm of our own.

If our last day off for the foreseeable future wasn't reason enough to celebrate, it landing smack dab on the 4th of July sealed our fate. And let me tell you, folks, the Berkshires (and our stellar company at Barrington Stage) know how to celebrate some independence. I had heard tell of the Barrington Stage Company's Fourth of July celebration before I even arrived in Pittsfield. Though I lacked specifics, I knew I would have a good time celebrating before we moved into a busy schedule getting ready to open our show.

The day started with some friends from the cast joining my housemates and I to start cooking our potluck contributions. OK FINE, Ben was baking a pie and Alanna and Claire were making a trendy spiralized zucchini salad while I bought a cheese plate on the way to the party, but we were all getting our patriotic spirit amped up for the festivities. My boyfriend, Jason, and friend, Kristen, were in town visiting for the weekend which really took the day from two thumbs up to...um...three thumbs up? (Nope. Don't even ask. That's all the info you're getting about my love life....I'll save that for my next BWW Blog).

Pittsfield residents and Barrington Stage Company favorites, Bruce and Reba, were kind enough to host the Fourth of July Party. You guys, their house is my dream home...and I didn't even go inside. I fell in love with everything from their well landscaped lawn with ample room for volleyball, to their pool with a pool house with a bathroom, two perfect­for­cuddling dogs that frollicked through the freshly trimmed grass, and their picturesque trees that framed it all so perfectly. Though my dream home may have to wait several decades for me, we could enjoy each other's brief company at the wonderful party.

This year also happened to be the 4th Annual BSC Firecracker Competition. For those of you who live under a rock and don't know what the Firecracker Competition is, it is a talent tournament made of up of the brightest talents from each of Barrington's departments. Somehow the cast really dropped the ball on nominating our talent representation, but our cast member Lindsay's (she is our splendid Edith) baby was in town and could have totally creamed any competition with her cuteness. The prize ended up going to a very well deserving Mia E Z'lay for her rousing pool­side, pirate themed drag number. The crowd went wild.

We ended the night as any figure watching actors do...with Domino's pizza delivery and a wholesome game where you try to flip over red plastic cups on The Edge of a table. Kids think of the darndest ways to entertain themselves these days. Some of our more motivated cast members even made the trip out to see the fireworks at the end of the local baseball game. I battled with a tumultuous internal struggle (similar to that of the storm that starts our show!) about whether I wanted to see the fireworks or just enjoy their sounds from afarrr. I ended up sitting out the visual display and instead toasted to one last Miller Lite. The game ended up going into the 12th inning. And that, my friends, is the universe on my side.

Pirate Lingo:
Pilot ­ "I bound him to, a pirate, you, instead of to a pilot ." ­ NOUN ­ A person who specializes in steering or guiding a ship into and out of port in dangerous waters.

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