Dearly Departed: Who's watching whom?

          As a member of the cast I did not get a chance to view Dearly Departed and react to it as an audience member myself, but considering the fact that I was present at every performance I certainly got to witness the audiences' responses to the show.  While an actor should buy into the given circumstances of a scene when performing, a part of them is always aware of the audience. (I'd question their mental health if they weren't. )

          Now, Dearly Departed is a comedy and thus the interaction between the performers and the audience is very important and interracial part of the show. A comedy of course wants to be found humorous and amusing by the audience, but it they don't you're gonna hear it, or rather not hear it due to the lack of laughter. And vice versa, you don't want an audience that is so explosive with applause and laughter that it pulls you out of character or prevents the show from continuing on pace. You're always hoping for a "good" audience. One that is not afraid to laugh, but also know when to calm down.
           Luckily, I can honestly say we had a great and responsive audience every night! They all were a little different of course, but all very enthusiastic non the less. Even our Sunday matinee, where it wouldn't be surprising to have a bit of a duller and reserved audience, filled the auditorium with laughter. I believe its because that is usually when we have a bit of a more mature audience, yet because so many jokes were directed at an older generation, they couldn't help but laugh. This was especially present in the scene with Veda and Norval which I believe got its best laughs on Sunday.
           There was only one night where I felt the audience may have gotten a little carried away. All of the audiences were obviously Delightful fans. Now I don't blame them at all, she is one of the most hilarious characters I've ever come across, but on opening night in the kitchen scene her cheese whiz exploded in her face. We did our best to play it off, but the audience then exploded as well. They were roaring with laughter! I don't know if they could tell it was a food malfunction, or if it was just the fact that cheese was now splattered across her face, or if it was a combination of both. Then, I had the next line. I paused for laughter, but the laughter didn't stop. I waited for as long as I thought I could, and plowed foreword. The laughter had died down, but still continued through the next section of dialogue. Still, I really can't hold it against them, I almost broke character trying to contain laughter myself.
          In contrast, there were several places I was expecting a laugh that never got it which can be expected in any show. This was mostly in the scene when I was portraying the spacey but good-intended Nadine. Though I do suppose she is kind of a lot to take in for just a bit in one scene. The one thing that went over so well in rehearsal and never quite got across to the audience was the holding my breath gag. Lucille tells me not to breath a word of her secret, so, being too simple to realize its an expression, "I" hold my breath while she tells me.

          Don't get me wrong though. These were rather small instances were things didn't go as planned. We still had awesomely responsive audiences. I even got one of the coolest responses I think you can get as an actress. See, I was playing two different characters, and I found out later from other members in the cast that some of the people that came to the show didn't realize that I was playing these two different roles. As an actress I was touched. I think to successfully be seen as just the characters you're portraying rather than the actress playing them is a major accomplishment. Overall the audience participated laughing right when expected and helped boost all of the performances' energy and make for a rather successful show.