LEFT: Hick & ER in Puerto Rico Early in the first run of HICK, at the Eureka Theater in San Francisco, I arrived at the theater, and there was a letter waiting for me. It was from a fan. He had been moved and delighted by the show. He said, “I just wish Hick and Eleanor could be in the audience. I know they would love it too.”
That night, as I sat in my dressing room, I thought, wouldn’t it be great if their spirits of the two lovers (if such spirits exist) could sit in the audience, invisible, holding hands and laughing at the funny stuff, maybe whispering to each other? – Wait a minute! Since they’re just spirits, they can talk as loud as they want without disrupting the performance!
I did a little ritual in my dressing room, looking up, talking out loud: “Hick, Eleanor! Come see the play tonight! Come together again, as the passionate lovers you once were, holding hands and enjoying your very own story, along with the audience! Come down to the Eureka Theatre tonight for HICK: A Love Story!”
Well.
We had many sound cues in HICK: A Love Story, over 80, I think. Sometimes it was music from the 30s to give the feeling of the era. Sometimes it was a sound effect like a train whistle. Mostly it was the actress, Paula Barish, speaking the words of the letter from Eleanor that Hick was reading to herself onstage at that moment. Paula did such a beautiful job of, not imitating, but evoking Eleanor. I always loved hearing her voice.
Sometime in the second act, one of Eleanor’s letters came on at the wrong time! That had never happened before (and it never happened again). Julie, who ran the sound board was very competent. Still, mistakes do happen. Everyone’s human (or are they??!?).
No biggie. I don’t think either of these glitches seriously compromised anyone’s enjoyment of the performance. They certainly didn’t affect me. I pride myself on being a trouper. Nothing throws me off.
When I left the theater, I walked by the sound booth, which is where the lighting and sound cues are executed. Inside, Pam, the stage manager, Bob the Girl, the lighting technician and Julie were talking excitedly. Pam seemed upset.
I asked them what was going on. It turned out that the cue of Eleanor talking had gone off when Julie wasn’t even near the sound board!! Pam happened to be afraid of ghosts. I mean, this was a real fear. No one could figure out how it was possible for the cue to come on when Julie was not near the board. Julie and Bob were laughing about it, but Pam was really scared.
So that was Ghost Welcome Night at the Eureka. | 
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