Temps Preview 1992 March 8

As the crowd poured into the cozy little building that houses The Hollywood Theatre Club of Theatre Rapport, Jonathan Graff greeted them all with kisses and hugs. This was because all 5 of them were related to him.

And so begins an uncertain run of a pretty bad play, with virtually no one at the helm. Of course, as you know, this was not our official opening night, but, in fact, a Crane-induced preview. Consequently, we all called off efforts to get our friends to come see it.

The show itself was wobbly at best. Jonathan received much response from his immediate family and thus largest fans. Cynthia continued to drop her usual handful of lines, but for the most part, we slid through it without any permanent damage.

The most frustrating thing is the continued lack of guidance from anyone in a position of authority, power, or intelligence. It's as if Raffaele takes a nap or reads a book while we sweat it out on stage wandering about helplessly. There's no blocking, no themes, no structure, no goals, no cleverness, no business, no effort, no understanding, no greater comprehension, no feeling for comedy, no sense of pacing, no help, no hope, no need to go on! Aaaaaagh!

I just have to hope that the next few weeks will generate something magical to make the show enjoyable. God is the only one who can help us now.