Tonight the Seagulls were a little early with their song. They began to call to me about 6:35 (ten minutes early), and seemed to sing longer than usual. It certainly did not go unnoticed by me. I tend to see symbolism in everything surrounding this show. Since Eleanor pointed out the metaphysical meaning of the Seagulls I have been aware of them even more. I think I could have easily dismissed their early scheduling as just a coincidence but for another incident.

The Italian show set is gone. There is a space backstage that we have never had before. There is a good 10 foot area that is totally empty and I can cross from stage left to stage right with ease now. At one point I took advantage of this new-found freedom and took the opportunity to explore a backstage area of the Arts theatre I had never been before. I walked along the brick back wall. It made me remember the Helen Hayes on Broadway and how I would cross in the dark to get from my dressing room to stage left for my entrance. I would touch the brick walls of the Hayes every night to embrace the theatre itself, the very bricks that have been there since 1923. I would try and connect with whatever muse there might be that could be contacted by touching these ancient stones.

So tonight I am touching the back walls of the Arts Theatre for the first time since I arrived. This theatre was built in the 1920’s like the Hayes in New York, and they are in my mind sister structures. I felt the connection of the two theatres as I touched the back wall brick of the Arts, and then it happened. I heard the song of the Seagulls. In the distance, not as clearly as in my dressing room, but it was for sure the Seagull song. I never heard the Seagulls this close to show time, but I have never been to this part of the stage before show time until tonight. They were reminding me of their mission, telling me not to give up, continue my persistence. It is why they were early tonight, because I needed to hear them. I also needed to be reminded just before the show.

The audience was a small and not a very good. The sound is still not right, and although it was a cooler, the audience was fanning themselves with programs and dozing from the heat of the theatre. The Seagulls keep calling to let me know that the struggle is not over, but has only just begun. I will listen to them, and I keep trying, but tonight it seems a difficult task and I am weary from the fight.
As you were,
Jay