Three members of the Gargoyle staff — seniors Lauren Piester, Joy Shapley, and Lor Sligar — performed in this year's fall play, "Shakespeare in Hollywood." Last week they took us backstage as they wrote about the buildup to opening night. Today they look back on the three nights of performances. The production, directed by fine arts teacher Barbara Ridenour, ran from Thursday, Nov. 6, to Saturday, Nov. 8.

LAUREN PIESTER ON OPENING NIGHT

This was it — my third and last Uni fall play. And after the disaster that was the dress rehearsal, I thought it was going to absolutely suck.

But apparently something happened overnight. Despite the fact that the cast was a nervous wreck all day Thursday, trembling in their heels and dress pants (we all looked so spiffy!), the performance went off without a hitch. Everyone knew their lines. The costume changes went smoothly. Scene changes seemed effortless, almost magical!

It was amazing. I think we were all so scared about a repeat of Wednesday night that we put all our concentration into making that show the best we could, and it worked.

Even the mildly embarrassing fairy dance (complete with see-through tutus, glitter, and garlands) was ridiculously successful, and I, along with the other fairies, bounced backstage for intermission happier than we'd ever been following that scene.

It really makes an incredible difference to have a whole audience laughing, rather than just a director, a stage manager, and a lightboard operator, though Natsuki Nakamura's nonstop laughter throughout every performance was definitely highly appreciated.

It was a great feeling to realize that we had just actually pulled off this show, this super-complicated, fast-moving hilarious show, and it was kind of sad to realize we would only do it two more times, even that I would only have to don that tutu two more times, that I would only have to dress up like a guy two more times.

However, even the sadness couldn't overpower my happiness and excitement for Friday as I threw myself at my pillow and fell right to sleep.

JOY SHAPLEY ON FRIDAY NIGHT'S PERFORMANCE

As soon as we exited the stage Friday night to riotous applause following our notorious fairy dance, I turned to Lauren and said, "Wow … this audience loves us."

It was true. On opening night, only half the seats in the audience had been filled, and even then most watchers were parents. On Friday, the North Attic was so packed that a ton of people had to sit on the floor. The atmosphere was great — people were laughing at everything, even the lines none of the cast thought were funny.

I'd been told about the supposed "Friday night curse" that has plagued Uni plays for years. Without the giddy nervousness of opening night and the last-ditch excitement of closing night, I doubted whether or not the cast members could keep their energy levels high.

Well, I was wrong. Friday was even better than the previous night, in my opinion. No one screwed up in any obvious manner. Costume and scene changes worked wonderfully, and I got to tango across the stage! The entire girls varsity basketball team (including Merf — head coach Rebecca Murphy) showed up to "support" me and laugh at my fairy tutu, but it was great having them there anyway.

After the performance, the entire cast went out to Steak 'n Shake to celebrate, still in our stage makeup. It took us about an hour to find one that had enough space for 20 loud theatrical people, and sophomore Dillon Price ("Oberon") got accosted by some zealots who didn't know how to respect the King of the Fairies.

Only one more night remained before my first and last Uni play was over, and everyone was telling me that Saturday was always the best. How could it possibly get any better than it had been tonight?

LOR SLIGAR ON CLOSING NIGHT

Sadly enough, it’s over. Over! It seems like just yesterday I pulled my icky green "Crucible" skirt up to my “natural waist,” or raised the lights on "Rumors." It was mere seconds ago I wore a feather boa in "You Can’t Take It With You" and a yellow star in "The Diary of Anne Frank." And now … My last-ever fall play is over.

"Shakespeare in Hollywood" wrapped Saturday night with some sentimentality, but mostly just exhaustion. This was the last time I'll have run myself ragged in the fall. Now I can finally relax, do my calculus homework, pass anatomy ….

Saturday's performance went really well, even if the audience took awhile to warm up to their final temperature of lukewarm (at best). Some of the cast "uncensored" their lines, putting back in sexual references and explicit language that had previously been cut from the dialogue. Although probably immature, it was funny for the cast to see.

Joy Shapley hosted the cast party at her house, with an abundance of absolutely delicious food. Turkey, mashed potatoes, mozzarella sticks, pigs in a blanket, plus the obvious chips and such. Yum! We sat around, tried to play Mafia, but mostly just rolled around laughing. It was a really fun conclusion to the weeks of work we'd put into the show.

And the show turned out well. Contrary to all of our expectations at the beginning, it was hilarious. Everyone carried their parts amazingly, and despite costume drama they all turned out well (for the most part).

Basically all I want to say is that I'm proud of everyone. We all worked so hard, and it came together amazingly. Also, I appreciated the audiences so much, because they really made it come to life; it's so much more fun to have people other than director Barbara Ridenour and stage manager Tianna Pittenger laughing at our jokes.

So thanks, everyone, for making this a show to remember.

FALL PLAY '08 CAST & CREW

"Shakespeare in Hollywood," a comedy written by Ken Ludwig, was performed Nov. 6 to 8 in the North Attic Playhouse. Fine arts teacher Barbara Ridenour directed the production.

• Louella Parsons — Lor Sligar (sr)
• Max Reinhardt — Rob Diehl (sr)
• Dick Powell — Ben Daniels (sr)
• Jack Warner — Zack Goldberg (jr)
• Daryl — Nish Nookala (sr)
• Lydia Lansing — Hannah Leskosky (sr)
• Oberon — Dillon Price (so)
• Puck — Sarah Lake-Rayburn (sr)
• Olivia Darnell — Anna Gooler (jr)
• Will Hays — Ethan Schiller (jr)
• Joe E. Brown — Ollie Goldbart (so)
• Jimmy Cagney — James Smith (sr)
• Ensemble — Adam Joseph (so), Rodney LeNoir (fr), Lauren Piester (sr), Joy Shapley (sr), Sierra Marcum (sr), Daniel Wilson (jr)
• Stage Manager — Tianna Pittenger (jr)
• Choreography — Karolina Kalbarczyk (sr)
• Lights and Sound — Natsuki Nakamura (sr)

"SHAKESPEARE IN HOLLYWOOD" AT A GLANCE

• Author: Ken Ludwig, an American playwright and theater director best known for his light comedies

• Premiere: Commissioned by the Royal Shakespeare Company, the comedy debuted in 2003 at Arena Stage in Washington, D.C.

• Awards: "Shakespeare in Hollywood" won the Helen Hayes Award for Best Play of the Year from the Washington Theatre Awards Society; Ludwig himself has been nominated for two Tony Awards and won a Laurence Olivier Award from the Society of London Theatre

• Synopsis: From Ken Ludwig's official site: "It's 1934, and Shakespeare's most famous fairies, Oberon and Puck, have magically materialized on the Warner Bros. Hollywood set of Max Reinhardt's 'A Midsummer Night's Dream.' Instantly smitten by the glitz and glamour of show biz, the two are ushered onto the silver screen to play (who else?) themselves. With a little help from a feisty flower, blonde bombshells, movie moguls, and arrogant 'asses' are tossed into loopy love triangles, with raucous results."