It seems like a lifetime since we began Haunted Trails this year. And this weekend stretched out to heroic lengths. Of course, my weekend was four days long, three of which ran long into the night...
Thursday was pretty weak, but we were also just getting our feet into the new plot. Friday wasn't too bad. Both days, however, suffered from weak ticket sales... long gaps bore the guides and the actors, so the show loses its luster.
Friday night we had a MONSTER storm that failed to blow anything over. Yay us! But it did waterlog the crawl tunnel a bit. We made it dry for the guests, but there is deep moisture in the padding/carpeting that will likely mildew. If it does, I'm in for a job of resetting the tunnel Thursday before the run.
Saturday was great! Lots of guests, some of the usual bobbles, good recoveries... good show, the story worked, and we had a lot of happy victims. Not everyone, mind you, but many.
Saturday had a hard startup, though. Several of my KEY ACTORS failed to appear... so I had to recast several roles at the last second, using in some cases people I've never seen before in my life. Ouch!
In one case, I put a newcomer (who I liked the looks of, etc) into a critical timing spot. Sadly, he failed to excel there and was replaced. Fortunately, we only had about four groups go through at the wrong times. Unfortunately, the ripple effect of that timing bobble lasted rather a bit longer.
But we survived, and that timing bobble was FAR less severe than ones we have had in the past.
A friend of mine, Ron Brashear, came through with group 31, about 9:45 -- it was great to see him again (Hi Ron!). He got me into the Trails insanity in 2000, and I've been suffering with it ever since.
I'll be darned glad when it's over. Halloween, essentially, ends for me as soon as the Haunted Trails system is functioning. So, ummm, Saturday. The rest of it is just keeping the machine moving so we can clean up and then REST.
Blessed rest. November -- sleep and housework.
Posted by Edwin at October 25, 2004 11:29 AM