Thoroughly Something or Other

Tea: Lapsang Vanilla with Honey

Music: "Thoroughly Modern Millie"

Time: Night.

I went to see a really good high school production of -- well, I'm sure you can guess the musical -- tonight. Good casting, solid performances. And lest anyone forget those out of the line of sight -- it was a spot-on night from the pit and the stagehands.

It takes so many things to make any production come together. It only takes one thing to mar it. The box office loses a ticket order. An usher abandons post. A cue gets missed, a reed squeaks ... and the spell is broken.

Check that. The spell's bent, not broken. Even a wretchedly overacted performance by the star (who, being the director as well, managed to fail at two jobs simultaneously) in an off-Broadway production of "The Screwtape Letters," which I saw in November, couldn't detract from the flawless performance of the lone supporting character.

Sometimes, the magic's not in the grand things but in the small. Sometimes it's in a moment that passes, yet resonates. And sometimes it's in even getting something to the stage at all.

So what's it all mean?

Who knows? But every day is showtime, isn't it, in one way or another? So dim the houselights, turn your cell phone to "vibrate," and we'll get some ice cream at intermission.