Opening Night (Encore)

I was a full-time yoga teacher for over 20 years, and I know the power of intentional breathing.

It's why our two deep breaths have been part of our bedtime routine since episode one. And that's why I want to introduce you to Moonbird.
Moonbird is a handheld breathing device designed to comfortably fit in the palm of your hand. When you shake it, it will start inflating and deflating.
So in your hand, it will feel like you're holding a little bird that is breathing in and out. The only thing you need to do is breathe along with it.

When moon bird inflates, you breathe in. When moon bird deflates, you breathe out.

Simple, intuitive, it takes all the effort and thinking out of your breathing exercises.

It's the perfect companion to your bedtime ritual. Or use it when you're meditating, when you're stuck in traffic, anytime you need an assist in feeling calm and focused.
Listen, I know how to breathe, to feel better, but still I use Moonbird. Because when my mind is racing or wandering, I need a little guidance, and it makes my deep breathing more effective.
So when you wake in the middle of the night, don't reach for your phone, unless it's to restart your bedtime story. That's fine.
Reach for Moonbird. Visit moonbird.life slash nothingmuchhappens to save 20%.
We've got it linked in our show notes. Welcome to bedtime stories for everyone in which nothing much happens.
You feel good, and then you fall asleep. I'm Katherine Nicolai.
I write and read all the stories you hear on Nothing Much Happens. Audio engineering is by Bob Wittersheim.
We are bringing you an encore episode tonight, meaning that this story originally aired at some point in the past. It could have been recorded with different equipment in a different location.
And since I'm a person and not a computer, I sometimes sound just slightly different. But the stories are always soothing and family-friendly, and our wishes for you are always deep rest and sweet dreams.
Now, I have a story to tell you. It's a soft place to rest your mind.

And I think it works best if you imagine yourself in it.

So as you listen and follow along with the sound of my voice,

pull the details of it around you like a blanket.

And before you know it, you'll be in deep, restorative sleep. I'll tell the story twice, and I'll go a little slower the second time through.
If you wake in the middle of the night, you could listen again, or just pull those details back into your mind. Think through any part of the story that you can remember, and you'll drop right back off.
Our story tonight is called Opening Night, and it's a story about the moments before the curtain rises. It's also about flowers in the green room, the electric feeling of stepping out from the wings, and an armful of programs waiting to be passed out.
If you're listening, you know self-care is vital for overall wellness. But it can be hard to prioritize yourself and ask for what you need.
If you're a veteran going through a tough time, there are people who want to listen and help with no pressure or judgment. Dial 988, then press 1.
Chat at veteranscrisisline.net or text 838255 to reach the Veterans Crisis Line. Responders are ready to support you,

no matter what you're going through.

Okay, it's time.

Turn off your light.

Set everything down.

Get as comfortable as you can.

You have done enough for today.

Truly, it is enough.

Take a deep breath in through your nose and out through your mouth.

Again, slow in

and with sound out.

Good.

Opening night.

We had a few hours yet

and most everything was done.

The costumes were hanging in the dressing rooms.

The lights were set.

And hopefully the cast was ready.

I carried an armful of programs to a table at the back of the auditorium and had a seat.

The programs needed to be folded. Each was just a few sheets.
We weren't on Broadway here, just a small playhouse, a community theater, that did four or five shows a year. I laid the stack of papers out in front of me and started to put them together, lining up the sheets and clapping the edges of the pages against the table to even them out, then finding the middle seam and creasing it tightly with my thumbnail and tucking the finished version in a box for our ushers to reach into later tonight.
I liked having the empty theater to myself. I wasn't going to be treading the boards tonight.
I was just helping wherever I was needed. A sort of gopher for the stage manager and the director and any cast member who suddenly couldn't find their props or lost a shoe.
Still, the space had a kind of magic to it. The empty seats looked expectant in the low light, and I thought about the very first time I saw a play.
My mother had taken me, and I might have been in second or third grade. I know the play well now.

In fact, I've been in it twice since,

but most of it had gone over my head that first night.

The thing that had certainly registered

was the electric feeling

Thank you. the thing that had certainly registered was the electric feeling of watching live theater.
I just couldn't believe how it felt, how it looked, how different it was from a movie or show on TV.

I remembered being mesmerized by being able to see the lead actress blink and breathe.

I was close enough to hear every step and sound the cast made. I carried the box of ready programs over to a tiny alcove beside the door and set them in there, ready for showtime, then walked through the aisles of seats to the third or fourth row, and scooted along to the middle seat.

I pressed the seat down behind me and sat.

This might be the very spot I'd sat in for that first show. I leaned back and looked up at the ceiling.
It was high and dark, and I could just make out some of the light fixtures

that, in a couple of hours, would flood the stage and make the people sitting in these seats forget for a while about anything besides what they saw before them. I pushed up from the chair

and anything besides what they saw before them.

I pushed up from the chair and headed down the row to the aisle.

I walked to the back of the house,

glancing through the rows as I went,

to see that all was clean and ready for our audience.

And it was.

I checked my watch.

The cast would be here in a bit to start warming up

and getting into costume.

And I took a side door into the green room

to see that it was ready.

We always laid out a table of snacks and drinks

along with a bouquet of flowers for the cast and crew

on opening night.

And I fussed with the roses for a few moments so that they showed well in their vase. I took a stack of napkins from a drawer and laid it out next to the crackers and nuts.
The green room has a different energy from the house,

and certainly from the stage.

It feels anticipatory,

excited,

but muted.

I kept up my tour,

and next went to check the dressing rooms.

I flicked on the switch by the door and the big bulbs ringing each mirror lit up.

The counters were clear and clean

and I set out a couple boxes of tissues here and there. I twisted the knob on the speaker above the door that let actors hear what was happening on stage so they wouldn't miss their cues, and could make out a few voices and pacing feet.
That must be the stage manager and crew getting things ready. Down the hall, I pushed through the heavy stage door and stepped into the wings and backstage space.
It was dark. Tall, thick curtains at the edges of stage right and left kept it that way.
I walked past the light booth and exchanged a wave with the technician inside. Over the prop table, I clicked on a lamp clamped to the wall.
It was fitted with a blue light bulb that would give our actors enough illumination to pick up what they needed, but wouldn't be visible to the audience. We'd covered the table with a piece of white butcher's paper and outlined each prop in marker with its description written alongside.
That way, when we checked the table, as I did now. We could see right away that everything was accounted for.
There was the locket for the last scene of Act I, the newspaper that would get carried out at the top of Act Two, the handkerchief that would be dropped and picked up and lead to the reveal near the end of the show. I could hear the cast coming in through the hall, dropping off their bags and chatting in the green room.
I snuck closer to the edge of the stage and peered out across it and into the audience. There was so much residual, excited energy stored up in these old wood floors

that just standing there made me shiver with the thrill of being about to make an entrance.

I took a breath as if I were really preparing for such a thing and stepped out and crossed to center stage.

There are things that might stir us up so much, push us past what we thought we were capable of, and even frighten us a bit, but also make us feel so vibrantly connected to each coming moment that we know we'll do them again and again. Standing on stage reminded me that I'd keep doing this.
The ushers were gathering and soon we'd be opening the house and welcoming our audience. I crossed over to the other side of the stage as the proscenium curtain came down behind me clicked on a few more blue lights and stepped into the back hall actors were shedding coats in the dressing rooms,

and suddenly the mostly empty theater felt full and bustling.

Coming the other way, I spotted the stage manager with her clipboard.

She looked at her watch and called out, Places in 30. Everyone around her responded in a chorus, as we'd been trained to do since our very first shows.
Thank you, 30, we sang back.

I smiled as I made my way back through the green room toward the house.

That call and response had always felt like a particularly well-devised form of communication.

Some information is given,

and then you respond politely and show that you understood

by repeating the most important aspect of it.

I tried to make a habit of it

when some message came my way

to say thank you

and acknowledge the vital missive.

Now, here,

being part of something I loved,

I pushed through the doors

and signaled to the ushers

Thank you. here, being part of something I loved.
I pushed through the doors

and signaled to the ushers to open the house.

I thought,

thank you, opening night.

Opening night.

We had a few hours yet,

and most everything was done.

The costumes were hanging in the dressing rooms.

The lights were set, and hopefully the cast was ready. I carried an armful of programs to a table at the back of the auditorium and had a seat.
The programs needed to be folded.

Each was just a few sheets.

We weren't on Broadway here,

just a small playhouse,

a community theater

that did four or five shows a year. I laid the stack of papers out in front of me and started to put them together, lining up the sheets and clapping the edges of the pages against the table to even them out, then finding the middle seam and creasing it tightly with my thumbnail and tucking the finished version in a box for our ushers to reach into later tonight.
I liked having the empty theater to myself. I wasn't going to be treading the boards tonight.

I was just helping, wherever I was needed.

A sort of gopher for the stage manager and the director

and any cast member who suddenly couldn't find their props or lost a shoe. Still, the space had a kind of magic to it.
The empty seats looked expectant in the low light.

And I thought about the very first time I saw a play. My mother had taken me, and I might have been in second or third grade.
I know the play well now. In fact, I've been in it twice since.
But most of it had gone over my head that first night. The thing that had certainly registered was the electric feeling of watching live theater.
I just couldn't believe how it felt, how it looked, how different it was from a movie or show on TV. I remembered being mesmerized by being able to see the lead actress blink and breathe.
I was close enough to hear every step and sound the cast made. I carried the box of ready programs over to a tiny alcove beside the door

and set them in there

ready for showtime

then walked through the aisles of seats

to the third or fourth row

Thank you. then walked through the aisles of seats to the third or fourth row and scooted along to the middle seat.
I pressed the seat down behind me and sat. This might be

the very spot I'd sat in

for that first show.

I leaned back

and looked up at the ceiling.

It was high and dark and I could just make out some of the light fixtures that, in a couple of hours, would flood the stage and make the people sitting in these seats forget for a while

about anything

besides what they saw before them.

I pushed up from the chair

and headed down the row to the aisle.

I walked to the back of the house,

glancing through the rows as I went,

to see that all was clean and ready for our audience. And it was.
I checked my watch. The cast would be here in a bit to start warming up and getting into costume.

And I took a side door into the green room to see that it was ready.

We always laid out a table of snacks and drinks,

along with a bouquet of flowers for the cast and crew on opening night. And I fussed with the roses for a few moments, so that they showed well in their vase.
I took a stack of napkins from a drawer and laid it out next to the crackers and nuts. The green room has a different energy from the house and certainly from the stage.
It feels anticipatory back here. Excited but muted.
I kept up my tour and next went to check the dressing rooms.

I flicked on the switch by the door, and the big bulbs ringing each mirror lit up. the counters were clear and clean and I set out a couple of boxes of tissues here and there.
I twisted the knob for the speaker above the door that let actors hear what was happening on stage

so they wouldn't miss their cues.

And I could make out a few voices and pacing feet.

That must be the stage manager and crew getting things ready down the hall I pushed through the heavy stage door and stepped into the wings and backstage space it was dark Tall, thick curtains at the edges of stage right and left kept it that way. I walked past the light booth and exchanged a wave with the technician inside.

Over the prop table, I clicked on a lamp clamped to the wall.

It was fitted with a blue light bulb

that would give our actors enough illumination to pick up what they needed but wouldn't be visible to the audience. We'd covered the table with a piece of white butcher's paper and outlined each prop in marker

with its description written alongside.

That way, when we checked the table,

as I did now,

we could see right away

that everything was accounted for.

There was the locket

for the last scene in Act I,

the newspaper

that would get carried out

at the top of Act II,

the handkerchief

Thank you. newspaper that would get carried out at the top of Act Two, the handkerchief that would be dropped and picked up and lead to the reveal near the end of the show.
I could hear the cast coming in through the hall,

dropping off their bags and chatting in the green room.

I snuck closer to the edge of the stage

and peered out across it and into the audience. There was so much residual, excited energy stored up in these old wood floors that just Standing there made me shiver with the thrill of being about to make an entrance.
I took a breath as if I were really preparing

for such a thing,

then stepped out and crossed to center stage.

There are things that might stir us up so much,

Thank you. there are things that might stir us up so much, push us past what we thought we were capable of, and even frighten us a bit, but also make us feel so vibrantly connected to each coming moment that we know will do them again and again.

And standing on stage reminded me that I'd keep doing this. The ushers were gathering, and soon we'd be opening the house and welcoming our audience.

I crossed over to the other side of the stage as the proscenium curtain came down behind me,

clicked on a few more blue lights

and stepped into the back hall.

Actors were shedding coats in the dressing rooms,

and suddenly the mostly empty theater felt full and bustling. Coming the other way, I spotted the stage manager with her clipboard.
She looked at her watch and called out,

Places in 30.

Everyone around her responded in a chorus,

as we'd been trained to do since our very first shows.

Thank you, 30, we sang back. I smiled as I made my way back through the green room toward the house.
That call and response had always felt like a particularly well-devised form of communication.

Some information is given,

and then you respond politely and show that you understood

by repeating the most important aspect of it.

I tried to make a habit of it

when some message came my way

to say thank you

and acknowledge the vital missive.

Now, here,

being part of something I loved.

As I pushed through the doors

and signaled to the ushers to open the house,

I thought,

thank you, opening night.

Sweet dreams.