One of David Sorrells' favorite things to tell young performers and technicians is the following: "Never leave the theatre for the evening without knowing your call for the next day." By and large, I have been excellent at following his advice. On one fateful day during the production of Toby, however, I made an assumption which had terrible repercussions.

Toby was an unusual blend of the drama departments at Chapel Hill High and its sometime rival, East Chapel Hill High. Co-written and -directed by one student from each school, Jorge Izquierdo and William Guzzardi, the play had an even mixture of cast and crew from both schools. I was asked to participate by Julia McKinley, the technical director. The role I came on for was that of Light Board Operator. In this capacity, I sat at the light board and followed the instructions of lighting designer Laura.

Because the play was produced on the campus of ECHHS, general production practices were adopted from that school. For the most part, these production practices are no different from those at CHHS, but some are unfamiliar to those individuals who started out in Hanes Theatre. Specifically, every production with which I have ever been involved holds the final dress rehearsal at the same time of day as the performance will eventually be held. For a 7:30 show, the dress rehearsal curtain would be at 7:30.

On the Wednesday before the Thursday of dress rehearsal, I did not ask what my call was for the next day, figuring I would get there at about 5:30, about two hours ahead of curtain time. I had some errands to run between the end of school at 3:35 and that time, so I ran them, taking Brennan along with me because he needed a ride from me. I went home, got a snack, then ran across town to do something I urgently needed to do. After accomplishing this, I proceeded to ECHHS. When I walked in the door of the theatre, however, it was darkened and there was a play being performed onstage. At this point, I was confused, but a few milliseconds later I was kicking myself. I made my way up to the light booth, where Laura looked mildly surprised to see me. "Stephen," she said, "You've missed enough that I would feel more comfortable running the lights by myself. Perhaps they have a use for you backstage."

I walked back down the steps of the audience and went backstage to ask whether I could be of use. I was given a few tasks, and I performed them well. Most of the Chapel Hill students were indignant on my behalf, and co-director Will Guzzardi asked Laura not to fire any more techies, but I knew all along that I deserved what I had gotten, and said so. I was at least an hour late for a dress rehearsal. I had made Brennan late for a dress rehearsal. I had failed to get my call time before leaving on Wednesday. I had endangered a critical rehearsal. I had caused many of the cast and crew members to worry about my welfare. There were no excuses for my failure, and I believe I have learned from these mistakes. I certainly have not repeated them.

Toby is a rock opera about a teenage boy (named Toby) for whom everything suddenly starts going badly. At its core, Toby aims to be an indictment of the modern counter-culture. Its music is catchy but seemed to me fairly derivative. Most musical phrases recall for me other well-known songs. The story was difficult to follow because the performers were difficult to hear. Whether this was a problem in the acoustics of the ECHHS Auditorium or the performers' ability to project, I don't know. It was true across the board; I could understand no cast member completely at every time. It wasn't until I received my complimentary copy of the Toby original cast recording, with lyrics printed in the liner notes, that I was able to understand the plot. It was, however, an ambitious undertaking for Jorge and Will, and the audiences seemed to enjoy it.

This was one of Leigha's biggest roles in high school. She played Remy, the main love interest of Toby, who later decides to go out with the bassist in the band (Crystal Clear) that has just kicked Toby out. She had some solos, and it was great to see her on stage again. She did a great job.

For me, though, Toby will always be the play that I was fired from.