Why is Butler University kind of like the Wicked Witch of the West? Well, it completely fell apart when rained last Saturday. There was a pretty big lightning storm Saturday morning/afternoon, so they tell me.
I only knew it was storming vaguely, since we were in the midst of Studio Dress for Coppélia. There is a part toward the end of Act I when Dr. Coppélius chases the drunk village boys around with his cane. Just as he swung at the first lout came a flash of lightning — CRACK! Perfect timing. I heard the rain before we started Act II as well, but I was rather tunnel-visioned for the entire ballet, so I didn’t realize what a storm we were having.
Then my partner and I stayed afterwards to work out some costuming/wedding pas kinks while the building slowly emptied. When I finally took all my costumes back down to the basement, I was surprised to find the hallways dark (basement = no windows), the third of the lights that were on flickering menacingly. Someone was playing the piano in one of the dance studios, an odd waltz, so the atmosphere was particularly eerie. I felt like I was in Phantom of the Opera or something. Needless to say, I was also very glad when the student who plays Franz came down the stairs a few seconds later. Company is always good when you’re walking into what could very easily be an episode of Doctor Who.
You don't want to run into these in a half-lit basement...
Outside was drizzly, but bright. My cell phone finally picked up enough of a signal to dump on me about three BU alerts about the storm. Jordan Hall was on fire, apparently, due to a lightning strike? My boyfriend later told me he and his labmates didn’t realize the fire alarms were going off for a while. Much of campus lost power, the cable was out for a while in AV and the internet even longer. The phones went out, and we got another alert telling us BU police officers were stationed at the front desks of the residence halls if they should be needed.
My goodness. Butler doesn’t fare too well in the stormy weather. It’s meeelting…
