On the Rail

The crowd has thinned out by about half here, but that was to be expected. What wasn't necessarily a given was the post-dinner exuberance of those who are assembled. Despite the absence of the particularly rowdy rails of Bob Bounahra and Phil Collins, the theater was surprisingly lively and loud during Jack Effel's introductions at the start of the level, and they've continued that off-and-on even though the play has been relatively slow.

"Let's Go Ben-Ba!" has been the predominant chant, but Mr. Staszko has gathered a small but loud group of his own fans on the rail, too.

We also see a fair amount of familiar faces in both the red-tinted bleachers and the blue-tinted orchestra pit down in front of the stage. On the right side of us, Amnon Filippi has been hanging around rooting for Matt Giannetti all day long, as have David Williams and Nenad Medic. They've just been joined by Chino Rheem, and we also spot Noah Schwartz and Tommy Vedes over there in Camp Giannetti. Across the stage is Ben Lamb's crowd, and they are vast. Most notably we see a shaved-headed Shaun Deeb, but we also spot Sam Stein, Chris DeMaci, Doc Sands, and Erika Moutinho. Johannes Strassmann is among the German contingent here cheering for Pius Heinz, and they occasionally break into a unison chant with a confusing rhythm. We don't recognize many Czechs, unfortunately, and we haven't seen Jan Skampa or Martin Hruby here today.

The theater isn't exactly buzzing right now, but it's still got a little life left in it here as the clock ticks past 9:00 PM local time.