the lines lock

there comes this point during the rehearsal or the run of a show that you feel the lines lock. you hope that it happens during tech week, that last week that ends with opening night. you start to speak the lines in character, naturally, not from memory, and oddly enough it seems to dawn on you all at once. and you nod approvingly, smile a bit as you step off stage, fighting that urge to pump your fist like a pitcher after the last strikeout of first shutout game. gotcha.