The curtain was just about to rise for the 2 p.m. performance of “A Year with Frog and Toad” at the Scotts Valley Cultural and Performing Arts Center on Dec. 14.
As the cast warmed up and the audience settled into their seats, a few hundred yards away another performance was beginning. This one was far more dramatic.

A tornado touched down in Scotts Valley, overturning cars and downing power lines, narrowly missing the theater.
The only sign of trouble director Cindy Gorski noticed was a complete blackout just 20 minutes before the show was set to start.
“And the house was full. I mean, we had almost all 250 people that had bought tickets in the house sitting there when it went black,” Gorski said.

News of the tornado’s destruction spread quickly and it became clear that power wasn’t coming back on anytime soon.
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With no power and roads surrounding the theater blocked by debris, the audience would not be able to head home either.
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“At that point, the tornado had landed and left. It wasn't even raining anymore,” Gorski said. “I guess the only thing then for us was to try to figure out how to keep the audience safe.”

While safety was the immediate concern, the next challenge was how to keep the show going despite the circumstances
Scott Laird, a veteran theater technician, found himself at the center of the action.
“I just retired from all theatrical endeavors forever, I thought,” Laird said.
If a generator could be found, Laird said he was confident he could run one of the theater’s old follow-spot lights.

“So that's when one of our parents, they had a generator at their house. And so basically she called her husband and said, ‘Can we get the generator here?’” Gorski said.
Within an hour, the generator arrived.The crew opened the curtains and cracked the windows to let in enough light for the musicians to see their instruments.
Without microphones, projected backdrops or any other modern-day production staples, the curtain rose on "Frog and Toad."
“I was right there and I actually burst into tears. It was the most moving thing I think I've ever had happen in my life,” Gorski said.
While the cliche of "the show must go on" often feels overused, most cliches have a bit of truth behind them.
“Nobody was like, ‘I'm not going to do this. I can't do this.’ They just all jumped in and they just did,” Gorski said. “And it was profound.”