For one group of die-hard baseball fans, when the Brewers are in the playoffs, the show won't go on.

Four volunteers at the Sixth Street Theatre will abandon their posts as actor, production manager, director and griller this afternoon, choosing a party in the parking lot over Party on the Pavement.

Rick Ditter, Diane Carlson and Melissa and Cody Ernest will be at the Free Theatre Festival until about 2 p.m. Then, they're leaving Downtown Racine for Miller Park, where they have tickets to the 5:37 p.m. playoff game.

The group will be at Sixth Street Theatre, 318 Sixth St., early in the day. Carlson, Cody Ernest and Ditter will man the grills in front of the theater.

Melissa Ernest will be on stage, performing in one of three shows presented in constant rotation from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. When she leaves at 2 p.m., "Bus Stop" drops out of the festival. "Feet of Fury" and "Take My Breath Away" will continue throughout the afternoon.

"We have Party on the Pavement, of course, on Saturday," she said. "The playoff game starts at 5:30 (p.m.). I'll cram as much as I can early in the day, take off a little early from Party on the Pavement and get up for pre-game festivities in the parking lot. It'll be the full experience, just in case it's the one game."

Ditter, production manager for Sixth Street Theatre's Party on the Pavement event, said he always knew he'd go to the playoff game if the Brewers made it that far.

He - and every other season ticket holder who is going to today's game - had to buy their playoff tickets well before anyone knew whether the Brewers would even qualify for the playoffs.

"You have to pay for everything up front, whether they do it or not," he said.

If the Brewers don't make it as far as the advance-purchase tickets, the team offers a refund - or the money can be applied to future tickets, Ditter said. He expects to spend nearly $1,000 on playoff tickets, and his terrace box level tickets aren't fancy seats.

Ditter said he "can't help but get excited about it."

Diane Carlson directed one of the Party on the Pavement shows.

"We're going to get the party kicked off, sell some brats, get some performances going and then take off and head up to Miller Park," she said.

Unlike the rest of the group, Carlson hasn't always been a baseball fan. She got into baseball in the mid-1980s, and started out as a Minnesota Twins fan.

"The Twins lost me pretty much due to the strike (in 1994)," she said. "It's been a slow road back to baseball fandom."

When the Brewers' season took off late last season, Carlson said she was drawn back in.

"It got really exciting at the end of last season," she said. "They were in a run for something that mattered, and there were attractive ticket packages to get you to the ballpark."

Ditter's cousin, Brian Schuld, is coming in from Madison for the playoff party as well. He said he can see this year's success as the payoff to some of the team's recent trades.

"It's the first game in 26 years that actually means anything," he said. "They had talent before; now it's actually paying off with the Richie Sexson trade, the Carlos Lee trade. It's finally paying off."

Not every fan was happy about those trades when they happened, but Schuld said with this year's success, it's obvious the team did something right.

"Carlos Lee, I wasn't happy about at first, but I think it's come out just fine," Schuld said. "He ended up getting $11 million a year. If we had him, we wouldn't even have a chance to sign CC Sabathia next year. They made the right decision overall."

The Ernests have been to about 30 games this year.

She's been a Brewers fan since middle school, when she started collecting baseball cards.

When she and Cody were married, baseball became something they did together.

"It's been the main focus of the summer for the last two years," she said.

When the team started to shine last season, Cody Ernest started thinking about season tickets.

"It was 'Look how expensive this is, but how often are the Brewers this close to doing it?' " he said. "I can't believe I talked her into it."

The Ernests were at the park on Sunday, when the Brewers beat the Cubs and the Mets lost to the Marlins, securing Milwaukee's wild card slot in the playoffs.

"We got to see (the Brewers) win, beat the Cubs," Melissa Ernest said. "Then we stuck around and saw the Marlins game on the big screen. There were streamers going, celebrations. It was just stunning, especially compared to the Saturday game, which we went to with Ditter and Diane, to go from feeling really down and out to clinching the berth was really incredible."

The wild card-securing game on Sunday was incredible, Cody Ernest said.

"We were hugging complete and total strangers," he said.

Depending on how today's game goes, there could be a repeat of the fan ecstasy. Then again, it could be the end.

"How often do the Brewers get to the playoffs?" Cody Ernest said. "It could be one game. Mel and I are kind of realists."