Click, Clack, Vegas!

For the Fall tour circuit, which is three months, we get about 3-4 itineraries detailing where we are performing along the road. Its always an exciting, heart fluttering moment to open that mail package and see what new part of the country we will get to visit. Well, imagine how excited we were when we saw that Click, Clack, Moo was performing in Las Vegas. Now try to think really hard about how excited we were when we realized we had a day off in Vegas. I think the word elated might begin to cover it. There were a few Vegas first timers on this trip (myself included) so we started planning about a month before our arrival for the activities we would partake in.

We had about a 5 hour drive to Vegas, the cast waived their overtime for the day so we could get there without taking more than one hour meal/rest break along the way. We arrived about 9PM and checked into the Sahara Hotel and Casino. The Sahara is a famous hotel that opened in the 1950's...and it shows. The casino is as tacky as tacky can be, the carpet must be from the 80's and the cigarette stains on the walls are from the 50's. But we did not let the shady ambiance of our hotel dissuade us. As Kyle so optimistically put it "It's all a part of the experience".

After checking in we all took about 1.5 hours to make ready for our first jaunt along the strip. We donned our heals, tightened out ties and and applied that last bit of eyeliner (even some of the boys took part in this ritual). Now for those of you who are planning to go to Vegas but have never been here is a little tip. Try to stay somewhere that has a monorail connection. The monorail saved us on this trip. It stops up and down the strip in about 7 or 8 places. The Sahara is the last stop as it is a bit north of the bustling strip that everyone is familiar with. If it weren't for the monorail we would have had to take cabs everywhere.

After hopping on the monorail we decided to make our first stop The Bellagio since we were familiar with it from the Ocean's Eleven movies. the most recognizable feature of The Bellagio are its choreographed fountains that go off about every 15 minutes. We started off with a drink each (I had my signature Jack and Coke) and some slots. I instantly won $5 and then lost it. Ah well, its Vegas.

From there we moved on to Caesars Palace, The Flamingo (which was almost as trashy as our hotel) and then back to the Sahara. I've skimmed over the little bits in between but I will say this, there was drinking, there was gambling...don't give me that disapproving look...its Vegas!

At the end of the night and after accruing about 3 enormous blisters per foot caused by my new heels, we met at the Sahara bar for a few more drinks and then a goodnight. Kyle and Cameron retired first at about 4:00AM I followed soon after at 4:30AM and then Sarah and Jed did the same. However our ladies, Rachael and Brynn, stuck it out and saw that brilliant Vegas sun come up on the neon city. Those girls are troopers, we all said we wanted to stay out until 8AM and they actually did it!

The next day was our actual day off. Sarah was intent on touring the shopping areas within the various malls. We couldn't actually buy anything within them due to the fact that all the shops were high end and high price. No thanks. We roamed through The Venetian which has an actual canal that gondolas float by on with their gondoliers crooning to the passengers. We then sauntered over to the Forum Shops in Caesars Palace. Upon riding up the swirling escalators which were supported by giant carvings of Roman women (to which Jed exclaimed "Thats a big booby") we noticed a sign that said 'Moving Statues'. Our curiosity was peeked. We made our way over to the statues which were located amongst a large fountain and waited for the show to begin...Sarah was ripe with anticipation.

The lights dimmed, mist curled over the edges of the fountain, a thunder clap sounded throughout the arena (actually the middle of an indoor shopping plaza) and finally as we couldn't take anymore suspense...a busted old animatronic rose from the fountain and began to retell the story of how Atlantis was destroyed. Basic Plot line: The dude who ruled Atlantis had one son who wielded fire and who's rubber neck had holes in it and was falling off. He also had one daughter who bore a strange resemblance to a Xena with blond hair and wielded water. They both wanted to rule Atlantis and were whiny biatches about who the father would choose. The father in turn was an indecisive old guy with rubbery hands that wiggled when moved. Since nobody could decide who was going to rule, the Gods thought that drowning Atlantis would be the quickest solution.

The main event of the day however was our famous Vegas Buffet. There were talks of seeing a Cirque show but we decided better not because of budget concerns. There are so many specialty and famous buffets in Vegas how do you choose? Well we asked around and the general consensus was that the The Village Buffet in Paris was by far the best buffet in all of Vegas. So Sarah, Kyle, Rachael and I decided to hop on the monorail and embark to Paris. Now let me tell you... the general consensus was right on the money! The meal wasn't too pricey, the wine was cheap and the food was plentiful and delicious. We ate so much and yet for some reason I didn't feel heavy or overly full...I was completely content. A more perfect meal we could not find.

After dinner we wanted to catch the Sirens show at Treasure Island. It's a bit of a walk and my feet were still hurting from the massive blisters I accrued the night before. We arrived about 10 minutes early only to hear that due to high winds the show was cancelled. Boo. So we called it a night and all headed back to the hotel.

The next day we had our performance at the W. Ham Concert Hall on the University of Las Vegas at Nevada Campus. the crew was helpful and kind and the kids loved the show. All in all a great performance with no mishaps...which makes me very happy.

This was our last night in Vegas however most of us were too tired to really go out and party. But Sarah and I accepted a mission for ourselves. We wanted sushi...and we wanted a lot of it. We first embarked to the Imperial palace which is Asian themed and had a Japanese/Korean/Chinese restaurant. You would think this restaurant has a wide assortment of sushi, yes? WRONG! There were maybe four rolls available to choose from and they were all almost $20 a pop. Not worth it. We moved on.

Next we ventured to The Venetian to see what the restaurant Tao was all about. It was beautifully laid out, the food looked great and was expensive as all hell. No! This shall not do, we want sushi, a lot of it and relatively cheap. Where shall we find this enigma?

Light bulb!

A sushi buffet! Sarah whips out her smart phone and locates an all you can eat sushi buffet in the Miracle Mile shopping plaza located within the Planet Hollywood hotel. Awesome, perfect, stupendous! There was only one problem....we were in the Venetian and the buffet was in Planet Hollywood...which are on opposite sides of the strip. So we start to sprint weaving in and out of traffic and pedestrians like insects trying to avoid being hit by a car on the highway. We made it, albeit breathless, to the buffet with an hour to chow down. It goes without saying that the sushi was delicious and we had a fabulous time after catching our breaths. 

But wait! Didn't we say we were going to meet Kyle and Cameron for another shot at the Treasure Island show? Yes we did, and where is said Treasure Island hotel? Oh, that's right! On the other side of the strip. So off we ran, we had 30 minutes to get from Planet Hollywood to Treasure Island which is even further than The Venetian. I would like to point out that this was the second time we had to sprint to see this show. Did we make it you ask? Oh yes we made it! We met Kyle and Cameron just in time to see some women shaking their butts at the audience and some men on another Pirate ship making sexist comments. Fun times. After the show we had some drinks (among them a more than foot long margarita) and then headed back to the hotel.

We left the next morning for a long drive back into California where we were destined for San Diego. So ends the Las Vegas chronicles. I shall leave you with our latest and final itinerary for the tour.

Nov 12 TRAVEL TO Stockton, CA

Nov 13 DAY OFF Stockton, CA

Nov 14 DAY OFF Stockton, CA

Nov 15  10:00 Warren Atherton Auditorium Stockton, CA

Nov 16  9:30 / 11:30 Wells Fargo Center for the Arts Santa Rosa, CA

Nov 17  10:00 The Crest Theatre Sacramento, CA

Nov 18  10:00 Chabot College Performing Arts Center Hayward, CA

Nov 19  10:00 The Herbst Theatre San Francisco, CA

Nov 20 DAY OFF San Jose, CA

Nov 21 DAY OFF San Jose, CA

Nov 22  10:00 Flint Center for Performing Arts Cupertino, CA

Nov 23  10:00 Rogers Theatre Modesto, CA

Nov 24 TRAVEL TO Roseburg, OR

Nov 25 Travel to Seattle, WA HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

Nov 26 DAY OFF Seattle, WA

Nov 27 FLY TO Anchorage, Alaska

Nov 28 REHEARSE IN Anchorage, Alaska

Nov 29  10:00 / 12:15  Discovery Theatre Anchorage, AK

Nov 30  10:00 / 12:15  Discovery Theatre Anchorage, AK

Dec 1  10:00 / 12:15  Discovery Theatre Anchorage, AK

Dec 2  10:00 / 12:15  Discovery Theatre Anchorage, AK

Dec 3  10:00 / 12:15  Discovery Theatre Anchorage, AK

Dec 4  2:00  Discovery Theatre Anchorage, AK

Dec 5 FLY TO Seattle, WA

Dec 6 TBD

Dec 7 TBD

Dec 8 TRAVEL TO Salem, OR

Dec 9 DAY OFF Salem, OR

Dec 10  10:00 / 7:00PM Historic Elsinore Theatre Salem, OR

Dec 11 TRAVEL TO Boise, ID

Dec 12 TRAVEL TO Provo, UT

Dec 13 TRAVEL TO Avon, CO

Dec 14 10:00 / 12:30  Vilar Center for the Arts Avon, CO

Dec 15 TRAVEL TO York, NE

Dec 16 TRAVEL TO Peru, IL

Dec 17 TRAVEL TO Streestboro, OH

Dec 18 TRAVEL TO New York, NY  **Load Out to Follow**

Those special moments

If there is one thing about touring that I positively love it's the opportunity to explore new parts of the country that I KNOW I probably would never have gone to. The best part? We get paid to do this. I last left you with our explorations of St. Louis and a couple different state fairs. We have travelled many miles since then and experienced the country from big cities like Austin, TX to small towns such as Artesia, NM. Even though we sometimes grumble about driving for hours at a time or having to load in at 7:00AM there truly is a silver lining in every situation.

Case and Point: We had an 8 hour long drive from Fort Worth, TX to Artesia, NM and that's not including 10 minute breaks we have to take every 2 hours and 1 hour meal breaks (not to mention filling up on gas when needed). That's a long time to be sitting in a large van staring at the same flat patch of road. But I'd say about 4 hours into the drive the monotony broke and we saw the grandest, somewhat most intimidating forest we have ever seen. Wind Turbines as far as the eye could see seemed to grow from the ground and surround us. These massive 60ft energy mills littered our drive, and we marveled at this man made forest. I know it may seem simple and to some a wind turbine is nothing out of the ordinary. But for a girl who grew up in the city the majesty of these monsters made me relate a bit to Don Quixote "A giant. Canst thou not see the four great arms whirling at his back?".

A serendipitous moment on this tour was when we stayed in Austin, TX and realized that ACL music festival was taking place the weekend we had off. Unfortunately we weren't able to see any of the main concerts but were fortunate enough to get tickets to a Blues Traveller after show. Now, I only know one Blues Traveller song (Run Around) but I was sure that the rest would be just as entertaining. However the only word I can use to describe the rest of that concert was repetitive. The real treat was the man who performed before them. Martin Sexton...if you don't know him look him up right this second! 

Today we had our first show in California. Location: North Ridge Elementary School in Moreno Valley, CA. This type of day is tough. We put up the set in the school's 'multi-purpose room' aka the Cafeteria. All throughout load in there were kids eating their lunches and walking past us to get to the garbage cans. Also the incessant questions never stop. 'What does this do?' 'Are you doing a play?' Putting up the set while trying to politely answer the kids questions can get a bit tedious. The cast got dressed in the 'art room' which we had to fight for since the other options to change in were either the bathrooms or the 'electronics room' which would not have fit six people and their costumes. In total the load in was frustrating....with that said once the show started and the sea of kids started squealing with delight, it was all worth it. I, who has seen this show more than 300 times, couldn't stop smiling. The laughter and glee I heard coming from the kids was simply infectious. But not only were the children delighted by the show but the teachers could not get enough of the witty lines and clever lyrics. 

Touring can be tumultuous and stressful, but its the moments that put the whole experience in perspective that you treasure. 

This post is dedicated to Kyle's Grandparents who came to see our show in Phoenix, AZ and who actually read my blog. Yay!

I will leave you with yet another map of how far across the country we have traveled and a picture of one of my favorite moments in the show.     

"Just watch where you poop!"

Arches, Corndogs and Texas...Oh My!

Tis been a while since I posted but we've been pretty busy as you can imagine. So here I go attempting to catch myself up. It will be condensed and covering a lot of information so I apologize! Please don't feel obligated to read this all in one go...I probably wouldn't.

The weekend of Sept 26 we had the pleasure of being hosted by Deanna and Chris, the parents of our Loretta Cow, Kyle. Kyle is originally from Ballwin, a town right outside St. Louis, MO. We had a travel day from the lovely town of Vandalia, OH to MO which took about 6 hours with a 1 hour stop for lunch. Upon arriving at Kyle's house, he jumps out of the car and gives his mom a BIG hug. It was heart warming and almost brought a tear to my tired eyes. After we performed some vehicle choreography to figure out how we were going to park the vans we were introduced to his parents and escorted inside.

Deanna soon started to cook dinner and then volunteered to do our laundry. Yes you read this correctly, she did the cast laundry!! We were in heaven. A home cooked meal, a warm and comforting house to stay in and laundry done by a maternal figure. It was as if we had stayed at our own parent's house they made us feel so welcome. For dinner we had the most delicious vegetarian chilli I have ever had...I'll admit I had two bowls at dinner and then another before I went to bed...oh well, I deserve it!

We spent the rest of the night going out to see and movie and ended up hitting the sack early because we had a fun filled tourist day ahead of us. We got up early and headed to the St. Louis Arch. I was very curious as to why the arch was built but even through the mini tour packed with historical items and voice overs, the informational video AND the actual arch itself...I was still at a loss. I soon found a gift shop that had plenty of large picture books and mini descriptions of who designed and created the arch and for what reason. In case you are equally curious as I was...here is a link to a website about the St. Louis Arch...AKA Wikipedia.

Click, Clack, Moo loves St. Louis!

The rest of the day was spent visiting the St Louis zoo which was lots of fun (although the Red Panda was no where to be seen) and eating delicious frozen custard. I must say that being housed by a cast member's families is one of the real joys of touring. Not only do you fully appreciate the simple pleasures of being around a family environment but you get to see your cast member at their most relaxed and comfortable moments. I would personally like to thank Chris and Deanna for a lovely day off in your beautiful city!

After Missouri we traveled to Arkansas with a couple shows on the 29th and then off to Tulsa, OK where we had a 5 night sit down at a La Quinta hotel. We stay at a variety of hotels along the tour, some good and some bad...some horrific. There was this one time on my last tour when we stayed at a hotel with prostitutes and - well lets save that for another time. Anyway, let my tell you why La Quinta is one of the best hotels to stay in:

1) Depending on the area it is usually very cheap.

2) The rooms are always clean.

3) The decor is bright and uplifting where as some other hotels use dark colors and are a bit morose.

4) Its just plain ol' fun to say.

The shows in Tulsa went well as they usually do but this time around we had a public performance which means...more adults in the audience...hoorah! The adults get all the clever joked the kids don't get which makes performing for them all the more fun. After the public performance there was an autograph signing session where the actors got to play the movie star to the kids. 

Now there was another reason we were excited to stay in Tulsa, OK for 5 nights (besides getting to perform in an awesome venue and not having to take it down for a couple nights) which was the Tulsa State Fair was happening while we were there.

I don't know if I mentioned this earlier but I am a pescitarian...no meat besides seafood. I don't do it for moral purposes, to be truthful it started as a challenge for myself and I just happened to like it. Now I've heard about fairs in the south and I knew that there would be much eating of the corndogs and Turkey Legs so for this coming itinerary I decided to allow myself to eat meat. A few days before the fair I started to eat some chicken and turkey to get my digestive system used to the meat. A few headaches and indeestion pains later and I was golden. The first thing I eat at the fair? A JUMBO CORNDOG. Num Yummy. I later finish the day with a massive turkey leg and a margarita the size of my arm. I know that fairs aren't all food (although in my opinoun they could be), I know there are also rides. The cast went on a crazy ride called the zipper earlier in the morning that I couldn't bring myself to do. So I was stuck holding the bags, I felt like the mom watching the kids go off and play with there friends. Here are some pictures of our adventures at the Oklahoma State Fair:

Adventures at the Tulsa State fair...yes that is a donut burger Kyle us eating.

After Ooooooo -K-lahoma (theatre joke...so sue me), we ventures to Dallas, TX. Let me take this time to explain to you why this was so exciting for me. I am a lover of the Travel channel. I have watched EVERY Man vs. Food, No Reservations with Anthony Bordain and Samantha Brown special that they have ever aired. I have for years enviously watched these foodies travel across the country sampling the delicious cuisine of whatever culture they happen to be immersing themselves in. So to get to sample the tangy, juicy spicy and delectable BBQ of Texas is a dream come true! BUT WAIT...there's more! Not only do I get to go to Texas, the land of the best BBQ, but the Texas State Fair is currently entertaining in full force just outside of Dallas. Did we strike Tour Gold or what on this one? Only Sarah and Kyle were up for another fair so we hopped in Sexxxy Louise and drove the confusing highways to the fair. This time we ate some pretty strange food and I am proud to say that this time I went on a crazy ride with Kyle. Here is my proof:

crazy ride with Kyle...can you spot us?

Fried Beer

Big Tex

Of course we had our delicious day at the fair but another key point of Dallas is that our Duck, Cameron, went to college in the lovely city of Dallas. He took us to some of his favorite haunts from his collegiate years and we had the pleasure of meeting some of his friends at a bar called Snookie's....it has nothing to do with Jersey Shore so don't even go there!

After our one show in Dallas we hitched it off to Austin, TX (for those of you who read the itinerary I posted, our show in Houston was cancelled) which is where we are currently located. We started our adventures in Austin with a day off filled with exploration of SoCo (South Congress Blvd) and the strange vintage shops that litter the street. We performed two shows today in a beautiful yet odd space. The building is usually used for weddings, and you can tell why since the view from the 'bridal dressing room' is perfectly picturesque. Our stage consists of a raised 28X16 platform...this is quite snug for our cows and chickens to prance across. Luckily we were able to fit everything without having to detract from the set. The cast compensated for the tight space beautifully.

So here we are in Austin, we have another day of shows tomorrow and then yet ANOTHER day off in this lovely city. The music festival Austin City Limits is currently taking place so we thought we'd profit from this happy coincidence and catch Blues Traveller on Sunday evening. After that its another travel day off to Artesia, NM. Yet another state checked off the list.

I leave you with our latest itinerary and also a map of the long and winding roads we have traveled. 

Oct 15 10:00 / 1:00 Artesia Arts Council Artesia, NM

Oct 16 TRAVEL TO Albuquerque, NM

Oct 17 DAY OFF in Albuquerque, NM

Oct 18  10:15 / 12:15 University of NM Albuquerque, NM

Oct 19 TRAVEL TO Phoenix, AZ

Oct 20  10:00 Celebrity Theatre Pheonix, AZ

Oct 21  9:30 North Ridge Elementary Moreno Valley, CA

Oct 22 10:00 / 12:00 Pepperdine University Malibu, CA

Oct 23  11:00 / 1:00 Pepperdine University Malibu, CA

Oct 24 DAY OFF in Las Vegas, NV

Oct 25  10:00 Artemus W. Ham Concert Hall Las Vega, NV

Oct 26 TRAVEL TO Lemon Grove, CA

Oct 27  10:00 Spreckels Theatre San Diego, CA

Oct 28  10:00 Wilshire Ebell Theatre Los Angeles, CA

Oct 29  10:00 La Mirada Theatre for Performing Arts La Mirada, CA

Oct 30  2:00 Sana Clarita Community College Santa Clarita, CA

Oct 31 DAY OFF in Lemon Grove, CA HAPPY HALLOWEEN

Nov 1  9:15 / 11:30 Dingeman Elementary School San Diego, CA

Nov 2  10:00 / 12:00 Beckman Auditorium Pasadena, CA

Nov 3  10:00 Marsee Auditorium Torrance, CA

Nov 4  10:00 Gabriel Mission Playhouse San Gabriel, CA

Nov 5 DAY OFF in Glendora, CA

Nov 6  1:30 / 3:30 Citrus Community College Glendora, CA

            *^*7:00PM special fund raiser performance Pasadena, CA*^*

Nov 7  3:00 Cal Poly Arts San Luis Obispo, CA

Nov 8  11:00 Cal Poly Arts San Luis Obispo, CA

Nov 9  10:00 Haugh Performing Arts Center Glendora, CA

Nov 10  10:00 Tower Theatre Fresno, CA

Nov 11 DAY OFF in Oakland, CA

An evening with Roberta

There comes a point in every tour's journey where you are holed up in a smaller than small town and you get excited because there is a McDonald's in walking distance for breakfast the next day. But once in a blue moon there will be a diamond in the rough where you can go and party the night away. In the town of Vandalia, OH where the highways are wide and the fast food joints a plenty, the Hot Air Balloon Lounge features karaoke for its bar guests.  Now, the Hot Air Balloon Lounge is more hot air than a lounge. However there is only one thing that could make the night more memorable than a smoky pool bar playing karaoke in a small town. And that is a small town train wreck chick.

I come to the evening with Roberta. After Brynn belted her heart out on It's all coming back to me by Celine Dion and we were a few drinks worse for wear, a woman with an outfit that was strikingly similar to Brynn's approached her to point out that particular fact.

The woman's name...was Roberta. She had short blond hair that was sprayed to an inch of its life. Her makeup could have been entered into a 'Scarrier than Joan Rivers' contest and she must have had at least 10 face lifts to create that cling to your bones stretched skin look. But of course you could not miss the fake n' bake tan that stood out in the smoky bar. Although I'm just describing the finer points of Roberta's look, it was really her personality that was her winning trait.

As the evening progressed and curiously I saw at least 5 other bar guests give Roberta a beer and a shot (what shot I don't know) she became more rambunctious and obsessed with Brynn. At one point she pulled Brynn's forehead against her own, I was so afraid that Brynn may need some bodyguard action that I asked her if she was OK, Brynn nodded to me and allowed Roberta to whisper a prayer into her ear...via a vice grip. After she was told we were all currently living in NY she began her illogical and prejudiced rant about how she opposed the fact that 'they' were building a mausoleum a block away from ground zero (to which Kyle muttered "It's a mosque but hey - semantics."). Brynn being a logical person chided her by saying "Well, you can't blame an entire race for something that one group of people did." Roberta heartily disagreed on this fact. 

After the heated debate ended there was more karaoke singing (I myself actually got up to sing a couple numbers) like Rachael singing the hit 90's classic 'Torn' or Brynn and Cameron singing 'Picture' as performed by Kid Rock and Sheryll Crow. I eventually became too tired to handle anymore Roberta antics (my confused state of being may have been because of the cocktail sized shot called the Thunder F*&% that Rachael made me chug right before I sang a Dolly Parton song) so I turned in for the night and sauntered back to the hotel room.

However the night was not yet over for the rest of the brave souls singing their hearts out over at the Hot Air Balloon Lounge. Everything from this point on are facts that I have heard from the cast. Rachael had complained that her hair was looking a bit kinky so Roberta, being the thorough bar hopper that she was, whipped out a travel size can of hairspray and sprayed  her head so much that a jersey girl from the 80's would have been proud. I even heard that later on Roberta graced the karaoke stage with her dulcet tones and sang Landslide as performed by the Dixie Chicks.

The gang wanted to sing a group number but didn't know what to do. Luckily Tom the Karaoke DJ was there to suggest Summer Nights from Grease. Now, in a grungy bar in the Midwest one would think that a show tune would be a bit out of place, part of me thinks Tom just wanted to see what would happen if they sang that song, but they took to the idea like wildfire and ended the night with a marvelous albeit maybe slightly befuddled rendition of Summer Nights.

I look back on karaoke night with fond memories. I remember Roberta dragging us onto the dance floor. I remember Roberta yelling at us and dragging us back to the dance floor when we tried to escape. I remember Roberta picking Brynn up by the waist and lifting her into the air after she sang the duet with Cameron, I marveled at the strength of this strange petite woman. I remember Roberta saying as she showed us her tattoo "I am a woman of the Lord and if you'll look at the tattoo on my lower back you'll see my devotion to God". I remember seeing her tattoo and realizing it was an infinity sign made out of barbed wire that was circling a cross they has wings on either side to symbolize her Native American heritage...yeah. 


But I also remember my jaw dropping when I heard Rachael sing a Jimi Hendrix song with flare and soul and I remember the bartender thanking us for coming in because it would have been a slow night otherwise.

So you see, there are many people across this great country who will be moved by the cast of Click, Clack, Moo but there was something about Vandalia, OH and Ms. Roberta who needed an especially large dose of Click, Clack, Fierce!

I leave you with some pictures of our karaoke night and of course the spitting image of Roberta herself, goodnight!

Brynn and her soul sister Roberta, the cautionary tale herself.

 

Kyle is getting down...or feeling those Thunder F*&$s

Sarah and Kyle in their Vandalia, OH karaoke best

This boy can croon Sinatra like nobodies business

Cameron and I are foxy

It's All Coming Back to Brynn

Every tour should have a one eyed tour cat!

We are currently in Vandalia, OH. We had two shows on the 23rd and 24th in PA at two different venues. We then traveled to Falconer, NY beginning a four day stretch of just travel interspersed with 1 day off in St. Louis. Our final destination for the end of these four days is Alma, AR where we will be performing at the Alma Performing Arts Center.
Its only the first week of tour and we are already experiencing the shenanigans that happen during the run. Our second night in PA we wanted to go out for a cold one and some bar food. There was a tavern within 5 minutes of our hotel called Captiain Jack's. The place looked respectable on the outside and it was listed online with its own website (according to Kyle). But you never truly understand the meaning of a small po-dunk town until you walk into a smoky bar and the music stops causing all 10 bar guests to stare at you (clearly aware that you are not from that town) and then the staff proceeds to ignore you. We sat down and after about 2 minutes realized that nobody was going to take the time out of their busy day to wait on us. Needless to say we scrambled out of there.

During the load out of our last show in PA we had the back doors of the theatre open to let in some natural light. After about 5 minutes the mangiest, most ugly, orange, fluffy cat I have ever scene sauntered onto the stage from outside. The cast became very excited but I instructed them not to touch it for fear it might have fleas. Not 1 minute later Brynn, who had not heard my announcement shows up in the doorway of the van where I was loading set pieces, holding the cat with a delighted look on her face saying "Look what I found!". She put the cat down and it was then that 'ugly McGee kitty' decided it would be a good idea to hack up a hairball on a set piece. Did I mention that the cat only had one eye and its tongue was lolling out of its mouth? Now you understand why I dubbed it Ugly McGee Kitty.

 We've had a long couple days and tomorrow we have a 9:00AM call for a 6 hour travel day to MO. WE have to cross Illinois and Indiana to get there. But the exciting part is we will be staying at Kyle's house for the next two nights resulting in saved per diem and home cooked meals. Mmmm. I will leave you with some pictures I have taken of the cast over the past few days:

Cameron (The Duck) striking a pose before our show.

Brynn (Jenny), Rachael (Darlene), Kyle (Loretta) and Jed's (Farmer Brown) feet laying around.

Rachael, Sarah (Maddy), Kyle and Cameron conked out in between shows.

Kyle in the Toy Story themed dressing room holding Slinky Dog

Cameron, Sarah, Jed, Me, Brynn and Rachael in front of the Keystone Theatre in Wysox, PA (Taken by Kyle)

Show and Travel Day Numero Uno

So our first show was in Viola Elementary School in a town called Suffern, NY (about 45 minutes from the city). We had one show at 10:00AM with a load in scheduled for 8:00AM. The trains were a bit wonky in the morning so a few actors were late but nothing worse than 5 minutes. After that it was smooth sailing. We had a lovely ride with beautiful weather all the way to Suffern and the cast got used to driving in the passenger van quickly (which they have dubbed Sexxxy Louise...and I am told the three Xs are necessary). We finished load in right before half hour and the kids started filing in.

Due to the nature of the space, small, the stage was a bit cramped and there was no cross over to get from one side of the stage to the other. When the actors needed to cross I told them to just keep walking and ignore the kids. Sure enough as they walked behind each set piece and was shown briefly to the audience in between, the kids FREAKED OUT. There was major screaming and giggling and this prompted the cast to give the kids a bit of a show. Some hopped between sets and others wagged their 'tails' a bit as they strolled by. I put the kibosh on this as the kids started to get a little out of control.

The reason I wanted them to stop was that I was worried the teachers would get annoyed with their kids and shush them forcefully. I know this sounds silly but an angry or annoyed shush from a teacher or guardian can quell the kids not just for the pre-show...but the entire show. They will be too scared to clap and too scared to enjoy themselves for fear of being shushed by their teachers. This is a tragedy in the world of children shows.

As I expected the teachers started yelling and shushing at the kids making the outcome a subdued audience. They became more lively towards the end of the show when they realized they wouldn't get yelled at for enjoying themselves but most of the first half was a giggle every now and then and not knowing when to clap. Albeit this could also be attributed to just a general ignorance to theatre going conventions...which to be honest from grades K-3 is understandable.

Load out went smoothly then we had our first 'family' or company meal together in Applebee's ( a good ol' standby if all the town restaurants look sketchy). We chatted about the upcoming travel day we had among other things and then headed back to NYC.

Today we had our first travel day. We met at the garage at 10:00AM and arrived at our destination, Wysox, PA, at about 2:00PM. The drive was great although I am not a fan of driving through PA. The roads are twisty turny and the drivers are as well. Upon arriving at the hotel we all agreed to meet in the lobby around 3 for food. We asked the receptionist where we should go and her manager, who was looming over her shoulder, instantly pointed to the restaurant that had a poster plastered to every wall and window. He said 'You'll definitely want to go there'. We shrugged and off we went, about a mile away. We laughed at how insistent he was on us going to this specific establishment and assumed he owned the joint.

We arrived at the restaurant and sure enough about 5 minutes after ordering our food the manager of the hotel showed up. Our eyes popped wide and we all ducked our heads to avoid him seeing us giggle. At dinner we discussed possibly dressing up in themes for Halloween (some ideas were title characters of 90's TV shows or Clue) Later that evening Sarah, who plays Maddy in the show, was looking at the Wysox Facebook page and discovered it only had 3 fans and the town population was 1,204! The manager of our hotel probably created the acebook page...hell he probably was the mayor of the town. It just goes to show...there is no town too small for Click, Clack, Moo. We perform to towns of aaaalll populations.

Tomorrow we have a 9:30AM and a 12:30PM. Load in time is 7:30AM...Hoorah for coffee!

I leave you with a picture of me driving Cargo Cathy wearing Cameron's sunglasses.

Cameron's foxy 'Bro' glasses as he calls them.

The Beginning...Again.

I'm sitting in a rehearsal hall in Chelsea Studios awaiting the beginning of a rehearsal day. I am drinking a vente Chai Tea Latte and munching a buttery croissant (my pastry of choice). The actor's are filtering in for the start of our 10th rehearsal and we are discussing the ratio of quality to trashiness on TrueBlood. It's the second week of rehearsals and the cast and I can't wait to get out on the road.

I am a Stage Manager for a TheatreWorks USA show called Click, Clack, Moo. This show is one of many that the company sends across America (including Alaska) and parts of Canada. Other shows include Junie B. Jones, Fancy Nancy and other Stories, Charlotte's Web, We The People and A Christmas Carol. Those are just a small sample of the shows that are sent out. This Fall season my tour is traveling around the Southwest, west coast and around Thanksgiving we are being flown to Alaska.

TheatreWorks USA is important to the younger audiences of America, not only are we teaching children how to properly participate and watch live theatre but every show comes with it's own morale or theme. My show, Click, Clack, Moo's theme is compromise and negotiation. 'You have to give a little, to get a little' as the character of Jenny instructs Farmer Brown, the grandfather and main antagonist of the play. However as the play also teaches kids about going on strike, this can sometimes backfire. We have received letters from slightly amused/frustrated parents telling us how their kids loved the show so much that they have taken the lesson to heart and gone on strike by refusing to clean their rooms.

 So how this touring process works is the show casts 6 equity actors who double as Assistant Stage Manager's and work with me as we travel across the country. We rehearse for 2 weeks and then are off on the whirlwind adventure. We travel with two Dodge Sprinters, one van holds the set, props, costumes and sound equipment. The other van is utilized for passenger and luggage transportation. The actors and I take turns driving these mobile monsters from city to city. 

Our performances usually begin at 10:00 which means we have to be at the venue at 8:00AM to load in all the necessary components of the show.  We usually get 1.5 hours to set up and then 30minutes before GO. After the show (sometimes we have more than 1), we take down the set, pack up and get back on the road.

It is a non stop and exhausting process but there is nothing more rewarding than seeing a show well executed and the looks on the kid's excited faces as they chatter about who their favorite character was. Something to keep in mind is that we don't only perform in theatres. We also perform in small gym-caffe-toriums in elementary schools, sometimes they are so small we can't put up the entire set. Most of the kids in these schools have never seen live theatre, we are exposing them to an element of life that may have gone overlooked if we had not performed in that school. Its a satisfying moment when you realize you are opening kids up to new experiences.

So here I am. Leading this band of actors and our two massive sprinter vans across the country (and at some point flying to Alaska, more on that later). We will have adventures, misadventures and a whole lot of shenanigans in between. I will be discussing our day to day performances and the crazy situations the cast and I find ourselves in along the way. I will leave today's post with a picture of the set on a stage in Altoona, PA and our current itinerary!

Click, Clack, Moo set at the Mishler Theatre

Sep 21 10:00AM Viola Elementary School Suffern, NY

Sep 22 TRAVEL DAY to Wysox, PA

Sep 23 9:30 / 12:30 Keystone Theatre Towanda, PA

Sep 24 9:30 / 12:30 Sayre Theatre Sayre, PA

Sep 25 TRAVEL DAY to Vandalia, OH

Sep 26 DAY OFF Vandalia, OH

Sep 27 TRAVEL DAY to Eureka, MO

Sep 28 TRAVEL DAY to Alma, AR

Sep 29 9:30 / 1:30 Alma Performing arts Center Alma, AR

Sep 30 11:30 Tulsa Performing Arts Center Tulsa, OK

Oct 1 9:30 / 11:30 / 7:00PM  Tulsa Performing Arts Center Tulsa, OK

Oct 2 11:00 Tulsa Performing Arts Center Tulsa, OK

Oct 3 DAY OFF Tulsa, OK

Oct 4 TRAVEL DAY to Dallas, TX

Oct 5 10:00 Majestic Theatre Dallas, TX

Oct 6 TRAVEL DAY to Houston, TX

Oct 7 9:30 The Rice School Houston, TX

Oct 8 9:30 / 11:30 One World Austin, TX

Oct 9 11:00 / 1:00 One World Austin, TX

Oct 10 DAY OFF Austin, TX

Oct 11 TRAVEL DAY to Palestine, TX

Oct 12 9:30 / 12:30 Crockett Civic Center Crocett, TX

Oct 13 TRAVEL DAY to Artesia, NM

Oct 14 DAY OFF in Artesia, NM

More to come...