We're in Nashville

Writing from the sub-par desk at a Motel 6, I don’t even have the internet access to post this. It’s been uploaded at a later date. We drove almost all afternoon just until twilight, passing many delightful accommodations that had spas and free internet, and now we’re faced with the prospect of two nights in this place. But we are a mere breath away from Nashville, and we’re going into the city to check it out later tonight. We also have all day tomorrow to explore, and a trip to the Zoo might just be in order.

We’ve spent the last month traveling through lots of different states, and we’ve notice that each one has its own landscape and topography. Today, for example, we went around rolling hills and drove along steep cliffs, whereas other states has large mountains, and others were long expanses of nothing but flat terrain. We’ve also found lots of different types of hotels (and unfortunately motels,) across the East Coast. We’ve found nice ones, bad ones, and ones that fall right in the middle. This one, for example, is completely functional and would be fine, it they would provide wireless internet. I can’t really understand how a chain hotel could NOT provide that; it seems to have become an industry standard. But now it’s time for dinner, and to figure out what to do tomorrow. We get to be tourists for a day.

Our Most Challenging Show

Yesterday at the Lincoln Theatre, we successfully performed our most challenging show yet. We had a third of our usual stage space, coupled with very little space in the wings. As soon as we made an exit and left the stage, we literally had to climb over props and other set pieces. Add to that a very small crossover, and we have our show. But we came through it with flying colors, due mostly to the fact that we managed to break down one of our set pieces during the show. The large boudior was in the way, so we took it completely apart while others were acting onstage. Go us!

After the show we dined at Macado's, a Virginia chain restaurant that is wonderful. The desserts alone made the meals, and we're looking into finding more of them as we hit the road for the next few days. We have three days of travel before we get to Peducah, so we're having a meeting this morning to discuss what we want to do. We're also going to go over some basic driving stuff, like the duties of the driver and the navigator. We've been doing pretty well at those things, but I want to have an official meeting where we specifically set down the duties of each position. That way there's no confusion in the future.

Last night we played Cranium again with Dwayne, our contact at the Lincoln Theatre. We offered him a spot on our touring company, but he had to turn it down in favor of a finance committee meeting on Monday. Although, he freely admitted that he would certainly have more fun with us.

Strike!

We are currently in Marion, Virginia, at the Lincoln Theatre. A converted movie house, it is a beautiful theatre, but it is only about 10 feet deep from the proscenium arch. So it's another very small stage, but we think we can make it work without putting up the set. It's a shame not to use so beautiful a theatre, but we would never fit otherwise. This is two spaces in a row where we have had to really adjust our game plan, and I'm looking forward to the next two large, full-size theatres.

After dinner today, we went bowling at the local lanes. The boys bowled their frames, and then sped away to play video games at the arcade. Sometimes, they didn't even stop to see how many pins the knocked down; the ran off, sometimes vaulting chairs or other obstacles in their haste to encourage Ms Pac-Man to eat the ghosts. We have a full day tomorrow (load-in, performance, load-out) but we have had a nice and relaxing evening. So those kinds of days balance themselves out in the long run. For every day we run around, there's a day we get to lounge.

Say What?!

We had two shows this morning, and both of them went very well. We had audiences full of very small children for both shows, and we could really hear them laugh and gasp throughout the show. But the adventure in the first show was the music... The sound guy had patched his CD player into his board in such a way that we weren't hearing all of the music and narration. In fact, we weren't hearing any of the narration. Now, this would be important once you realize that a good deal of the show relies on the puppets appearing as if they are saying the dialogue. But without dialogue, we had to be very creative and come up with different ways to express what the lines would have been. As the stepsisters, we had to be very specific when taunting Cinderella, and I rubbed my stomach to express hunger at one point. It was a fun challenge, something to keep the show more interesting after three weeks on the road.

The sound was returned to normal, and the second show went smoothly. And we loaded out in an hour and a half, which is our new record. Apparently, other crews want to know our record speed, because it's a matter of honor for them to beat it. The faster that they want to work is completely okay with me.

Acting on a Postage Stamp

I know I haven’t been blogging for quite some time, but it’s only because we have been constantly on the road. Lots of driving, lots of load-ins, many performances, etc. At the moment, we are in a hotel room in Summersville, West Virginia, with two school performances in the schedule. Tomorrow we hit the road and we start traveling down toward Virginia again (we were down there a few weeks ago.) After that, it’s off to Peducah, Kentucky. We’ve been fortunate enough to have very nice hotel rooms, ever since we had to spend two nights in a smoking room. But for a few nights when we were in Pawley’s Island, SC, we had our own beach house. Yup, a beach house. One block from a semi-private beach, we could go out there any time of day, and we had the time in our schedules to do a lot of swimming in the ocean. Last night in WV, we played a serious round of horseshoes, and it’s been nice to be able to relax with the company members.

We are performing in a high school that is seriously too small for our entire set. We couldn’t even put up part of our set, and we had to reduce it so it’s just the puppets and the set pieces. And the theatre after this one should be even smaller, so we’re going to get really good at acting in very small spaces. In Peducah, we’ll have more space than we will know what to do with, but for the moment it’s going to be semi-tight quarters.

I promise that I will try to keep a better record of our travels on the road, and I might also be able to catch up on some things that have already happened.

A very full day

Our schedule today ran something like this... Keep in mind we are now in the Central Time Zone.

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 5, 2006

5:00am - Call to be at the van to head to the theatre
5:20am - Arrived at theatre, began load-in of our set
6:00am - The excellent union crew arrives to work practically nonstop until....
7:15am - The proscenium is raised into place.
9:30am - Half-hour call before performance, the actors get dressed in costume
10:00am - Performance #1 for school groups
11:30am - Lunch at a charming Japanese restaurant in Champaign, IL
1:00pm - The technical director returns to the theatre to focus lights; Actors go to their hotel
5:20pm - Call at the van to head to the theatre
6:30pm - Half-hour call before performance
7:00pm - Performance #2 for the public at large
8:10pm - The actors meet and greet a family that won raffle tickets to meet us
8:20pm - Actors and crew begin loading out
8;55pm - The proscenium is lowered to the ground.
10:50pm - Load out is complete, actors return to the hotel
11:15pm - Some actors head out to find dinner, having not eaten a meal since lunch
1:05am - (on Thursday) I sit typing this up before going to bed.

So, what were you doing today?

Mentally spent, physically drained

Wow. Wow. We hit the road at 9am this morning, and drive straight to Adrian, MI getting into town around 1:30. Our load-in started at 2pm, and we wandered out of the building around 9pm, mostly delirious. Now, granted, our load-in went smoother than the one we did in Greenville, Ohio, but we still have to trim time off the endeavour. We're learning how to bring ths stuff in from the truck, and then learning how to arrange it onstage in the most efficient way. But now we're beat, lodged securely in a Days Inn, and get to grab a good 7 hours of shuteye before another long day tomorrow. We all love theatre, so this is the chance that we get to prove it.

We're performing in the Historic Croswell Opera House in Adrian, which has a long and rich tradition to it. It's the oldest theatre in Michigan, and people like Sousa and Edwin Booth have trod the very same stage that we will in the morning in "Cinderella." We're a part of a great legacy in this building. We've been fortunate to have two gorgeous spaces to perform, and we know we're going to many similar places. It's a great way to tour the country, and I'm looking forward to those days when we can find more local color.