Meet me in St. Louis.... Louis...

A lot has happened the last week, so I'm going to try to write about the things that have happened in the order in which they happened. After our show in Nebraska, we faced a ten hour drive so we could get to St. Louis in time for our show the next morning. We were driving until after midnight, and then we got the chance to grab about five or six hours of sleep before we had to get up and drive over to our high school performance. It was a very hard load-in. We had to use an elevator to go up one floor to the stage, and then when we took a look at the lighting options, we realized pretty quickly that the student running the board wasn't going to be able to do what we needed. So as we did the show, the light changes were a little shaky and abrupt, and we've learned an important lesson about how to work with non-professional groups. The frustrating part was that by the time we realized there would be a problem, it was too late to set our own lights up and fix the problem. That was a good thing to learn. I was also a little frustrated because members of the company were questioning my technical decisions about the space after I had made them. I like the idea of discussion and free conversation, but in this case it led to problems down the road. Everyone is always talking about how "they have no experience doing this tech..." or "we're only actors...." or "why should we be doing this...," and yet they don't follow my directions when I have had the experience. Actors...
After the show, we headed off to Jackson, TN, getting lost on our way out of the city, crossing into Illinois, back into Missouri, and then on the right road to Tennessee, passing by the St. Louis arch twice. (I've included a picture.) It was pretty cold when we got to Jackson, and then I won a game of Settlers of Catan that we played passing the time for the night. After the show in Jackson, we'll get to drive to Nashville, TN for the weekend. I'm looking forward to heading back to Nashville, but I think it's going to be strange to be in the city with a different group of people.

Back in the swing of things

Today was our first show after a week off, and it went very smoothly. We were in a beauitful space, with a fantastic dome that had amazing acoustics. We could hear whispers halfway across the room. We had a large crowd of high schoolers who really enjoyed the show, and then we had a nice little trip across the time zone to North Platte, Nebraska. We have a show here tomorrow morning for 40 (!) students, and then a ten hour drive so we can get to St. Louis sometime around 1am so we can do another show the next morning. And if the people in our company prostest over (read: bitch about) six hour drives, I'm really not looking forward to their opinion of a ten hour. For me, it's just a par for the course. There's an element of "ours is not to reason why" about the whole thing, and putting negative energy into the already crowded van is certainly not the way to make the travel a happy one.

Old friends

After a lazy day in Denver, mostly spent napping and catching up on email, I went out for a drink with an old friend from Philly who is now studying out here in Denver at the National Theatre Conservatory. I had done a few shows with Kate when we were both based in Philly, and she actually played my wife three times. She and her boyfriend met me at a bar called "The Cheeky Monk," and we spent a nice hour and half both telling stories of old times as well as catching up what we were doing now. She sounded like she was having fun with her different classes and class projects, and I wish that I could see some of the stuff she was talking about. It was great to see her again after about two years, and nice to see that she was doing well. We have a show in the morning, then lunch, a drive, and we're right back into the swing of things. There is the chance I might be able to see a college friend for breakfast, but we'll have to see how that pans out at is goes. I figure, if we're touring the country, I might as well get to see everyone I know!

Another day in Denver

This morning I went out to Highland Square in Denver and had an amazing lunch at a restaurant called Fuego. Between the burrito and the Mexican hot chocolate, the meal was delicious. Then I had some time to browse a bookshop in the area (more Christmas shopping was done), and then I went back to the downtown area to buy a cheap little digital camera. The quality and size of the pictures isn't too good, but it is better than nothing. It's the equivalent of a digital snapshot, but it's the kind of thing that might be able to add a little color to this blog now and then. I've also posted a picture of the Denver capitol building, just to demonstrate the quality of this camera. Tomorrow I have to make some trips to the airport to pick up various members of our company, and then we'll do a line-through and be back on our touring schedule. But this time it's part two...

Things to do in Denver...

We arrived in town late last night, and today I spent the day wandering around the downtown Denver area. There is a really great outdoor mall and market all up and down 16th Street in Denver, and I was actually smart enough to do a little Christmas shopping while I was down there. Granted, I spotted a few things that I wanted to get for myself as well, but that's what the season is all about, eh? The Ramada where we are staying provides a complimentary shuttle service back and forth from the hotel to the downtown district, and our van driver this morning was very helpful in pointing out places of interest. We're going to spend Monday touring the US Mint and the Coors Brewery, since those tours are free on Mondays. And Brandon made sure to check out places to watch all the football games tomorrow. We're also having the rest of our cast re-join us one by one as we come back from our Thanksgiving break. No more private little trip for us.

Happy Trucker Thanksgiving

After a long drive today, we arrived in Rock Springs, WY and went to find some Thanksgiving dinner. Our first stop was a redneck bar, but their kitchen was closed so there was no food to be found there. So then we went to a truck stop and ordered their Thanksgiving special, which was all the trappings of a traditional meal. The salad bar was a little sub-par, and the turkey was the kind of product that the Spam company would market as a cheap substitute for actual turkey product. That being said, the dinner made me both happy and sad at the same time. Happy for the meal, but sad all the same. I've spent the evening recovering from that meal, and it's turned into a very chill night. We drive to Denver tomorrow, and then we're there until our show on Tuesday morning. I'm excited to stop traveling, and I'm going to try to hook up with a couple friends I have out there.

Boise'd

We spent the day in Boise, ID today, looking around the downtown area for a few hours. We learned a little about the large Basque population in Boise, and saw the historic downtown area where all those buildings stand. I also went to a used bookstore and a great used CD/DVD store where I bought a movie. I had a good cup of coffee and a great sandwich, but one of the standouts was the Idado Anne Frank Human Rights Memorial near the river.


This is a photo of the Anne Frank statue at the memorial, and there are also stone monuments carved with excerpts from her diary, as well as inspirational quotes about freedom and injustice from people like Nelson Mandela, Martin Luther King, Jr., Rosa Parks, Eleanor Roosevelt, and Dr. Seuss. It was a very simple memorial, but a very touching one as well. It looks like a quiet night in for me, although I might crack into some recently arrived baked goods....