Houston - Week Eighteen

I started writing this entry last Monday, before saying goodbye to Mike.






The flight to Houston was rough for me. Normally, I travel really well, but not Monday morning. Is it possible that watching a TV show on an iPod made me altitude sick? I dunno, but right after I stopped watching it, I felt like total ass. Nauseated and fainty. Jaki is an awesome friend. She nursed me though. That is all I am saying bout that. It really blew chunks. (LOLOLOL. GOD I kill me. Jak c'mon that joke was hilarious.)
We only had to travel on Monday because our trucks carrying the show couldn't make the 1500 mile trek to Houston in time, so load in started for me at 5:30am Tuesday morning. Making Tuesday a 15 hour day. Oh yeah. That was fun. Still, the rest of the crew, I believe, started at 10:30 the night before. By the time we arrived, there were reports of yelling matches going on, and locals threatening to walk off the job. Nice. Way to keep that bad reputation going. (I spoke to some friends out on the road with other shows and, apparently, our tour has the worst reputation. Oh Yeah. -"Bad Boys Bad Boys whatcha gonna do Whatcha gonna do when they come for you Bad Boys Bad Boys") ( Whatever, I still stand by my assessment that this tour has great potential and could turn around) Man, I just try to stay out of it. That's the nice thing about being in wardrobe on load in, when things get really ugly, you can hide out in the basement until the carnage is clear on deck.
But then of course there's the carnage of my own local crew.
My natural instinct is to be a nice person. Even though there is a hellion that resides in my brain, spewing sarcasm regularly, on the outside, I endeavor to be kind and nuturing to everyone I encounter.
But then Honesty gets in my way.
Some of these dressers are just flat out dumb. Jaki got her wish. My main dresser for the ladies is just LotsaBoxaRocksa. Dumb didley Dumb dumb dumb. Bless her. She is a really sweet lady. Wants to do a good job. Has her heart in all the right places, but truly has no ability. It's kinda sad if you think about it. No ability to put clothes on a chair and then hang them up. Wow. I have to spoon feed her everything. The second I try to let her stand on her own she, literally, walks in circles. I have to tell her where to go and what to do. On Thursday, I thought maybe I was doing her a disservice by feeding it all to her. So I tried to keep my mouth shut and let her try to muddle through, while making sure time didn't run out on her. Some people, I find, if you feed everyhting to them, don't learn. They just listen and rely on being told what to do. I wanted to give her a chance to figure it out.
Ah, no.
I actually at one point Had to leave for 5 MINUTES during our third performance, ( 5 measley minutes!!!!) to go talk to our stitcher. I came back and the quick change booth was a SHAMBLES. Costumes that were used ages ago were still sitting in baskets (which is no big deal really, they weren't being used anymore so no harm no foul) but when I walked in, she looked up at me with this wild look in her eye, surrounded by Can Can skirts, White beaded Grail dresses, and just a plethora of shoes. I was torn between laughing and slapping my hand against my head repeatedly. Sometimes, you just have to help them through everyday. I don't think I have had a dresser this bad since Naples. I wish I had my camera on me when I walked into the booth. That shit would've made you laugh. She really is just as sweet as she can be though, which makes helping her through it every single day a little more bearable.
Jaki, with all of her cursing me, actually, once again, has it harder than me. LOLOLOL. I think there is some divine poetic justice there. There was one point where her dresser came down to our office to discuss it all with her and I was standing behind the dresser, so only Jak could see me. Later, Jaki said all she could see out of the corner of her eye was my gleeming teeth as I sat down, put my feet up on the desk, and watched her try to navigate through that harem scarem moment where you want to throttle them, but be kind and explain what went wrong as well. That was awesome. good times good times. That's a picture of Jaki at the airport standing next to our sleeping Sound guy. He was snoring SOOOOO loud. The whole gate area was giggling.

The beginning of the week was the same as it is in every city as far as my exploring quotient. Tuesday was Tuesday. Wednesday was recovery from Tuesday - lots of in-bed-watching-tv-cutains-closed-feet-up time. Thursday I had a very busy daywork/craft call. Then Friday finally arrived. I had mixed feelings about what to do with Friday. Jaki left to go on vacation for a week. moowah. Mike was leaving in two days. Double heartbreak moowah. Part of me just wanted to stay in my room and sulk. I did go out for a walk around in the early afternoon. Houston has a series of tunnels under the city that are full of shops and stuff, so I wandered through them. It is quite a complex arrangement of hallways. I was making my way to what I thought was a groovy historic area, but when I came up from the tunnels, alas, it was nothing. On top of that, it started raining, so that was that. Not a whole heck of a lot to do in Downtown Houston. the last time I was here was on the Producers Tour and that only lasted 2 days. I figured I had missed something. Um. Nope.
However there is supposedly a ton of stuff on the outskirts of town, so maybe I will rent a car on Monday. I might even head out to The Gulf or somethin fun like that.

Wednesday Night a group of us went out to The Flying Saucer. Ft. Worth has one as well, where some of you will remember the coaster throwing contest. While we had no such contest this time. It was still a good laugh. I haven't gone out with anybody from the show in quite awhile. So, as I said last week, I am trying to integrate myself back in. It was a very fun evening. That's Patrick, Nate, and Cuz at the dartboard.

By the end of the week, my dresser seemed to get the hang of things, and actually thanked me. I did see panic in her eyes when I told her I was leaving for the last weeks of this stop. But Todd is here covering me. She has nothing to worry about. It is really great to see Todd. I was nervous -cuz that's my way- but the minute I saw him, all that just went away. He is out here covering Jaki while she is gone and then jumping over to my gig when I go. He is invaluable. And a laugh riot.

Saturday was the show's 500th performance. We had a barbeque in between shows with the whole local crew. Just about everyone was there. It is rare that we all, the company as a whole, actually sit down and have a meal together. People brought side dishes and a ton of deserts. The boys were out grilling all kinds of flesh. I actually opted out of meat and had a grilled portobello mushroom which was kick ass. It was a nice time.

Honestly, with everything that is happening, the boss change and all the turbulence from before, I kinda can't wait to come home. Yes, I am moving out of my apartment which is a MASSIVE event, but I feel like I need to go away, regroup, see my people and my mom, and come back fresh and ready to embark on the second phase of this gig. Amazing that I have only been out here since late January and a new phase is in order already. Just a week and I will be going to Steinhof with Kricka, sitting with Jim on the couch, and sleeping in my bed.

Sunday Mike left. That little weasel snuck out without saying goodbye to me. He does that. It's better. The last thing I needed was to be a useless blubbering mess in the middle of the first show. I miss him already. How anyone cannot just adore him is beyond me -such a good good person, wickedly smart, and so much fun. I have learned a ridiculous amount from him while laughing my head off. I can only hope that the Vegas Spamalot shits the bed, so we can tour to California and I can go hang out on Goat Mountain with him.

Monday is my first day off in 5 weeks!!!! I have big plans people. Then again, I could also see myself laying in bed all day and reading. It will all depend on the weather, which has been very rainy. Either way is just fine by me.

The Extra Pics




This is the Hobby Center, where we are doing the skit.




Everyone chowing down at the BBQ




This is how boys grill in the rain.




This is how girls grill in the rain.




On Friday Jim called me at the ungodly hour of 7:30 am to tell me he would be on the Today show. There he is being bent like a pretzel. They were explaining some kind of massage you can get at the Mandarin Hotel where he works. He said that he and Matt Lauer made out, but I won't believe it until Matt calls me and tells me so himself.




This is the newest member of the Spamalot Pooch Pack. Oscar. OK. I am not big on little dogs, but he is pretty damn adorable.

Just a Pause to Say Farewell

Sigh.
I hate this shit.
Saying Goodbye to someone I love sucks.

My selfishness is my dominate characteristic I think. I try to keep it in check but it manifests itself in a seemingly generous manner. That is part of the mystery that is me. I have most of you completely fooled.

I know that Mike leaving the show is good for him. The man deserves to be happy for the love of god. He will go home, tinker in his house, kill rattle snakes that sneak in, and enjoy shaking his fists at the people who inevitably will move into that very desolate and secluded area he calls home, once the Home Depot goes up.

His happiness is consolation for my own sadness at his departure. Whenever I say goodbye to people I care about, I always wonder when I will see them again. This puts panic and fear into my soul. As someone who has envisioned the end of it all since I was 11 (The movie The Day After scarred me for life) this is the root of my issue with goodbyes. It's why I cry.
Isn't that freakish? I get all upset because I think I will die and this is it for me and this friend. good Lord. And don't tell me to get therapy, I already have and while other things changed, that part of my personality has remained strongly intact.
As I have gotten older though, I have found this feeling of painc doesn't last as long as it used to. Maybe because I have been around the bend enough times to know, eventually, the cool people always meet up again.

I stood outside on the loading dock today, right after Mike left and had myself a decent cry. I was looking at the back of the truck that has our Spamalot logo on it and started thinking about past goodbyes with my people. It is part of the job we do out here to say hello and goodbye all the time. So people will come and go. Hell, even I come and go. It's not so much the amount of time you spend with the people you love, but that you appreciate it - and consequently- them. When I walked inside, and onto the deck, I felt really alone. Terribly alone, and vulnerable. I could actually see myself bolting. But then Nate started making goofy faces at me and Francesca asked me what I was doing tomorrow on my first day off in 5 weeks.

Suddenly that feeling of panic and fear went away. I felt my body relax. And I let Mike go a little. You can't keep someone with you just because you are afraid of what it will be like without them. You have to let them move on. That's the job of being a good friend. Letting them go when all you want to do is beg them to stay.

Course the lump in my throat is still there. Waiting. I better not go out tonight and drink. I will wind up sitting at the bar with mascara running down my face, looking like yesterdays trash.

So long for now Mike. I love you loads. I will miss you. A lot.



Mike with his dogs, Vanna and Lavoy about a year ago when I went out to visit Goat Mountain. Love those dogs.




this was on the Producers Tour. Big gag in the show was to have this actor stuff his crotchal region with an enormous sock.
Mike is holding the stuffed sock and looking really happy to ablige. giggles.




this was yesterday at breakfast. He was so worried they were going to take the food away. LOL. That was really funny. The man is ALWAYS hungry. God I just love the pants off him.




tee hee. I snuck this shot on the bus.




My old boss and my new boss singing along to the Carpenters' version of the Beatles "Ticket to Ride". LOL.

Louisville - Week Seventeen

Ok. First Thing's first.
My Hotel, The Galt House, is FREAKY!!!!!!!
Jaki, Mike and I drove here right after load out in Indy. It was only a two hour drive, made hilarious by the two of them just killing me the whole way. Then we got here. I checked in at about 11 pmish. The place was dead. It was Sunday night and there was just no one anywhere. I wheel my baggage to the far tower (its a big hotel), ride the elevator up, and the doors open. It is pitch black in the hallway. I thought the front desk had screwed up and sent me to a floor that was under construction or something. NO LIGHTS AT ALL. I stood in the elevator, nervous, for a second. Then all the horror movies I have ever seen started flashing through my head. Tentatively, I wheeled my crap out and into the very dark hall. Suddenly, one light just POPS on. I bout flipped out. Then one by one as I moved down the hall the lights started coming on. Oh ok. Motion sensors. That freaked the hell out of me. It doesn't inspire you to leave the room either. I wanted to go get ice cuz my feets was a hurtin'. I opened up the door and that darkness....I just shut the door again, jumped back into my bed and pulled the covers up under my chin. meh. spooky scary The Shining hotel.

Monday load in was fine. It is a big space. More than enough room for everyone and everything we have. Funny how I still had to negotiate and haggle for my quick change booth. Whatever. That's just Tuesday I guess. Everything else was groovy. We got a ton of stuff done on Monday night which made Tuesday that much easier. Man does Tuesday kick my ass. I hobble home with my mush brain, have a cocktail, or three, then fall asleep to the rhythmic throbbing of my heartbeat and my foot. At least they are beating in time. I would never get to sleep if one of them was off. Opening night was great for me. Jak had a couple of nutty dressers. She was running around, chasing after them all week long. By Friday she told me, "Next time you get Helen Keller and Mittens." Mittens, the dresser with no thumbs. I howled at that. Too funny. Jak has such a way of expressing herself. God that was funny. So her side was rough on Opening, but my side felt like it was half way through the week as opposed to the first time they had ever done the show. It was a fairly decent evening. No major issues, just a wicked long day. My breath barely made it through the afternoon, and by the time the show actually started, I was alternating between Dentyne Germicidal Gum and Altoids.

Wednesday was sooooooo great! My wonderful friend Brigid came down to visit me and we decided we wanted to go to some of the Bourbon distilleries in the area. Did you know that 90% of the Bourbon in all the land comes from this area of Kentucky? I didn't either. Something about the quality of the water combined with the limestone. At one point in the 1800's there were 14,000 families distilling their own receipe. Few survived the Civil War and then Prohibition. We went to 3 of the facilities. The first was Maker's Mark. Probably one of the most popular brands. A gorgeous farm setting, with the majority of the actual nuts and bolts of the place hidden in the trees. Jeanne was working in the gift shop and told us all kinds of interesting facts. She also had both Brigid and I dip our baby bottles in this 400 degree heated wax to seal it up. She was very specific about how you do it, but I was so excited that I missed 2 of the steps and wound up with a bottle that is about half covered in red wax. Brigid was far more successful. I think you could do an entire personality profile on how people dunk their bourbon bottles in that wax. Jeanna was great fun though and completely enjoyed telling us everything she knew. Nice lady. The second place we went was Heaven Hill (which makes Evan Williams). This place was very very fancy, It claims to be the largest distributor and oldest family distillery. When Brigid and I drove past it, I thought it looked like a concentration camp. Look at it...doesn't it?? When we went inside the visitor's area, they had an exhibit tracing back the heritage of distilling and how it changed the economics of our country. Very interesting stuff. While we were there they were having a tasting. Contrary to popular belief, it is not a practice of mine to drink that early in the day, however, I thought it rude not to participate. All joking aside, I have never really sipped whisky before, and the act of doing it is very much like wine tasting. They do the same motions, but the intent is a bit different. You spin it around in the glass, not to look for color or opacity, but for thickness and rivlets or "legs". The higher the proof the more rivlets. You sniff it for close to the same reasons though. In whisky, you are sniffing to smell the effects of the barrell it has been sitting in (what it was made of). When you sip it though, you try to place it at the back of the mouth. Apparently the burn is far less back there. Kathleen, our guide through this process was amazing. I would imagine a wine sipping to be very subdued and quiet. A whisky tasting is full of dorks who need to constantly make dumbass comments about how they didn't quite get it right and they would need another dram. It's not even funny the first time, but after the 5th time he said it, if I had been her I would have lost it. Kathleen completely held it together and just made light, and moved on. She must deal with assholes allllll the live long day. The tasting was cool, but it really was just a marketting ploy to get us to buy the products she was pushing. While I don't ever see myself purchasing a $350 bottle of anything, it was still fun to know that I had at least, tried a whisky that was almost as old as me. After Heaven Hill, we went on to Jim Beam. The grounds of this facility are so gorgeous and the history of the family very present, more so than any other distillery we went to. The Beam House was open to the public, so we went inside and looked around. They were having a tasting as well, of my personal favorite, Knob Creek. I first purchased it, about 5 years ago, because I liked the bottle. (very girlie, I know) So we tried a little and looked at the pictures and history of the family that was on display. We sat out on the porch in rocking chairs and listened to the quiet. Its a great house, with a great energy. None of the family lives there anymore, but you could feel a contentment there. Or maybe that was the whisky. Anyway, the whole trip was just so enjoyable between having Brigid there to the distilleries themselves and all I learned. The drive itself, through some of the prettiest countryside I have seen in awhile, was enough on it's own to create a great day. The history of it all, is so appealing to me. Generations and generations of a family's path - always so interesting to me. So the next time I down a shot of Jack, I will think of all the people who came before me and how they struggled and sacrificed to get me loaded. Not really.

It is rare that something truly exciting happens at work. Interesting, maybe...exciting - not so much. Well our leading lady, Esther, was out tonight (Thursday. I write this blog all week for you, ya know) and her cover Jamie went on. Jamie was the original second cover, but was bumped up when Esther took over the role. Jamie has also given notice and is leaving us very soon, so the possiblity of her going on was getting smaller and smaller. Everyone loves this girl, she is sweet, extremely fun, and very talented. In one of my first Spamalot blogs I mentioned that she was one of the first people to be genuinely nice to me. That's just who she is, a great all around gal. So the whole place was just a buzz when word came out she was going on. (that's Jamie with Mitch setting her finale wedding veil.) It adds this extra zip to the evening when something like this happens. The whole cast was smiling and enjoying themselves, which always makes for a better show. The response from the crowd was up as well. She did a fabulous job by the by.
After that very exciting show, I was walking home from the theater and fell down some stairs going to the parking lot. That was Fun. Completely rolled out my ankle. Pain shot up my leg and for a minute I really thought I might have done it this time. What a dolt I am. Then it sort of started coming back and I limped home. My friend Kevin is here visiting. He is one of my oldest friends. (I met him when I was 17) He knows me as a complete klutz. In all honesty, I had no control over my arms and legs until I was about 30. Even now, as you can see (read?), it's a bit dodgy. Anyway, when I came out of the elevator to just hang out with him in the hotel atrium, he starts cracking up at my limping. LOL. Someone else would have been concerned. Kevin, with our history, just starts laughing, which made me laugh too. I am sure, flashes of memories with me falling down raced through his brain. He went and got me a drink and some ice in a towel. I elevated my foot while sipping a liquid pain killer of Jack and Diet Coke, and we talked for a few hours. Kevin thinks I am hilarious. He laughs all the time at my stupid crap, which makes me feel good. He came all the way from Nashville to visit. I am just blown away by my friends like Brigid and Kevin, who travel all this way just to hang with me. My people rock.

On Friday Kevin and I started out with lunch and then drove to the cemetery looking for Colonel Sanders' grave. We first went into a cemetery that was kinda small, very old, and kinda creepy. I loved it. However it was small enough to see everything and I didn't see the big tombstone that I saw on Roadside America.com. After driving around it for a spell, we checked down the street and stumbled upon this ENORMOUS, very very fancy cemetery with the largest, most arty tombstones I have ever seen anywhere. This cemetery was more like a park. The grounds were so beautiful. These people played Keeping Up With The Joneses with their dead. I mean, look at that pic! That is somebody's TOMBSTONE, yo! Sculptures and Domes, Mausoleums and Obelisks all over the place. It was almost like walking through an outdoor art gallery. I have just never seen anything like it. I know I like cemeteries, but really if you visit here you should go. It is so gorgeous and relaxing and truly peaceful.
After that tryptophan stop, we completely switched gears and went out to Churchill Downs, where the Kentucky Derby is raced. I have never been to a horse track before. Some of my family go to Saratoga every summer to watch The Travers, but I was never really into it. The idea of sitting around watching horses run in a giant circle never really appealed to me. However, the history of the place really drew me in. Kevin and I walked (I sort of hobbled - my ankle, ya know) up to pay our $2 entrance fee, when this couple turned to us and gave us two tickets they weren't using. We thought that was nice of them until we looked at the tickets and saw they were season holder BOXED SEATS! The race was about to start so we ran to see our schwanky seats and then rushed to find the horse we wanted. That's Kevin in our EXECUTIVE YET FREE seats. My horse came in 6th. Kevin's horse WON!!! It paid 9-2 (whatever that means) and he only bet $2 (I bet 10) and walked out with about 30 bucks. I have to admit, I got immediately caught up in the race, especially when his horse just came up from behind. So the race was over and we were so excited, and then suddenly, directly in front of us, this horse just tweeked out, did some kind of a side flip, threw the jockey and landed on its side. It was shocking and upsetting. Huge gasp from the crowd. Funny thing though, everyone ignored the jockey and focused on the horse. Even I found myself worrying about the horse. What is that? The jockey is laying in the dirt after landing on his noggin and the Equine Ambulance pulls up - jockey still in the dirt - the crowd cheers as the horse stands up -jockey still just laying there. Finally after loading the horse up on the trailer, somebody goes over and checks on this poor guy who has weakly gotten to his feet. There was this "Oh yeah, him" sort of applause and he walked with a track helper off the track. Not for Nothin, but he could just as easily been seriously hurt, yet no one gave a shit. That's sad. I mean, I am glad the horse was ok, but I really wonder why everyone focused on the horse and not the guy. I suppose it has something to do with the fact that if the horse was seriously injured they would shoot it, and the jockey would continue living. It did cross my mind that they might kill it right there in front of me. I am soooooo dramatical.
My time with Kevin was so valuable to me. I haven't seen him in ages and he is my oldest friend. It is amazing to me how we can go, literally, years without connecting but then when we do see each other, it's easy. Just There. Tony, one of our sound guys, came up to me and mentioned how really great all my friends are. At first I thought, well of course they are, I wouldn't be friends with them if they weren't, but then I started thinking about how sometimes you meet friends of friends and there is tension, or whatever. It's true. My friends are exceptional people. Big hearts and big laughs. I am so blessed with them. Not sure what I ever did to deserve such a group of kick ass people, but I am beyond thankful for their presence and influence in my life.

I almost forgot to mention that my new boss, Wayne Spellman arrived on Friday. (I didn't get a picture of Wayne. I am such a loser.) I have to admit, my brain went to the dark place before I met him. In my heart, I don't want Mike to leave. I know it's time for him. He has to do what is right for him. My logical brain has that all straight, but my heart is weary of change. When I took this job, I had pictured in my head, this time of work and play with both Mike and Jaki. I thought it would be at least a year before the goodbye thing was gonna happen. I don't even feel like I have had any time with them at all. So I pictured Wayne being mean to me. I pictured me being miserable and sad. LOL. Truth is, I met the man, and he has a really lovely energy about him. C'mon, you gotta love a guy who on his first day, cracked up when Jaki yelled at him "You're not my REAL dad!!!!!!" God she kills me. Wayne, I can tell, is kind and warm. He laughs a lot, expresses himself in a likewise manner, and I think everything will be just fine. So while I am still resistant to change and want to stamp my feet like a child when I think of Mike leaving, the reality of it isn't nearly as horrifying and nightmarish as I had envisioned.

Saturday morning Brigid left. It was so awesome seeing her. Kevin left Sunday morning. There is this element of fear as they leave. Almost every city I have been to, there have been really important friends there for me to be with. This feeling of being alone is settling in, and with it some sadness as well. I mean, it will be positive in some ways. I haven't really been hanging out with the company for the last few months, so it will be good for me to integrate myself once again. However, these people I love who have been travelling to see me, are so close to my heart. They know and love me. I don't have to prove or edit myself. Sometimes, even though you are out here with 45 people, you can get lonely. I guess I am nervous, with my security blanket friends gone, that the dramas at work will inundate me. Or as I cried to my mother when I ran from my first day in kindergarten into her third grade classroom - "They won't play with me!!!"

Anxious much?

This was a long one, eh?

Love to all

The Extra Pics


This is a picture I really really like. The statue is of the current Beam family member - Booker - who is heading the distillery, with the house behind him.




This is one of those pictures that I just love to take. A group of people, being themselves, who have no idea someone is capturing them. This was at the tasting at Heaven Hill. These men were VERY serious about their booze. Even though they might look bored, they were swushing that bourbon around in their mouths like they were writing for the New York Times.





Cave Hill Cemetery. I am tellin you people. You hafta go. ( As a side note: The woman who this memorial represents is named Sandra CURRY Twist)





LOL...this couple. Kinda fringe Goth. Kevin and I were admiring the dome I had pictured earlier in the blog, when I noticed these two rolling around in the grass. Not 2 seconds before I took this shot, that denim skirt was up around her waist.
LUUUUUV in the afternoooooooon. Come on sing it with me.




The non photo finish of the race. That's Kevin's horse #6 winning.





To keep my theme of photos of stage managers calling the show...here is the lovely Francesca. Francesca I expect to see this on your blog this week.





C'mon. You gotta laugh at this one. I believe the sign is supposed to say Mickey D's Sweet Tea. (giggles.)

Indianapolis - Week Sixteen

Hmmmm.
Where to begin.
I have been staring at the screen for a spell, trying to come up with a truthful, yet tactful way of describing load in. It is tough sometimes to write this blog. Word has spread and I can't believe the number of hits this silly thing is getting. So I have no real idea anymore about who is reading this. I feel the need to censor myself, which bothers me. There is that part of me that thinks, screw em, if "They" don't like what I am writing they can go to hell anyway. Then there is always that good Catholic girl that wants to please everyone and avoid hurting people, even if they are dumbasses. The feeling that the Spam crew, as a whole, is just not a cohesive unit really disturbs me. People are polite, for the most part, but it is not that united front which I have been spoiled into wanting at every job. When you have it, it is just this awesome thing you are a part of. It rolls into town, takes over the theater and everything is just efficient and organized. When it isn't there, you are disappointed constantly. Thing is, once load is done, and the show is going, everything seems to be fine. So can having one bad day in each new city really constitute a bad crew? I dunno.

Load in sucked. There were weak links in our local crew, one of which had to be replaced. The space was crazy small and there was no room for the boys quick change area on stage right so we had to back one of our trucks up against the loading dock (which opens right on to the stage) and use that. It was hot as hell in there between the lack of air and all the bodies. The first night, the dressers assigned to those tracks were just drenched in sweat and looking pretty miserable. Then, to just add to the situation, a torrential rain came down, - the truck was not water tight- so buckets of rain started coming in. Brilliant. Jaki is over there trying to save our crap as well as deal with the weak link dresser and another dresser who was just terrified...it got ugly. Stage Left, my side, wasn't nearly as helatious, just really cramped. I was dealing with a stitcher who questioned every damn job I gave her. I am normally extremely respectful of the elderly. Most of the time, I really love old people. By the end of the week all I wanted to do was punch that stitcher in the face. Everytime I asked her to do something she would sigh, or question it or even say " Ugh. More work." Then she would fart. It wasn't as if I just happened to walk past her and then smelled some horrible thing. No. I would walk past her and HEAR "pffFFFTTtt". Sometimes it was a series of popcorn like farts, depending on what she ate earlier. The laundry lady was a handful as well. She claimed Jaki didn't tell her anything, which was a load of horseshit. Then she would disappear for a half hour and roll her eyes at Jaki when questioned. I think Jak was ready to take her out when Sunday finally rolled around. Just lazy lazy, gassy people. Hard to tolerate when you really need everyone to just suck it up and get the job done.

Who cares anyway cuz LAURA WAS HERE!!!!! She came down from Chicago to spend the week with me! Well...she also has a brother and a sister who live here too. LOL. We had such a great week together. Like Kricka, she makes me happy just by sitting in the same room with me. Something about her energy makes my soul at peace. We stayed up late almost every night talking and joking around.

The first show was pretty hard, between the tight space and a few of the dressers. By the end of the night, I was beyond exhausted and Laura nursed me back to health. Honestly, I could sit here and try to recount everything Laura and I did together, but all it would look like on paper (screen?) would be sitting around having cocktails most of the time, with a dash of shopping in the mall next to the hotel. It seems that when most of my really close friends come to visit, I have less to write about because we spend more time just hanging out together, rather than running out to see the sights.
Thursday, after I got back from work, we went out to meet up with the ladies of the show at a club called Blu. Yawn. The girls were great but we really didn't dig the bar, so we cut out and walked next door to The Clauddaugh Pub. Our Bartender was Brian. That's him right there. Brian was very cool. He gave us free drinks! I was admiring the aprons everyone was wearing who worked there, and happened to ask if there were any lying around that I could have and there was! So now I have a great backstage apron to replace my ratty St Pauli Girl one! I thought that was so cool. That place closed down, so we went next door to another fine establishment, which was wild. Just a crazy mix of people. 80s music was playing so Laura and I danced ourselves silly, and we even got our sound guy, Cuz, out on the dance floor. Man that was hilarious. We really had an awesome time. Totally worth the headache I had when I woke up.
On Friday we went about 20 miles south of Indy to find the World's Largest Rocking Chair. All of you who have been reading my blogs for a spell, know how much I loooove crazy Americana junk. It was indeed enormous, as you can see from the photo. You know, when I told people I was going out to find it, they looked at me like I was insane. I really think most the people here don't get my humor. I think that crap is funny. Sure I could have gone to the raceway to see the Indy track, I was half tempted to actually, but everyone does that. Why not go see some stupid chair sitting in the middle of nowhere? Whatever. It was fun, we laughed a lot and then had lunch at this hole in the wall, Ma and Pa Kettle eatery, where our waitress was wearing a t-shirt that said, "Polygamy...Why Have Just One?". You can't make this shit up people. Seriously. The place was covered in trucker caps, and all along the wall were scads and scads of boxes full of Easter decorations. So either they haven't put them away yet, or they have put them away and they just leave the boxes lying around until next season. Maybe they leave the Christmas decorations in the bathroom.

Once we got past Opening Night, the deluge on the truck, the crap-ass dresser we had to replace, and all the negativity, the rest of the week was enjoyable and pretty fun. I love the city. Not LUUUV, like Philly, but it's very clean, welcoming, and there is a ton of stuff to do around where our hotel was. Next time, if I don't have one of my people with me, I will explore a bit more. Just driving around I saw all kinds of architecture I wanted to check out. Don't get me wrong though. I will pass up any arty building or wacky thing just to spend a little time with one of my people. Bye Laura. I miss you already.

So Long Indianapolis!!!

The Extra Pics



This show is starting to bring out the freaky dress up people. I found these guys outside the theater.




This is a picture of all the ladies out on Thursday night. Just a gorgeous bunch, no?




Jovon, one of our stage managers, calling the show. Jovon you are more than welcome to steal this one. :)




This is Ken our PSM in one of our Lady Of The Lake headdresses. Jovon I fully expect this one to be on your blog. too funny.




OK. This picture is funny on so many levels. First you need to read the sign. It makes it seem as if our production is being brought to the lovely people of Indy by Pike HIgh School. Then, of course, is the added hilarity of a prom being held in the same building as the show. A whole group of us stood outside and watched everyone going in the building. I can tell you this. The Zoot Suit, complete with Fedora, is dominating the fashion of Indianapolis. I can also report that one lit match could have burned the whole place down for all the flammable fabrics the girls were wearing..not to mention some of them were already limping on the way in from their 5 inch CLEAR HEELS. Hilarious.