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.)