Tulsa Oklahoma - Week Twenty-Five

Wow
Really?
Week Twenty-Five?
Wow. I HAVE been away for awhile. I will be surprised if anyone even checks in anymore. Slowly but surely things are getting back to normal. It's been an interesting month. Crazy really, but I am holding my own. I miss Mike and Jaki terribly and am feeling out of sorts and not a little alone. So much has been going on though, that I haven't really been seeing anyone outside of work, so I think as things settle in, it will be just fine.

The last time I was in Tulsa, I was on the Hairspray Tour.
coughs.
I shall leave it at that.

Opening Night wasn't the best. Some of the dressers are a little weak. One of them was a complete mess, actually. Just completely freaking out. I can usually see that coming. You get little hints throughout the day that someone is a freaker, but I was completely surprised by this one. They were so cool all day, then 8pm curtain hits and they suddnely can't read or comprehend English. Most of them were fine. It was just a little harder with this load in being the first one for our new Wardrobe Department. Hell, I am the veteran and I have only been here a few months.

As the week wore on, most of the dressers improved, but my main dresser really just started tanking. From the very beginning I could not instill in her a sense of urgency. They are called QUICK CHANGES for a reason. We would be in the middle of Camelot, where the fastest changes are happening, and she was moving at a complete snails pace. She was literally 4 steps behind the whole way. I tried everything except yelling "MOVE GOD DAMN IT!!!" Maybe I should have...I just can't bring myself to yell at the locals. Things were going wrong everyday. No matter how much I checked in on her, she managed to screw up the one thing I didn't have time to check. When I asked her if she was alright, she said the heat of the dressing area was making her confused. Funny thing was, it wasn't hot at all. In fact, it was one of the most ventilated Quick Change areas I have had. I just nodded and got her a few ice packs to use if she started losing it. Not to be crass, but she was of an age that might have contributed to the heat issues. Bless her. I spent the entire week dealing with it. I won't miss this place.

I had some fun during the week. On Wednesday, Wayne, Roy, and I headed out to see the Golden Driller. Those of you who were getting the Hairspray blog, will remember my visit to Tulsa's anatomically incorrect statue. That's Wayne and Roy at the bottom of the photo. A better picture is in the Extra pics portion. We drove out to see that, and then stopped by Oral Roberts University, where the World's Largest Praying Hands live. I spent more time wandering around the campus this time. The archituecture there is so wacky. It had to have been built in the sixties or early 70's. Everything was layered with shiny gold. I wanted to go up the Prayer Tower, which reminded me of Spacely Sprockets building on the Jetsons, but it was closed. There was no way I was leaving that campus without something for my trunk, so I stopped by the campus bookstore and got a lil something to stick on. Oral Roberts Campus was pretty fun actually, but I made the mistake of wearing my "Catholic School Survivor" T-shirt, without even thinking. At one point I walked pass this man and he smiled at me then read my shirt, and gave me this completely disapproving stare. I giggled.
That is a picture of the Prayer Tower. C'mon...it looks JUST like Spacely Sprockets!!!!!



Later on in the week we went to one of the casinos out here. It is never easy for me to gamble my money away. I'll go out and buy a new shirt or some dvds or something, but putting my money in a machine and having it disappear within five minutes doesn't sit well with me. Wayne really wanted to go, so in the spirit of togetherness, and trying to get my department more of a cohesive unit, I decided to go. I wound up being out ten bucks. I was actually way up and put my original investment away so I wouldn't play with it, and then proceeded to lose my winnings. Brilliant. Wayne is hilarious when he gambles. Every hand is THE hand that is going to come through. He always verbally coaxes the cards to go his way. At the end of the night he was at a penny slot machine, and it was every bit as important as the ten dollar bet at the black jack table. He hit some major thing and drew a crowd. The penny slot crowd is not the same kinda crowd you find at the tables. Seriously, the entire outing was hysterical.

I just got through with load out, it went pretty well. Even my heat stroke dresser did a good job tonight.

Tomorrow we move on to Des Moines. Des Moines. Another Hairspray stop. You know, we are playing all these venues that Hairspray played when the tour was gasping for it's last breath. This tour is still fairly young. It baffles me really.
Whatev.
As long as that paycheck keeps coming in, I am just fine.

Love to all.

Extra Pics.


There was a car show going on right next to the theater. It was a pain, cuz we had no where to park, but I really enjoy these kinda cars.




Wayne and Roy at the Golden Driller




The World's Largest Praying Hands. I think I have seen as much as I can at Oral Roberts. The next time I come to Tulsa (GAH!) I will have to find something else to do.




This is an old photo from Houston of the clouds outside my hotel room. Scary, no?




This is a pic from Dallas. My gondola that hold all our stock of tights and stuff, completely crapped out, and Nate fixed it for me! It was a huge pain, and the whole time he was fixing it he was telling me how he was doing it. It was like watching a do it yourself TV show. LOL. It works perfectly now. Thanks Nate!!


The next few pictures are from the first Wardrobe hosted Shot Nite. As i explained in earlier posts, every Sunday night some member of the company hosts and creates some alcoholic concoction for the entire company to enjoy. Our shot that we served is one that my friend Don Bush made up. It is called a Sunday Morning, and it is very yummy. It was a big hit.

Wayne and Roy servin' it up.




Piper was a maniac that night. We had readied a ton of shots and she made sure everyone finished them. LOL




Thumbs up from matt Allen! (you can barely see him in the back)




Suzanne enjoying her tasty beverage




Cuz and Jeff knockin' em back