Portland Oregon - Week Thirty-One

The minute I woke up to leave Kansas City, I smiled.
As I was driving to the airport a good omen passed me by. Air Force One was just landing in the little city air strip just as I was passing it on my way to the big airport. I thought the fact that I was leaving just as the president was arriving HAD to be a good sign.

To say I love Portland is an understatement. I could go on for days and days about the city and how fantastic it is, or the love I have for the volcanoes, and all that is true, but honestly, it's all about Don and Joe. If you don't know who these two are, then you haven't been around me very often, because I talk about them all the time, and their pictures are always with me. We met in 1994 doing a tour of A Christmas Carol for the Nebraska Theater Caravan. I think we were together a total of 6 weeks. 13 years later, our friendship still stands strong. I think that is pretty damn cool.
Anyway
I have been out here to visit them, they have been out to NYC. This time is a big deal. It will be the first time that Joe, Don, Jim, and I have been together - all four of us - since that time we met in '94. There have been many combinations but never all of us. ( For my birthday Jim bought a flight out to visit) I am terribly excited about it. Nothing like knowing you are going to have a phenomenal week before it even starts. This is what got me through last week. Even now, I am sitting here typing while the boys are sleeping so that I won't miss a minute with them.

The flight was uneventful but when I got to my hotel I realized it was the same fleabag I had stayed in when I came through town ages ago with another show in '97. The only difference was the name. Now, I have to tell you, in all my days of touring, I have never changed hotels.Not once. However, when they told me I would have no interent for my entire stay, well, I was Audi. I will take the mildew in the bathroom, the smudgy, clammy, carpet and the construction waking me up at 8am. Tell me I have no means of communicating with my people for two weeks and just forget it. I packed up my Barbie's and went to the other hotel Company Management arranged. It's fine. Avoid the Portland Inn, people.

Because the trucks for the show couldn't make the drive from Kansas City to Portland in time for Load In, we only had to travel on Monday. WooooooHoooooooo Snow Day! So instead of working, I went to see the Portland Beavers play some baseball. Don and I had a great time, knockin' back a few beers, catching up, and enjoying the game. The beginning was a little boring. The Beavers were killing. Suddenly in the 7th inning Las Vegas tied the game up and it actually got exciting. The Beavers won the game. I just like saying Beavers. Beavers Beavers Beavers.
After the game, we just walked around town looking at churches and buildings. It was late and so quiet. There are few people who will just wander around with me like that, with no real goal except to just look. Don knows a ton about Portland. Such a good time just hangin with him. It set the tone for the whole week. Immediate comfort. Constant laughter.

I woke up on Tuesday and I walked to the other side of the city to see the new theater Portland Center Stage built recently. After 11 years, Don has decided to move on from PCS, after helping them transition into this new space. What an interesting building with a varied and colorful history. It was originally an Armory to protect the city from the local Chinese immigrants from revolting. Which never happened. Hilarious. Even though the reasoning behind the structure might have been a bit shady, it really is a cool place. I loved a lot of the design, which incorporated keeping the frame of the building the same. After the tour, we had some kick ass Thai food and I shopped a little bit, the prize of which was found at Powell's used bookstore. In 2000, I went to a Music Man Broadway party and my First Edition hard cover copy of Helter Skelter was stolen and I was devastated. I have spent ages looking for it every chance I could get and have never found another one. Until now. It has taken 7 years of searching but I found one! I Love Portland!!!
Tuesday evening I was forced to realize I was not on vacation with my friends, but actually in this city to work. Load in was easy and everything went so smoothly. The complete opposite of last week. In fact, last week seems ages ago.
After Load In, Don and I headed over to Veritable Quandry for a bite to eat and a lil wine. Last year, on the tour which dare not speak it's name, had it's closing night party there. Damn near the best veggie burger ever in the history of veggie burgers was eaten. Portland, like Brooklyn, is just a great place to hang out.

Opening Night was easy. We have a great crew, with one or two crazies to keep it all fun and fresh. I have to admit, they were hard bunch to crack as far as the fun quotient was concerned. So many times, these local crews get bitched and yelled at by the travelling wardrobe people. I can't blame them for being a little gun shy. So, it did take a few days for them to see that we are a fun loving group, but now that we are settled in, they are starting to really warm up. I like winning crews over.
It becomes a challenge for me to prove that not all supervisors that tour are assholes.
After work, there was no party, so Don met up with me and we went to Higgins. I am telling you, people, run - do not walk- to Higgins. This place rocks on so many levels. First off, they all know and love my good buddy Don. Secondly, the food is amazing! Being from NYC, I am kind of a Pastrami snob. Everyone knows the best pastrami is in The City. Not for Nothin', but the open faced pastrami sandwich I had was better than anything I have ever had in New York, and that is saying something. I mean LOOK AT IT! They cure their own meat, they use all local vendors for everything. They even have their own olive oil made in Italy. Higgins rocks it. Higgins rocks so much I went back the next night without Don, because he was getting love from his PCS friends who threw him a going away party. And yeah, I had the pastrami again. My arteries are so pissed.

The week just gets better and better. On Friday, Joe Porto arrived. He showed up at the theater just as I was getting out of daywork. You have not been hugged until Joe Porto hugs you. It's true. I only had a breath of time with him before I had to go back to work. (insert spoiled brat face here) I reluctantly went back to work and checked my cell phone repeatedly. After the skit, my boys and I went to a watering hole I have frequented every time I have visited this town, but still have no idea what it is called. I could try to write what we said and did, but it basically comes down to laughing.

Saturday Joe, Don and I went to breakfast at J & M. They have the best cider and the best pumpkin cake. I never really appreciated the food in this town until this visit. Probably because usually when I come here I am broke. LOL. According to both the guys, Portland is THE breakfast town. Everyone goes out for breakfast or brunch on the weekends. Lines can stretch on and on. Our line-mojo has been pretty good thus far.
No major waits. Breakfast was delicious and off I went to work. In between shows, there was an Italian Festival going on so we went and checked that out. Joe's nephew Brett joined us. The last time I saw Brett he was just a kid. He has grey in his beard now. That's just wrong.
The festival was really fun, with good food and adecent band. More entertaining than the band, were the people dancing to the music. There was one man who had jazz hands in a sort of bohemian style, his pockets were PACKED full of god knows what and his smarminess was palpabable. However, it didn't seem to disarm the ladies. oooooyeah...the laydehsssss...
I was having such a good time that I forgot we had an early show and showed up at work about 5 minutes late. I hate that. I am never late. Not to mention, I had a purple tongue from the red wine at the festival. I wasn't loaded or anything, but it certainly doesn't look good to walk into work late with wine stains on your mouth. (rolls eyes at self)

Sunday morning, Don took Joe and I to the best place for brunch. Its called Simpatica. I really really liked this place. You sit at communal tables with strangers in this reworked basement of a big old building. Where we were sitting you could see into the kitchen and watch this incredible team of chefs at work. Just 4 of them, but everyone had thier jobs. it was a long wait for the food, but soooooo worth it. I had salmon hash with summer veggies. Oh that was good. The only downer was there was a couple with their toddler kid at the table. The mother had her iPhone out and the kid was sitting there at breakfast watching some cartoon movie all zombie eyed and drooley. At the table. That shit made me mad. It was rude. Thank God the food arrived and it was so damn yummy, I didn't care anymore about that spoiled brat child. I feel like I am eating my way through Portland. I guess I will have to starve myself through Salt Lake and Denver. Trust me...it will be worth it.

Jim arrived shortly after breakfast. What can I say about seeing him? It's Jim, for heaven's sake. The second show on Sunday was nutty. Sabra took a nose dive in the weeds and Callie went on to cover her. It was all kinds of hustle and running but she made it on. Then some sort of feedback that sounded like a Carnival cruise line ship went on for a full thirty seconds happened soon thereafter, and I thought for sure it was going to get worse, but that was all that seemed to happen. I left the theater, walked out the door and there were my three most awesome friends. They were just standing there hanging out together. We went to a restaurant called Farm which was out of this world good. Then went on to the bar I spoke of early that I can never remember it's name. I think it is called something something Saloon. I dunno, by the time we got there we were all full from a great dinner, had one beer and started fading.

OK look
it is monday morning
jim is showering. Don and Joe are on their way over. I cannot type anymore. I have to get ready to leave right now or they will be waiting for me and I really want to get this posted before we head out today. Ok, I know there are major spelling errors. The pictures are thrown on, instead of being organized perfectly. There is a lot more to say, and I usually wrap things up, but there is fun to be had and I gotta hit it. The boys are waiting for me and Mt. Hood is calling me!!!!! I don't even have time to post the extra pictures I usually do. They are all staring at me.
love you all!!!