Shows 9, 10 & 11

These last two days could not have been more different from one another(in every respect possible) if they had tried.

To wit:
Monday was a travel day - we drove to New London, CT (which is not far), arrived with ample time to spare and spent the evening tooling around in the mall, eating at a Chili's and watching American Beauty in the hotel room. Then, on Tuesday, we had two shows at the Garde Art Centre. It was beautiful. I have a few pictures (though none that do it justice), but I can't post them until I'm at my own computer again.
We loaded in and finished building in record time, did two wonderful, smooth shows, had an excellent lunch at an Indian restaurant, and then loaded out (again, in record time, thanks to the wonderful IATSE crew) to drive back to Manhattan.
The whole thing was smooth, easy and peaceful. We played to two very enthusiastic houses and met some of the kids after the second show, who absolutely loved the various characters.

Then came today.

First off, today's show was considered "local", to the extent that we're not staying in hotels but meeting in Manhattan at very early hours and ending the day back in Manhattan (albeit at very late hours).
After not nearly enough sleep, we were called at 7 am at the garage, which meant waking up at 5 to get there on time from Bushwick. The space we were in was not large enough to accommodate the set, so we decided to strike the house (which is, yes, our sets biggest feature). This, in turn, meant we had to re-stage vast portions of the show and figure out all new scene-changes, exits and entrances. For reasons that do not bear repeating, I had to miss the first scene of the show, but ultimately we worked everything out. It was, without a doubt, the wonkiest performance we have yet given, but the children LOVED it (I mean LOVED. in CAPITOLS. they were louder than any audience we've had so far). Furthermore, if we can get through today as in-one-piece as we ultimately did, we can do anything. I mean that.
If you want a silver-lining way of looking at it, today was a test of our ingenuity and quick-wittedness, but we passed. Also, not building the house cuts down build and strike by about half the time, so no complaints there.
Anyway, we are "home", with another shockingly early call tomorrow morning. The good news is that tonight, I'm sleeping on the Upper West Side (thank you, Devin) so the commute tomorrow is literally two blocks, as opposed to four trains.
I'm going to take vitamins and drink a beer.
Love,