Show # 18

This was the morning I was nearly late - I slept in about 20 minutes longer than I usually do and consequently delayed getting out the door just enough to miss the J train. Ben and I waited for another one for an exceptionally long time and when we finally got on the train, decided to see how far we could make it before we ultimately called a cab. It worked out though, because the cabbie drove us up along Central Park West, which meant we could see the sunrise through the trees.

This is what that looked like:
Today we performed just across the Hudson in a vaudeville house that was constructed in 1926. It's a GORGEOUS facility, but the stage itself is falling into slight disrepair - the floor was very uneven and there was paint peeling off of it in large chunks. Still, this is what the house looked like from the front of the stage:
Still, this sort of pales in comparison to the beauty of the house we played in a few days ago, in Tarrytown, where they these sorts of cut-outs all over the walls:

• How romantic!

Anyway, that about does it for today's entry. Tomorrow is a travel day to Maryland and because we don't have a performance tomorrow, we're not called to be at the garage until 10.30! I'm not sure I can handle sleeping in until 8... my body may actually just wake up around 4. Oh, who am I kidding, I will be passed out cold until 8 am - I sleep like a rock these days.

Show # 17

Today was good. I went to bed (no joke) at 6.30 pm last night, felt well rested and made it to the 6 am van call feeling... chipper? Awake, at any rate...

Load-in, performance and load-out all went smoothly, as did the drive home. Honestly, today is the day that ends with "and then I found five dollars"... 'cause it's pretty much an anti-story.

One realization I had today was just how frequently I've seen the sun come up in recent weeks. Fortunately, the sun rising over Manhattan is a beautiful view, so at least I don't resent it! Regardless, these are still brutally early mornings and I'm looking forward to being able to sleep in til, oh, say, 7.

Another realization that I fall upon again and again is my current address-lessness. I'm not homeless, per se. I know too many good people around here and love them all, but I'm not rooted anywhere. It feels a little over-powering at 5 in the morning, sometimes. It's also sort of strange at the end of the day, when I come back to my couch and think to myself "I'm home.. sort of". I know my way around, I never lack for company, but I have no final destination right now. I come back from traveling only to come 'home' to traveling. My suitcases are, for all intents and purposes, my entire world. I've got enough clothes, a hairbrush, this laptop and my bear. I have some shoes, my camera, an iPod and a toothbrush. I have a job that means a lot to me (as trying as it can sometimes be) and I have good, kind people in my life. I just don't have a home, yet. And I'm working on it, I'm getting there. Every day is a day closer to being able to settle down (semi-) permanently. Hell, most of the time I LOVE not having a "home" - it makes the whole thing an extended adventure. Still, sometimes I wish I had a place to go, play some piano, pet my cat, read any of my books.

Adventure can really wear you down.

Still, this is the life I have chosen. I don't complain - I merely grow wistful for the comfort of familiarity.

Tomorrow is a 6.30 van call. Maybe I'll stay up til 7 tonight. Ha.

Show # 16

Today was better.

Even though an unnamed cast-ie slept through all of their alarms and had to take the train to our performance destination, today was better. The thing is that I think we've all maxed out on what we're allowing ourselves to worry about; so many things have already gone wrong that we've sort of gotten the 'panic' out of our systems and are now able to just rationally work through the problem. Instead of freaking out about our cast-mate's absence, we just went through the show and figured out, scene by scene, who could cover for them and take over their scene changes (we did this in the car on the way to the venue).

Of course, we were about forty-five minutes late (and those forty-five account for the bulk of our build-time). But we pulled it together, planning in the car how we were going to organize load-in and then pulling off the plan when we arrived. It helped that we had an incredible IATSE crew. They were probably the most inviting and friendly crew we've worked with, so far - heck, they offered me a job, "If I ever wanted to make some real money"... actually, money sounds kind of appealing, doesn't it!?

Anyway, we had a really good show, where everyone was on and every mark was hit and nothing went wrong - it was about damn time - and then loaded out, quickly and efficiently, before going to lunch at a diner where we STUFFED ourselves with burgers and fries and cheesecake.

Now I'm in Bushwick, relaxing and watching the Ellen Degeneres show.
Yeah, it's been a good day.

Show # 15

All I have to say about today is that it started out with me (proverbially) getting out on the wrong side of the bed. Couch. Whatever. I'm about to whine and be not entirely politically correct in this post, so if you can't deal with that, go read some fucking Hallmark cards.

For reasons I cannot fully figure out, I was in a weird mood from the moment I woke up. Then Ben and I had a mishap on the train and went a stop too far. Then, when we were pulling the vans out of the garage, our driver miscalculated the angle (through no fault of his own, I might add) and scraped the side of the van along the edge of the garage. Then there was an argument about music in the van that nearly drove me through the roof. I guess we all got out on the wrong side of our beds, today!

Then we got to the venue for today's performance and the stage was raked. Let me reiterate. Raked. On a slant. An incline. Our set? Is ENTIRELY on WHEELS.
We made it work, though only God knows how.

Then, when I had been given the cue to go ahead with the curtain speech, I went ahead. Only to receive another cue to start over, which I didn't get until I had already finished the speech. So I just repeated myself.

Then Ruby's mic malfunctioned. So, at the first possible opportunity, we stretched out a scene change so that she could run back-stage to have her mic checked out and fixed. However, it still wasn't working in the aftermath of that little incident, so Ester and I invented another scene that took place during the next (and only other) time Ruby was off-stage, during which Ethan frantically fiddled with the mic, the cord, the wind-screen and somehow, magically, fixed it.

Then, naturally, the stage-left side of the house that opens out didn't have a door-stop and kept swinging in to the scene.

Oh, and I forgot to mention earlier that I missed an entrance, what with not being able to hear the cue and running around inventing new scenes in the play. Luckily, it was a one-line cross that ultimately serves no real purpose, so if anything had to be missed, at least it was that.

The thing is that we pulled through pretty well. We improvised a little (ok, a lot) and we got creative with our solutions and things worked. The one thing that didn't work is how frustrated some people got by this course of events and the method they then chose to deal with their frustrations, i.e. taking them out on the rest of us.
That is all I have to say on that topic.

Tomorrow will be a better day. I just know it.

Show # 14

I can't exactly pin the reason why, but though I am exhausted, I was practically euphoric during load-out for today's performance. It could be that we were really on during the performance. It could be that we had that day off. It could be that, slowly but surely, spring is coming around again. I'm not complaining - euphoria's delicious. Plus, you tend to forget how tired you are when you're in such a good mood.

That being said, I am wiped out tired. I definitely didn't get anywhere near enough sleep last night and I drove both ways again today. I'm definitely taking the next two days off from driver-duty!

Today's crowd was very enthusiastic but in a very well-behaved sort of way. I was asked to make extra sure to high-light the fact that there is absolutely no photography or video-taping allowed during the performance, as parents were already taking pictures of the set before the show even started. I said something about cameras that sort of lasted too long and then dwindled into nothingness, but hey, the curtain speech can only get better. We've added fun little sound effects to it (the cast cheers, laughs and claps when I encourage the kids to do all three of these things, just in case they didn't know they were allowed to) and eventually it will all start sounding natural. It's funny because a lot of the venues we visit have their own version of a curtain speech; the problem arises when they don't make strong reminders about photo/video stuff and then we have to reiterate the rules ourselves. Still, it's hard to begrudge these people their photography - I would probably want to document my child's first everything (be it day of school, visit to the theatre, what have you) myself. Anyway, once we had asked them not to take photos, everything worked out quite well.

I think I'm going to make some dinner and then go pass out. Tomorrow's call is 6 am and I'm sleeping in Bushwick tonight, which means I have to roll out the door around 4.30. Oy.
Sleep tight, schnoozies.
-xx

Show # 13

Oh, yesterday - you seem so far away...
I'm writing this towards the end of a blissful day off, which means I'm somewhat more removed from the obstacles of yesterday and have consequently achieved some measure of objectivity in my observations, I think.
Or maybe I'm just calmer but no less objective than I ever am.

Yesterday's show was in New Paltz, NY (at a SUNY campus). We loaded in in 1 degree weather (read: we were practically frostbitten by the end of load-in) and the stage was approximately five feet up off the floor, which meant once we carried the set in from the van, we had to hoist it up on the stage. Today, my arms ache. The nice thing was that the stage itself, while somewhat narrow, was quite deep. This meant that most of the original staging was actually achieved and that we were able to do our set changes fairly easily.

By the end of this week, we were all tired. Unfortunately, this last week was just a warm-up for the coming week of "local" shows... Tomorrow our call time is 7 am, which is an improvement on 6, but is still quite early in the day. We're going to be called at 6 am most days this week, during which time we will be driving anywhere from fifteen to ninety minutes in order to get to our locations. Honestly, real on-the-road touring is easier, because you have designated travel days, and you stay in a hotel somewhere. What that means is if your call time is 6 am, you're already with everybody at 6 am. Whereas during the "local" leg, it means getting up at 4, leaving Bushwick at 4.30 and then meeting up at 6 to get on the road to drive to wherever we are performing.

Anyway, during this well-earned day off, I went to the theatre, did some laundry and drank some beer. Like you do. Let's see what the coming week has in store for us.