The current time is 7:54am. We’ve been at the theatre for two hours, and I have been awake for three and a half. Happy birthday to me! Really though, I’m fine with being up early. It just means I get to appreciate my birthday for three more hours than usual.
I feel like a lot has happened in the past couple days, but when I sit down to write about it little feels noteworthy. How about a list of idiosyncrasies?
-The Cerritos Center for the Performing Arts can transform into 7 or so different seating arrangements. Check it out: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ySLMyAYwuFo
-Whenever the pasta-shaped gobo lights are going up, I am reminded of the Flying Spaghetti Monster, and entity of whom only one fellow cast-member has heard.
-We have stayed at three La Quinta hotels in a row and their quality has been, in order: pretty bad, not so bad, kind of bad.
-At yesterday’s lunch stop, I bought a monstrous bottle of Orangina, intending it to last me a couple days. It was empty by dinnertime.
-Last night I washed two shirts in the sink so that I can wait until Phoenix to do a full load of laundry.
-Tonight I will be celebrating my first birthday away from home. In Blythe, CA. Party.
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
Sunday, October 25, 2009
Free Rent! Hah.
The broadway tour of the musical Rent is playing across the way from us at OCPAC's big theatre. Strega Nona's been playing sold out audiences, but Rent has been having some trouble with ticket sales.
Satisfaction.
Because of its low ticket sales, a combination of someones was able to wheel and deal us some free tickets! We were all hoping we would be able to meet the cast after the show. "We'd like to offer you guys some comp tickets to our show, but we're not sure if there's any room. By the way, how has your show been selling?" Suckas.
It was pretty fun to have a little night out after being in Calabria pretty much non-stop the past week. We allowed ourselves a fancier dinner than usual (as you can imagine, sub sandwiches get old fast), and Jessica's and my food was free since they mis-heard the order. The show was alright. There are a number of things I don't like about the play itself, but it was kind of a cool experience just because it's some really famous actors in a really nice theatre. Also, our prouction was featured in the program and on posters in the lobby. After the show, when everyone else was gathering into clumps to take pictures in front of various Rent paraphernelia, we gathered around a poster of everyone's favorite do-good witch.
It's interesting what touring does to your awareness of time and date. Since our work week isn't really a week at all, none of us have any idea what day it is. We basically get in the van and go where we're told. It's kind of a good thing, because whenever I do confirm what the date is, I'm amazed at how short of a time we've been on the road. It feels like a month or more, but we're only on day seven. I'm grateful for our little breaks, so that I'll have time to ease into the two-month leg that comes up after Christmas.
Satisfaction.
Because of its low ticket sales, a combination of someones was able to wheel and deal us some free tickets! We were all hoping we would be able to meet the cast after the show. "We'd like to offer you guys some comp tickets to our show, but we're not sure if there's any room. By the way, how has your show been selling?" Suckas.
It was pretty fun to have a little night out after being in Calabria pretty much non-stop the past week. We allowed ourselves a fancier dinner than usual (as you can imagine, sub sandwiches get old fast), and Jessica's and my food was free since they mis-heard the order. The show was alright. There are a number of things I don't like about the play itself, but it was kind of a cool experience just because it's some really famous actors in a really nice theatre. Also, our prouction was featured in the program and on posters in the lobby. After the show, when everyone else was gathering into clumps to take pictures in front of various Rent paraphernelia, we gathered around a poster of everyone's favorite do-good witch.
It's interesting what touring does to your awareness of time and date. Since our work week isn't really a week at all, none of us have any idea what day it is. We basically get in the van and go where we're told. It's kind of a good thing, because whenever I do confirm what the date is, I'm amazed at how short of a time we've been on the road. It feels like a month or more, but we're only on day seven. I'm grateful for our little breaks, so that I'll have time to ease into the two-month leg that comes up after Christmas.
Friday, October 23, 2009
McCallum and OCPAC
.
[written yesterday]
This morning we played another full house of field trippers. A meager 1,100 seats this time. After being spoiled by these enormous audiences, I wonder how it’s going to feel to be back home and perform at, say, The Dragon Theatre.
The big difference between The McCallum Theatre and what I’m used to isn’t actually the size of the house, but the backstage facilities. Today’s surprise of the day was finishing load-in and discovering that we each had individual dressing rooms. I think everybody ended up sharing anyway, because getting ready alone seemed too weird. Jimmy was able to enjoy a shower after the shows. I was able to enjoy a toasted bagel with cream cheese in the green room.
Speaking of the green room, we got a definite rock-star treatment today. The green room boasted not only a fridge-and-counter-full of snacks and drinks, but a flat-screen TV from which we could keep track of what was happening onstage, a couch and some comfy chairs, a patio with a barbecue (I can’t imagine it getting much use during shows), and a nice old man in a vest who was pretty much just there to make sure we could find everything and be an all-around nice guy.
It would be nice if we were staying in one place for longer periods. We could really get to know the space and the staff. The lengths to which they go to make us feel comfortable are flattering, but leave me wondering if our little non-union children’s show deserves them.
[written today]
We're at the Orange County Performing Arts Center now. We were all really excited for this stop until we discovered that we are not in the two-thousand seat theatre, but the two-hundred seat concert hall. I would tell you about the performances, but we have one more this evening, and I think a 'tween-show nap is in order. Let it suffice to say that the stage is small, our set pieces are large, and two bodies of matter cannot occupy the same space at the same time.
Curse you, physics. Curse you!
[written yesterday]
This morning we played another full house of field trippers. A meager 1,100 seats this time. After being spoiled by these enormous audiences, I wonder how it’s going to feel to be back home and perform at, say, The Dragon Theatre.
The big difference between The McCallum Theatre and what I’m used to isn’t actually the size of the house, but the backstage facilities. Today’s surprise of the day was finishing load-in and discovering that we each had individual dressing rooms. I think everybody ended up sharing anyway, because getting ready alone seemed too weird. Jimmy was able to enjoy a shower after the shows. I was able to enjoy a toasted bagel with cream cheese in the green room.
Speaking of the green room, we got a definite rock-star treatment today. The green room boasted not only a fridge-and-counter-full of snacks and drinks, but a flat-screen TV from which we could keep track of what was happening onstage, a couch and some comfy chairs, a patio with a barbecue (I can’t imagine it getting much use during shows), and a nice old man in a vest who was pretty much just there to make sure we could find everything and be an all-around nice guy.
It would be nice if we were staying in one place for longer periods. We could really get to know the space and the staff. The lengths to which they go to make us feel comfortable are flattering, but leave me wondering if our little non-union children’s show deserves them.
[written today]
We're at the Orange County Performing Arts Center now. We were all really excited for this stop until we discovered that we are not in the two-thousand seat theatre, but the two-hundred seat concert hall. I would tell you about the performances, but we have one more this evening, and I think a 'tween-show nap is in order. Let it suffice to say that the stage is small, our set pieces are large, and two bodies of matter cannot occupy the same space at the same time.
Curse you, physics. Curse you!
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
Tour Dates
Just for Aunt Suzie!
A complete list of dates can be found here:
http://tomiesblog.blogspot.com/2009/09/strega-nona-on-stage-across-america.html
at the blog of Tomie dePaola, author and illustrator of the original Strega Nona book.
The Arizona shows are going to be at the Higley Center in Gilbert on October 20 at 9:45am and 12:15pm
A complete list of dates can be found here:
http://tomiesblog.blogspot.com/2009/09/strega-nona-on-stage-across-america.html
at the blog of Tomie dePaola, author and illustrator of the original Strega Nona book.
The Arizona shows are going to be at the Higley Center in Gilbert on October 20 at 9:45am and 12:15pm
Good news!
.
Mom found my mailing address! So in case you're interested in procuring for yourself a new pen pal...
Kevin Hull
Tomie dePaola's Strega Nona National Tour
c/o Maximum Entertainment Productions
321 West 44th Street, suite 1003
New York, NY 10036
According to the tour regulations, they will only forward "first class, flat mail" to us. "Flat" is a rather ambiguous adjective, so I'll leave it up to you to decide what that means.
Mom found my mailing address! So in case you're interested in procuring for yourself a new pen pal...
Kevin Hull
Tomie dePaola's Strega Nona National Tour
c/o Maximum Entertainment Productions
321 West 44th Street, suite 1003
New York, NY 10036
According to the tour regulations, they will only forward "first class, flat mail" to us. "Flat" is a rather ambiguous adjective, so I'll leave it up to you to decide what that means.
Second post and I'm already bored with thinking up titles...
.
[I'll post my mailing address as soon as I find it...]
I’m writing in the van on the way to the venue in Palm Desert. We had to be up around sunrise to hit the road this morning. Thankfully we didn’t have to leave before the sun was up, or I never would have gotten to see Lost Hills, California in all its sunlit glory. On the phone last night I described Lost Hills as a motel, gas station, and a few fast food joints. How very wrong I was. The daylight revealed to me that Lost Hills is in fact blessed with two gas stations (one of which only accepts cash) and a vast open field – a lush meadow teeming with weeds, beer cans, and broken glass.
I feel lucky to have visited this beautiful metropolis in Southern California and witnessed the very height of human achievement. Our oversized van and trailer felt right at home in a gas station full of semis.
One of the difficulties of travelling this much is going to be climate change. When we piled into the van this morning it was forty degrees and the air smelled of stale gasoline. When we load the set in this afternoon it will be ninety degrees and we’ll get our first whiff of big-city smog.
O, California and her sundry ecosystems!
The other big difficulty will be eating vegetarian and staying healthy. Luckily Craig - our Technical Wizard who has been on many a tour - is vegan and acts as my personal meatless cuisine guru. Who knew that I could procure a relatively satisfying veggie sandwich from Arby’s of all places (the operative word being “relatively”)!
All sarcasm aside, it looks like I will have a great time on this tour. After dinner last night, the cast had some time to hang out in our motel before bed. We got into PJs, watched some awful reality TV, and generally had a good time talking and joking. Anyone who knows the theatre community knows that actors tend to have the most absurd senses of humor, and I fit right in in that respect. After two days there are already a number of things about home that I miss, but I’m still excited to spend some time as a part of this travelling troupe of troubadours.
[I'll post my mailing address as soon as I find it...]
I’m writing in the van on the way to the venue in Palm Desert. We had to be up around sunrise to hit the road this morning. Thankfully we didn’t have to leave before the sun was up, or I never would have gotten to see Lost Hills, California in all its sunlit glory. On the phone last night I described Lost Hills as a motel, gas station, and a few fast food joints. How very wrong I was. The daylight revealed to me that Lost Hills is in fact blessed with two gas stations (one of which only accepts cash) and a vast open field – a lush meadow teeming with weeds, beer cans, and broken glass.
I feel lucky to have visited this beautiful metropolis in Southern California and witnessed the very height of human achievement. Our oversized van and trailer felt right at home in a gas station full of semis.
One of the difficulties of travelling this much is going to be climate change. When we piled into the van this morning it was forty degrees and the air smelled of stale gasoline. When we load the set in this afternoon it will be ninety degrees and we’ll get our first whiff of big-city smog.
O, California and her sundry ecosystems!
The other big difficulty will be eating vegetarian and staying healthy. Luckily Craig - our Technical Wizard who has been on many a tour - is vegan and acts as my personal meatless cuisine guru. Who knew that I could procure a relatively satisfying veggie sandwich from Arby’s of all places (the operative word being “relatively”)!
All sarcasm aside, it looks like I will have a great time on this tour. After dinner last night, the cast had some time to hang out in our motel before bed. We got into PJs, watched some awful reality TV, and generally had a good time talking and joking. Anyone who knows the theatre community knows that actors tend to have the most absurd senses of humor, and I fit right in in that respect. After two days there are already a number of things about home that I miss, but I’m still excited to spend some time as a part of this travelling troupe of troubadours.
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
Lost Hills: The City where Dreams Come True
.
Greetings from Lost Hills, California! The aptly named nothing-town in which we are stationed between shows in Santa Rosa and Palm Desert. This morning was our first out-of-town show at the Wells Fargo Center for the Arts. 1,550 seats all of which were filled by enthusiastic elementary schoolers on field trips. Probably the biggest house I or any of the cast have yet performed for, and definitely the most gratifying audience I've ever experienced.
Already I'm realizing how diverse our expriences on tour are going to be-- our venues are going to range in size from a few hundred seats to 1,500 or maybe more. Likewise, last night's hotel was a dream, tonight's is a truck stop.
It's almost midnight and I have to be up absurdly early, so I'm going to call it a night. Tomorrow I'll try to put together a complete list of tour stops and post my mailing address and other fun information.
Goodnight!
Greetings from Lost Hills, California! The aptly named nothing-town in which we are stationed between shows in Santa Rosa and Palm Desert. This morning was our first out-of-town show at the Wells Fargo Center for the Arts. 1,550 seats all of which were filled by enthusiastic elementary schoolers on field trips. Probably the biggest house I or any of the cast have yet performed for, and definitely the most gratifying audience I've ever experienced.
Already I'm realizing how diverse our expriences on tour are going to be-- our venues are going to range in size from a few hundred seats to 1,500 or maybe more. Likewise, last night's hotel was a dream, tonight's is a truck stop.
It's almost midnight and I have to be up absurdly early, so I'm going to call it a night. Tomorrow I'll try to put together a complete list of tour stops and post my mailing address and other fun information.
Goodnight!
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