Wrap it up

Annnndd I'm home!! We made great time the last three days and once we crossed into Texas yesterday it was smooth sailing and really high spirits all around. A bunch of lovely people were there to greet us at the theatre, and I saw my mom!!...and Harry Potter later on. :)

Just some fun facts and silly awards to wrap up the tour. I've been working on this for some time and its fun to see how much happened in just two months, though it seemed much longer. I'm so glad to be home with family and friends again. My plan it to be working on some seasonal work to pinch pennies, find presents for loved ones, and getting into shape for the spring auditions in NY. I think I'll be returning just before New Years

SOME STATISTICS

Books Read: 5

Albums Purchased: 3

Postcards sent: 8

Items left in the hotel: 4

La Quintas Visited: 9

Miles Driven 

Approximately 15,955 miles. That's a generous estimate on highway time.

States Driven Through: 31

Arizona, Arkansas, California, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Maryland, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin, Wyoming.

Too many to count

Episodes of Law and Order, hours in the car, bathroom breaks, pieces of Top Stick, Dr Peppers consumed by Kelly and Andy, push ups done in gas stations by Apollo and Anthony.

A FEW AWARDS

Favorite theatre: Houston, TX. Incredible acoustics and a huge house.

Most amazing ‘meet and greet’: Modesto, CA. Literally 1500 children swarmed us.

Only place I was scared: Cushing, OK. Just passed through, but that was plenty.

Best hotel: Would’ve gone to Best Western in Mesa, AZ except the A/C smelled like elephants….so maybe the Comfort Inn and Suites in Rapid City, SD.

Favorite state scenery: Washington or California. Northwest coast.

Best meal: Allentown Brewery...pumpkin beer, loaded baked potato soup, grilled chicken sandwich and coleslaw. Everyone was raving about the soup.

Most dangerous discovery: Gooey Butter Cake, St. Louis, Missouri.


I suppose from now on I'll have to find different adventures to record. This week is full of little luxuries and family/friend fun, being Thanksgiving week! I'll report on all the delicious details! Happy Thanksgiving!

New York and New Jersey

A three show Pocahontas day is really nothing compared to a three Alice day. Especially when they are spread out throughout the day. So with a three Poca day, then a one Alice day (in the evening no doubt) in Sugar Loaf, NY, we were nearly on vacation. To top it off I had cousins and family come in, making this small town, cozy little theatre a nice retreat from the real world.

Lots of little brownies and girl scouts at all our shows in NY, must be badge season.  My cousins Rebecca and Emily came to the Pocahontas evening show and stuck around long enough to take a picture.

The next evening Emily came back with her mom-my aunt Cynthia, uncle Richie, and their friends Brian, Alison, and their son Shane.

Afterwards I got to hang out at Brian and Alison's lovely house just down the road from the theatre. Alison made an incredible home-cooked meal- pulled pork sliders, apple coleslaw, and homemade apple pie!! I was in heaven, eating to my hearts content and sipping wine with friends and family, fireplace and all.

The weather was so incredible in Union, NJ, we were all exclaiming what a shame we'd be trapped inside a dark theatre. We had some sound trouble our first day but the kids still enjoyed themselves immensely. It's funny how they are pretty resilient against technical difficulties. The next day was a complete turn around and the show went super well, sound system and all. AND...

We had the opportunity to go into Manhattan for the rest of the day on Monday!! I saw Kelli for a manicure, Davis' new bar/restaurant Carmine Club Cafe, Phil for coffee at City Bakery, dropped in at CAP before an audition to see Molly, Jenna, Mackenzie, Aimee, and a bunch of others, and Sam and Jason for dinner uptown at Hi Life. Then I joined up with the group just as my phone was dying and we trekked back to New Jersey. It was a packed day in NYC life (my legs were killing me the next day it's been so long since I walked everywhere) and I still didn't see everyone. But it certainly got me ready to head back to the city after the holidays.

Andy loves Apollo. Apollo loved his first trip to NYC.

A two tone (half coffee and half hot chocolate) with a homemade marshmallow from City Bakery. Yum yum yum!

Me, Samanthe, and baby Samuel. She's really pregnant. (There was a joke at the barn about Sam being pregnant because we've been wanting a little Burrow for a long time...I was so excited to finally see her belly showing)

Next day we headed upstate to Massena, right on the Canadian border. We were only there for about 16 hours between arrival, sleeping, an early morning show, and headed an hour south to our next destination: Ogdensburg. At this hotel we were right on the river, looking out on Canada on the other side!

That's it: Canada. Damian went swimming in that 50 degree river too. My phone jumps between saying "Bell" and "ROGERS" instead of AT&T at our hotel...pretty sure those aren't American servers.

First day in Ogdensburg was our closing Pocahontas'. It was so early in the morning it was a little anticlimactic. Big audiences though and as usual it went really well. Next day was our last two Alice shows, same early times (9:15 and 11...too early to rock). It's really strange to be done, feels like we've been at this for a year even though it's just been 2 months.

Pocahontas cast pic. That second Rooster would be Rodney's special brother...he's a backstage understudy. And I look like a hunchback.

Alice cast pic. Some kids that saw the first show took it for us in the hallway.

And now the big day: HEADING BACK HOME! We're off to Rochester for the night where Kelly and Damian already have tickets to see Harry Potter 7 Part 1 (I'm waiting til I get home). Then through Louisville, Kentucky, Arkadelphia, Arkansas, and then San Antone! Its going to be a long three day home stretch, but I'm working on a big wrap up entry with some fun facts and awards.

See you back in Texas!

1,766 miles

Day 1: Rapid City, SD to Cedar Rapids, IA. SEVEN HUNDRED MILES. This might be the second longest day of my life. Oddly enough, the highest ranking ones have all been spent in long arduous hours of travel that never seems to end. It doesn't help that South Dakota, Minnesota, and Iowa all smell like cows and the terrain really only consists of dry, grassy hills. Suffice it to say, I crashed as soon as we arrived.

Day 2: Cedar Rapids, IA to Cleveland, OH. A slightly better day, though I'm sore from sitting around so long. I tried to watch "Sound of Music" in the car but my computer died around the wedding...so I got the children's version...anyone else not remember the Nazi's from their childhood? I'm not sure if I got bored or the TV was turned off.

Day 3: Cleveland, OH to Sugar Loaf, NY. Pretty fair day, not as long as the two prior. We got the hotel in plenty of time for dinner, etc. Next up is two days in Sugar Loaf, a day in Union, NJ, and then upstate for our last shows. Trying to decide how to divide up these entries from here on out. What ever will I write about when the tour is over??!

Billings, MT

Drove from Wenatchee to Missoula, Montana, very lovely scenery. All those mountains and evergreens. Then from Missoula to Billings, we decided to take a detour into Yellowstone for a few hours and drive around the park. We saw lots of bison, a few elk, the Mammoth Hot Springs, and Old Faithful.

By the front gate. "For the benefit and enjoyment of the people" is the quote on top.

The Mammoth Hot Springs, which smell pretty strongly of sulfur. There was tons of thermal activity while we were there all over the park.

Apollo's superman pose.

Just some lovely scenery. That river was so blue.

Kelly and Andy- our SM and incredible photographer, with bison in the background. We saw tons of them!

Bison close up. We were really close as they crossed the street.

The cast with Old Faithful erupting in the background. (Photo credit: Andy Elliott). It was SOO cold waiting, but I'm glad we got to see her go. After this we drove into Billings for the night.

The shows in Billings were a little difficult. They were early (9:30am and 12:30pm Alices) and the audiences were on the older side of high school...not exactly an easy time of day to rock and roll- at least for me- or the perfect target audience for Alice. Younger kids through middle school age seem to love it, but high school is a little bit of a stretch. The second show we had some more enthusiastic kids, but it was definitely a lesson in overcoming the audience's energy to keep going.

After the shows we got bison burgers (after being introduced to the jerky the day before, everyone was craving them) and then drove directly to Rapid City, South Dakota. My grandparents live there about half the year and happen to be in town, so I drove around with them for a bit revisiting the town for the first time in 14 years, and then we had a quiet dinner and caught up. I never get them alone so it was nice we had the chance to sit down together.

Next up is a few longs days of driving and then Sugar Loaf, NY.

Wenatchee, WA

The drive through Nevada and Idaho was rather stark. Lots of government owned land and no cell service. We had a little hiccup on our first day. Kelly left her wallet in our hotel in Vegas, BUT they found it and she and Andy turned around to retrieve it. The rest of us got to the hotel in Mountain Home, Idaho about an hour early to find out all the rooms are one-bedders. So we all got our own rooms for a night...a nice little surprise!

Day two of the journey we went through Idaho into Oregon and up to Wenatchee. Oregon and Washington are both beautiful, tons of trees and mountains. Somehow I always end up driving when the roads are winding and on a 5% downgrade. Its strange but keeps me on my toes. No cruise control for me!

This guy was looming over me at a diner in Oregon. I'm not sure that I captured the sheer size from below, but he was definitely a 12 pointer. 

Wenatchee is simply adorable. Small town on the river, local shops, crisp fall weather. I was in love. The technical director of the Performing Arts Center, Don Fox, used to live in San Antonio and is friends with many people at Magik! Dave- our director- came into town to visit him and see the shows on their feet. This afforded us a little connection in town, so we had lots of fun. Some friends of Don cooked us a delicious home-cooked, all home-made meal- Turkish sausage, chicken and veggie casserole, homemade bread, salad, and pumpkin/apple pie...to top it off, we were served at a table with a table cloth, real plates and silverware, and a vase of real roses. Obviously we are easily pleased...and overstuffed with fast food.

There are still some fall colors going on!! There is a lot of red still visible in Wenatchee....especially the cherry trees!

Our biggest advertisement in the window of the PAC. Pretty sweet.

You know that old addage that goes something like 'you fill the space you are given' (I know I know that 's VERY paraphrased)...well, Kelly and I are the queens of it. This was Kelly's station in our dressing room. :)

After Pocahontas and Alice we went with Don, his new executive director Jessica, and some of their friends who saw the show to see a band play at the local Eagles club. From there we went to a karaoke bar, where things got really fun. We doubled the bar population with our group's arrival, and almost everyone sang. It was SUPER fun!!

Yes, these still exist. Jessica and co kept trying to warn us that the Karaoke bar was "divey", but we loved its kitsch. When I got the to bathroom, I fully realized it's level of vintage.

The boys singing "Bridge Over Troubled Water".

I rapped to "Baby Got Back"...which you probably wouldn't guess from this picture...

But maybe from this one. I did a little dance to make up for my terrible rap skillz.

This was our favorite local, Big John. He sang a few songs, but the best was his rendition of "Hero" sung an octave down.

The cast sang "Don't Stop Me Now"...we look crazy in every picture.

Dave came out with us! And Kelly was rocking a cute little Hairspray-esque bump.

Anthony and I concluded the night for everyone with a little "Summer Nights". It was epic.

Next up: Billings, Montana...with a little surprise stop off in Yellowstone National Park!

Vegas

Journeyed up from Brawley, CA to Wenatchee, WA in 48 hours with a stop in Las Vegas! I know everyone says "what happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas"...but I couldn't do very much damage in just one night. Here's some photographic evidence.

The Chihuly ceiling at the Bellagio. I'm obviously a fan of his.

This tree was in an Autumnal themed room in the Bellagio. All the flowers and pumpkins, etc were real...the pumpkins were enormous. One had a placard that said "751 lbs". No joke. It was very Tim Burton.

The water show at the fountain in front of the Bellagio. INCREDIBLE!! Anthony caught it all on video...the geysers shot up as many stories as the hotel. And it all happens every 15 minutes for several hours.

In hindsight, I probably should have bought this hat. It obviously belongs in my wardrobe.

Manilow is playing at Paris. Wish we had time to see a show. I'm dying to see O. The Eiffel tower was very cool too.

The strip. Definitely need more than one night for this....even as a non-gambler I didn't have enough time!!

Inside Caesar's Palace. The level of detail in decoration in this town is really astounding. It's like being transported over and over again.

Anthony asked me to marry him several weeks ago when we found out we would be going through Vegas. We found a chapel in Caesar's, but it was closed. This picture is as far as we got....

I did want to play a slot machine just once, so as the end of the night Damian gave me a dollar and I sat down to win big. I pressed a button twice, the little symbols rolled, and NOTHING happened. Woot.

I also rode a mechanical bull, and there is evidence. It's pretty dark and not worth sharing really...I managed to stay on for about half a minute laughing the entire time. When I "fell off" I landed on my feet!

Next up is the journey North, and Washington state!

Four Months

In news completely separate from the tour, and diverting back to some of the blog’s original purpose: a Dad update. I have been meaning to write about my longing for him lately and this seemed an appropriate milestone to dedicate an entry. Yesterday marks the four-month anniversary of my family’s loss. It is weird to mark it so, because in some ways it feels like its been ages, yet I'm set me back to the very week in July. I’m at the very edge of emotion, wishing to understand how life is supposed to go on. It is difficult feeling so vulnerable, particularly working in such close proximity with other people. I really try not to project my sadness but sometimes it is truly overwhelming.

A few days ago my roommate Kelly and I were watching “Father of the Bride” before going to bed. Tears streamed down my cheeks on to my pillow as Steve Martin monologues with anguish over his daughter’s big life step. All I could think about was- as has often been the case these few months- who will do this for me? Who will walk me down the aisle and give my hand? Who will I dance with and kiss goodbye as I step into adult, married life? I’m not even remotely close to marrying someone but it is where my mind goes when I wonder about the future. Not how he will miss my “big break” or my first child, should those ever come, but my wedding. I know several young women who have done this without their father or mother, but I had never considered the prospect for myself until it was too late.

Other things strike me: poignant or longing lyrics I never noticed before, character details in books or films. I am more sensitive to many writers’ sorrow, particularly playwrights. I am forever discovering the scope of this new lens with which I see the world…everything is different. Some things have lost their bloom, but I see beauty where it was not before.

I am still working on finding coping mechanisms, outlets for my frustration and confusion. I've realized recently I'm in desperate need of a hobby and some physical exercise. Being on tour, I am more inert in both body and mind than I have every been in my life. It is so hard to rev myself up about working out when I've been in a car for 13 hours, or up since 6:30 doing two shows and greeting hundreds of children. I have always had a hard time self motivating...but I need some serious stimulation to get me out of this funk. As my mom has often reminded me these days: Choose Joy!!

Dad and Catherine dance at her wedding, New Years Eve 2005.

CA and AZ

Modesto, CA
This was a crazy day. We had THREE shows of Alice: 10am, 4pm, and 7pm. We were thankful they were spread apart but it was difficult to keep up that show energy and preserve ourselves in between. The theatre was really lovely, around 1,200 capacity and nearly full every show. We only did 'meet and greet' for the evening show...it was the most insane barrage of people I've ever been faced with. I felt like a Beatle, programs being shoved in my face, children approaching me from behind, forcing me to stand against the wall to avoid further bum poking. We eventually posed as an entire cast to allow for some cameras...my very first paparazzi.

PHOTO coming!
What happens when you do three Alices in a day. Not good.

San Bernardino, CA
San Bernardino wasn't on the original schedule and I was excited to see its addition in our revision. I have a few friends in the LA and was hoping I might manage to run into someone....and I did but NOT who I was expecting! Phil Gosselin just happened to be in LA visiting friends for Halloween and was so dedicated to seeing the show/hanging out, he took a BUS from West Hollywood to San Bernardino. So nice to see him!!

Phil!!

We found a bakery across the street from our hotel and had a little pie party...

Queen Creek, AZ
Definitely winning the nicest hotel award! Best Western, big modern room with a gym and pool. I suppose it should help to make up for being there on Halloween, instead of at a party scarfing candy and fraternizing with other costume clad young people...we watched Nightmare Before Christmas and went to bed early for another three show day. This time it was three Pocahontas', so much more doable. Then we drove back to Cali, along the Mexico border. We weren't even there long enough for me to photograph anything...

Brawley, CA

This was another crazy day. We set up both sets, Pocahontas on stage and Alice backstage. Just after Pocahontas they closed the grand drape and we switched, changed clothes, had a little Q&A with the students, and did Alice. Then we ate lunch, packed up the truck, and hit the road for Vegas. Too many more days of wearing my show makeup in the car will not a happy face make.

The city we stayed in while performing in Brawley…Calipatria. It has a funny ring, say it a few times to your self.

The lovely sand dunes in super Southern California. 

Next up VEGAS!