Week 10: Portsmouth, OH, Springfield, IL, South Bend, IN, and Richmond, KY

This was our last split week for a while, and thank goodness because it was a doozy! Even a few actors who've been on the tour since the get-go said this was the worst week to date. But we made it out alive.


Portsmouth, OH- can't say I remember much about Portsmouth. Probably a flaw of my being so behind, but also this week flew by and most of it was travel.


Springfield, IL- Where Abraham went from Senator to President Elect. Cute little town, wish we'd had more time to explore the museum and Abe's tomb. Perils of working while traveling. 

Lincoln's family home. This house started as a one story and Abe built on into a gorgeous two story, four bedroom household. There were even a few original pieces- a bonnet of Mary's, few lamps and furniture. Very cool.

Playing around with some street art...the boy is actually tipping his hat to a life size Lincoln and his family.

South Bend, IN: home of Notre Dame University! What a cute little city to spend a few days. The Chicago Seven (the group of actors I came in to the show with) celebrated our 100th show here!! Crazy to think we've been here that long- I still feel new often enough! There was also an adorable Chocolate Cafe, which had hot chocolate that definitely rivaled City Bakery- super famous in NYC. I won't lie, I went there twice in three days.

I wrote on my mirror in lipstick on our big day!

Notre Dame's admissions main building. What a gorgeous campus!

Notre Dame's grotto. A few students stopped to say a prayer on their run- what a unique feature at a school!

Richmond, KY- Again, here for a day...can't remember much. I did start Christmas shopping in my mind here.

The rainbow floor in Richmond. Felt like we were in a disco.

On the longest bus day (THIRTEEN hours!) Lauren and I found survival in Naked Juice Green Machine, Kindles, and Snuggies. We made it through the day in one piece, and much colder, in...

 Madison, Wisconsin!!

Week 8-9: Fort Lauderdale, FL

One place for two weeks? Unbelievably good for the soul! The beach didn't hurt either :) We played the Broward Center for the Performing Arts, a lovely Union house, and stayed at the Sheraton Beach Front Hotel. It was only a little cooler than it is in the summer, sunshine all the time, a really nice blessing after some cold...and approaching a very long winter season.

The lovely beachside pool in Fort Lauderdale!

Same setting from the ocean. 

Lauren and I got pedicures right away in beachy bright hues.

We had a goodbye breakfast for Ben (R), our Cogsworth, as he departs this contract and goes straight in to Scrooge. We will miss this wise little Brit greatly!

Preeeeety excited about the day to come, even standing in line in the heat.

A group of us went to Universal Studios in Orlando on our Monday off, and our first stop was- of course- The Wizarding World of Harry Potter.  

Getting Butterbeers at the Three Broomsticks! Left to right: Jen, Mandy, Emily, me and Amanda.

A little Butterbeer mustache. It was so delicious, I regretted only getting one.

Seeing Hogwarts for the first time...enchanted all around.

Lauren and me out on the town in Fort Lauderdale.

Lots of significant others visited over Thanksgiving, including but not limited to the ones pictured here (I think there were 8 total?!) So nice to see people from home!

Thanksgiving morning my roommate Jen, Dane, and I went over to Emily's condo to watch the parade and make breakfast, as all her roommates were elsewhere for the holiday. We also cooked a few things to supplement our dinner later on in the night. 

A little beach volleyball on Turkey day. Definitely a different kind of November holiday, thank you good ol' Florida.

Saying what we are Thankful for at our dinner at the hotel...a few tears here.

Our catered feast. Emily's sweet potato casserole, Jen's deviled eggs, and my macaroni and cheese (dominating the top left quarter) were all made that morning, so we felt like we contributed.

A lot of the girls have gotten in to the Shellac trend- those of your unfamiliar, a different kind of nail polish which is thicker, less likely to chip, and lasts longer. They sell a kit at Ulta, several of which were procured, and now the entire chorus has lovely homemade manicures.

Our final Sunday we only had a matinee, so a few of us went to a casino nearby. I'm REALLY not a gambler, but wanted to see what it's all about. After ten minutes and $15 lost, I was over it, but 

I had so many guests come to see the show here these two weeks, but failed to take pictures with anyone! My friends Phil, Justin, and Erin who I worked with last summer happen to be back at Broward Stage Door, and brought three more along on their day off. My mom's cousin Janet, her husband Eric, and daughter Lauren came the day after Thanksgiving. And our closing Sunday my sweet friend Laura Berg from home happens to be living in South Florida, and came up just to see the show. What a lucky girl I am to have so many visitors!!

Also, a little fun fact: I've had 12 weeks of performances thus far, which is 96 shows. It's crazy how quickly time passes, the group of us who came in together still feel so new to it all. 

Another split week coming up next: Portsmouth, OH, Springfield, IL, South Bend, IN, and Richmond, KY. Back to the midwest!

Week 7: Jacksonville, Florida

We were in Jacksonville, Florida ALL week! So nice to worry more about where to eat out (and there were plenty of places) than dragging your baggage in and out of each hotel. The weather was sort of split between seasons: cold in the dark and warm in the light; layering was key. All in all, a great week.

Our first night in town we went to a lovely little family owned Italian joint called Casa Dora. The food was perfect and the owner of the restaurant was our server, Freddy (center). He's had a lot of celebrities pass through and we got the same treatment. Great night of laughter and pasta!

Me, Jess, and Lauren at Casa Dora.

Amanda, Lauren, and me outside our beautiful riverfront hotel. 

The Blue Bridge just outside of our hotel on the riverfront. Beautiful sight at night.

Jess and Lauren got their new wigs!! Jess's is so curly and much longer and Lauren's is such a fun red color with some serious bangs. We're almost all decked out...

Christy joins the cast! Our newest silly girl (center), who was recently played by Sarah Claire and Gaby just since September, we're so happy she's here. 

Next stop: Fort Lauderdale for two weeks, including Thanksgiving! Last really warm stop for a good long while!

Week 6: Columbia, MO, Muncie & W. Lafayette, IN, and Norfolk, VA

The last of the long weeks!

Columbia, MO- Halloween night didn’t feel like much of a holiday, as we’d already had our celebration and being on a college campus there was no trick or treating to be witnessed. The wolf puppeteers went outside in their “ninja suits”- the black out jumpers so we don’t seem them onstage – and spooked academics as they walked by during intermission, which was pretty hysterical.

I did get pictures texted from my sisters though! Here's Blake and Rylee (my oldest nephew and niece) as Harry Potter and Sandra Dee.

Here's Owen and Berkley as Dr. Bridger and a lady bug. I'm so sad I missed trick or treating with them!

Muncie- Our Belle, Emily, went to Ball State in Muncie, so it was surreal for her, playing the theatre again. It is an enormous house, 3,300 seats, and we were completely sold out. Funny though, the backstage area is very small so while we had dressing rooms, we did most of our changes outside in the trucks. It wasn’t terrible except as the night rolled on it got colder and colder.

Kolby's new wig made it's debut in Muncie!! The inspiration was a photo of a black soldier in the Civil War, and his wig looks EXACTLY like it! It looks really authentic, much less snickering from the audience about his sort of 70's afro. 

I had written West Lafayette, Indiana off as just another one nighter- roll in, roll out. But we arrived at an enormous theatre, seating nearly 6000 people, more than even Radio City! Most of the side orchestra seats are partial view so we did not anticipate a full sell out, but we ended up filling up the theatre and even managed to make overages for one night!

The longest bus day we’ll have was Wednesday: 616 miles to Charlottesville, West Virginia on our way to Norfolk. Thankfully we didn’t have a show, not that it would have been possible traveling from 8:00am to 8:45pm. While West Virginia is beautiful country side- all fall colors and mountains- the windy roads made for a bumpy ride. Charlottesville is a cute little town and we were right by a long string of restaurants and places to be, perfect for a Thursday night in a college town.

We spent the weekend in Norfolk, VA which was sunny and windy. The Crowne Plaza there is a great hotel, if you happen to be passing through. Another city of great dining, we were perfectly situated near the downtown area packed with restaurants and bars. When we don't have cars, it's wonderful to have so many places within walking distance.

My new wig got to me on Friday in Norfolk! It's such a beautiful light brown with a tinge of red in it. The curls are so fat and long, like real sausage/banana curls. It's so refreshing to like the way you look in your costume!

Gaby's brief stint as a Silly Girl ended on Saturday night as she headed to another job in Nevada. It was lovely actually getting to work with her and hang out for a few days.

We’ve been playing a lot of college theatres thus far. This week alone was Mizzou, Ball State, and Purdue, before that Butler and Nebraska…These beautiful theatres on even more lovely campuses awake the student in me, make me consider what college life might have been like at a “normal” university. While I loved NYU, it was a unique experience, lacking a proper campus, greek life, common grounds, a football team. I know I’ll never be a student like that again, as that time has passed for me, but its certainly been tugging on my academic heart strings...wondering whether I'll ever go back. Just food for thought.

Next up: Jacksonville, Florida!

Week 5: Lincoln, NE, Ames, IA, and Champaign, IL

After a long trip to Lincoln (with a stop over in Wichita, KS) we were pleasantly surprised by a lovely downtown area, three completely sold out shows, and a fun Halloween party hosted by our company! It was pretty chilly in Nebraska but definitely one of my favorite cities thus far. I also happen to have lots of family who live there, and on both Thursday and Friday night I had a little crowd at the show just to see me. Thursday my grandparents drove down from South Dakota (on their way to Texas) and stopped in Lincoln to visit with two of his sisters and their families.

I know this photo just affirms my dorkiness, but I was so excited to finally acquire these knitting needles. Practically every project needs a different gauge and length of needle, so having an interchangeable set makes the most sense on the road. I found this at a Michael's in Denton on the way to Wichita.

Lincoln is the hub of the Nebraska Cornhusker football, and we were even witness to the very early tailgating beginning as we left the city. I just had to try on their namesake corny hat. It was heavier than I thought. 

This is Melody and me on my family's backstage tour. She is my mom's cousin's daughter's daughter...so we are related somehow? Sweet thing that she is, it was her very first live theatre production. She stayed up the whole time!

This is a lacy scarf I knit as a gift for Sarah Claire, our most recently departed cast member and a wonderful, beautiful friend. It turned out so lovely and cushy. 

Thursday night NETworks hosted a private Halloween party at our hotel's restaurant, complete with appetizers, drinks, and a costume contest! A group of us were dead Mean Girls and we made the semi finals (we take contests pretty seriously- especially when the grand prize is $100!)

There were lots of zombies, and Maddy from Dance Moms looked tasty...

My brilliant roommate was Paul Revere, complete with a stuffed horse she split in half to ride.

The whole group, including Chocolate Chip, the Enchantress, a "cut" napkin, Aloysious the Pretentious (all from the show), the Kennedy's, lots of zombies, and a few pirates.

We drove in to performances in both Ames and Champaign, where you spend half of the day on the bus and the other half at the theatre, then repeat. Most of our excitement revolves around the constantly changing venues... the house reminded me of the meeting grounds in Star Wars, and we played a basketball arena in Champaign...they literally built the stage for us. I have been knitting up a storm backstage to pass the time, and Mom told me the other day my Great-Grandmother Pearl  apparently did the same!

Once I get a picture of me wearing this I will replace it, as it's not clear what exactly it is like this. This is a continuous scarf called a snood, so it sort of bunches up on itself like a turtleneck. My first successful circular knitting project-and everyone wants one now!

Ames was a very old theatre, and this arrow just reminds me of that sort of star vs. chorus hierarchy that is most obvious in dressing rooms. We are usually not stage level, either upstairs or in the basement. It always makes me laugh, the delineation between the classes, of sorts. 

Much of the cast was measured for new wigs in Chicago and they did finally arrive while we were in Lincoln. Carly and Mandy were some of the first lucky receivers of these beauts in Champaign. Carly (R) used to have black hair and is now looking more natural in her ginger state, while Mandy (L) was auburn and now much closer to her shade of blonde.


Next up: the last bit of one nighters in Columbia, MO, Muncie and West Lafayette, IN, a stopover in Charlottesville, WV and FINALLY- Norfolk, VA!

Week 4: Jackson, MS, Tyler and Lufkin, TX

Crazy split week here!

I thought it might be warmer in the South, but it wasn't really in Mississippi. Sadly the recession seems to have hit Jackson pretty hard. We were downtown on what might have been a busy street of restaurants and shops, but nearly nothing was open. The houses were also only half full, though they were enthusiastic as ever.

We flew from Indianapolis to Jackson, thankfully. Several of us have Vera Bradley bags and they like to travel together. Floral explosion!

We wandered one sunny day in Jackson through all the government buildings, which seemed to be the only busy ones in our area. This is the capitol.

Can't leave Mississippi without having their namesake pie! The hotel restaurant dished out several pieces to our group over our three days there...so delicious.

We traveled to a somewhat younger part of town to a lovely tacos and tapas place called Babalu. They were screening "I Love Lucy" on one of the big walls! Truly amazing food- I had tuna/green apple ceviche and sloppy joe tacos!

Traveling in to Tyler, TX I realized I had no blanket or cuddling equipment of any kind. Snuggies are popular in the cast, and I happened to find a Batman one, complete with a hood! It's been a perfect addition to the bus. :)

Lufkin's Temple Theater is the smallest space we've been in so far, but all three shows were sold out and they absolutely loved it. 

We were also in a gorgeous hotel, the Courtyard Marriott, complete with an outdoor seating area with a fire pit. Naturally we roasted marshmallows one night!

In Lufkin there were several groups of press that went to school to read, and a few of us went to a Boys and Girls club where I sang "A Change in Me" and we taught them the end of "Be Our Guest". It was a lot of fun- after school, very high energy! Hopefully I'll be able to put up a video of the song soon.

Sorry this is a bit on the skimpy side, material wise. Its busy busy busy here on the road and I'm doing my best to keep up. Very often the day consists of: Get on the bus, to the theatre, maybe eat or exercise, go to the hotel and to bed. Repeat. Hopefully more eventful things will come as we settle in to venues for longer periods of time.

Next week: Lincoln, NE, Ames, IA, and Champaign, IL!