Our first day of life on the road commenced on 10/19/09. Our primary mode of transportation for the tour is a passenger van that pulls a large trailer that contains all of our set pieces, costumes and audio equipment. Occasionally, we also travel by plane, but that is usually reserved for travel to/from our homes from/to various cities on the road. The van is very COZY (translation: "crowded") as it holds 9 people and all of our luggage. As we are forced to be in close proximity to each other in the van, we must always be wary of being too loud (i.e. talking on cell phones, listening to loud music, etc.) and overbearing scents (i.e. perfumes, farting in the van, etc.).
We departed from Emeryville, CA and travelled to Santa Rosa, CA and it was a very wet, rainy day. Thank goodness our travel time was not long, as the roads were very slippery and foggy. The excitement level in the van was high, but it was hard to accept that we were "officially" on tour since we were a) still in the state of California; and b) headed to a city in the Bay Area. We arrived safely at our destination, but sadly hit a "bump" along the way as our Tour Manager learned of a death in his immediate family, which would force him to leave the tour for a few days. In his absence, a stand-in Tour Manager and Stage Manager would be brought in to run the show after our opening performance in Santa Rosa.
Our first performance venue was at the Wells Fargo Center. It is a gorgeous 1550-seat theatre with two tiers of seating...much larger than any theatre in which I or any of my castmates has performed. Since it was our first time performing on the road and in a venue of that size, we did a run-through of the show for our producer to make sure that we could fill the stage with our show.
Typically, when we travel to each city/venue, we follow the same schedule: travel, load-in at venue, an occasional mark-through/run-through of the show, hotel check-in and rest for the next morning of performances. Our performance schedule ranges between 10-16 shows per week, which means that we usually do anywhere from 0-3 shows per day.
One of the best things about performing at the different venues is the local theatre crew. They have been some of the nicest and most interesting people that we have met in our journey. We encountered one such individual at the Wells Fargo Center, who greeted our van with enthusiasm as we pulled into the venue parking lot, banging on our side doors and scaring all of the passengers within. He later repeatedly encouraged us to "jackknife" our van and do things "West Coast style" - as to what he actually meant by these terms, we were not sure, but these phrases have now been incorporated into our daily vocabulary and always invoke a giggle or two.
Our first show on the road was sold out and the performance was incredible. As we landed in our final show poses, we were washed over by a rock concert-like wave of screams from our young audience. I can see how it can be very easy to become addicted to performing in these large venues! As a special treat, our director Tracy Ward drove to our first show on the road. It was great to see her and hear her input as the show had greatly evolved in her absence (sometimes for better, sometimes for worse) during our Bay Area previews.
We finished up our Santa Rosa stint with load-out, followed by a pep talk by our producer. We hit the road for Southern Cal, but will stay the night in Lost Hills, CA, a creepy town with a yucky motel that I would rather forget.
Next stop - the McCallum Center for the Performing Arts in Palm Desert, CA. Until the next adventure...
Ciao!
XOXO-
Janine
We departed from Emeryville, CA and travelled to Santa Rosa, CA and it was a very wet, rainy day. Thank goodness our travel time was not long, as the roads were very slippery and foggy. The excitement level in the van was high, but it was hard to accept that we were "officially" on tour since we were a) still in the state of California; and b) headed to a city in the Bay Area. We arrived safely at our destination, but sadly hit a "bump" along the way as our Tour Manager learned of a death in his immediate family, which would force him to leave the tour for a few days. In his absence, a stand-in Tour Manager and Stage Manager would be brought in to run the show after our opening performance in Santa Rosa.
Our first performance venue was at the Wells Fargo Center. It is a gorgeous 1550-seat theatre with two tiers of seating...much larger than any theatre in which I or any of my castmates has performed. Since it was our first time performing on the road and in a venue of that size, we did a run-through of the show for our producer to make sure that we could fill the stage with our show.
Typically, when we travel to each city/venue, we follow the same schedule: travel, load-in at venue, an occasional mark-through/run-through of the show, hotel check-in and rest for the next morning of performances. Our performance schedule ranges between 10-16 shows per week, which means that we usually do anywhere from 0-3 shows per day.
One of the best things about performing at the different venues is the local theatre crew. They have been some of the nicest and most interesting people that we have met in our journey. We encountered one such individual at the Wells Fargo Center, who greeted our van with enthusiasm as we pulled into the venue parking lot, banging on our side doors and scaring all of the passengers within. He later repeatedly encouraged us to "jackknife" our van and do things "West Coast style" - as to what he actually meant by these terms, we were not sure, but these phrases have now been incorporated into our daily vocabulary and always invoke a giggle or two.
Our first show on the road was sold out and the performance was incredible. As we landed in our final show poses, we were washed over by a rock concert-like wave of screams from our young audience. I can see how it can be very easy to become addicted to performing in these large venues! As a special treat, our director Tracy Ward drove to our first show on the road. It was great to see her and hear her input as the show had greatly evolved in her absence (sometimes for better, sometimes for worse) during our Bay Area previews.
We finished up our Santa Rosa stint with load-out, followed by a pep talk by our producer. We hit the road for Southern Cal, but will stay the night in Lost Hills, CA, a creepy town with a yucky motel that I would rather forget.
Next stop - the McCallum Center for the Performing Arts in Palm Desert, CA. Until the next adventure...
Ciao!
XOXO-
Janine
good so far!
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