Tuesday, November 17, 2009

11/9/09-11/10/09 – On the road again…Lutcher Theater, Orange, TX



We gathered at the Oakland Airport early in the morning, excited to see each other after the short break home and eager to continue our journey across America. We flew to Houston by way Salt Lake City and reunited with our van and our crew at the Houston Airport. From Houston, we drove three long and rainy hours (thanks, Hurricane Ida!) to Orange, TX. But the long day of travel was not over once we arrived at our hotel, as we still had to complete our load-in at the Lutcher Theatre.



The Lutcher Theater is a multi-tiered, 1450-seat theatre with beautiful brickwork inside the house. We played two wonderful, packed, back-to-back performances at this theatre, which is always great. What made our stop at the Lutcher Theater so enjoyable, however, were the extremely nice staff and volunteers that work at this theatre. They are the modicum of Southern hospitality at its best. From the local crew to the ushers to the resident house poodle ‘Simone’, all take great pride in their town and their theatre. I loved their lovely accents and charming vocabulary, peppered with “darling” and “girl”. The ushers are comprised of a group of giving senior citizen volunteers. As a parting treat, they provided us with a delicious Southern cooked lunch, complete with fried chicken, coleslaw and corn bread – DELICIOUS!



We pulled away from the lovely Lutcher Theater in a food-induced bliss and headed toward our next stop in Fayetteville, AR. I have never been to Texas before (with the exception of landing at the airport in Dallas) – it is very flat! It seems that many of the ‘interstates’ are not major freeways, but instead large roads that pass through small town after small town. Many churches and religious signs decorate the landscape, along with firework stands and ‘Pappy’s Bargain Barn’. We stayed the night in the small town of Texarkana, TX (not to be confused with Texarkana, AR!). Nothing too memorable about our stay except for the copious numbers of ladybugs we each found in our rooms.

Next stop – Walton Arts Center in Fayetteville, AR. Until the next adventure…

Ciao!
XOXO-
Janine

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