1/27/10 – 1/28/10 – The Insurance Capital of the World and ‘The Lion King’…Hartford, CT

After a lovely five nights and four days in Westhampton Beach, we hit the road again. We were bound for snowy Hartford, the capital of Connecticut and also the second largest city in the state, with a population of 125,000 (the largest city being Bridgeport). Located on the Connecticut River, Hartford is almost 400 years old and is among the oldest cities in US. It is the home of the nation’s oldest public art museum (the Wadsworth Atheneum) and oldest public park (Bushnell Park). It is also the home of Trinity College and was where the TV show ‘Judging Amy’ was based. Hartford is nicknamed “The Insurance Capital of the World” as it houses the headquarters of many of the world’s insurance companies, and insurance is a major industry of the region. Famous residents of Hartford have included Mark Twain, Harriet Beecher Stowe, Sophie Tucker, Charles Nelson Reilly and Katharine Hepburn.



Our performance venue in Hartford, CT, was located in the Bushnell Center for the Performing Arts. Constructed in the 1930s, by the same architects who designed New York City’s Radio City Music Hall, the building features a Georgian Revival exterior and exquisite Art Deco interior. The center houses two theatres: the 2800-seat Mortensen Hall and the 908-seat Belding Theatre, where we performed. The Belding Theatre has a gorgeous decorative painted ceiling, and generously uses wood, rich colors and textures. No seat is more than 75-feet from the stage.



The most unique aspect of our performing experience at the Bushnell was the fact that the National Tour of ‘The Lion King’ was performing there at the same time, in the adjacent theatre! Check out the picture of our smaller trailer next to their trailer in the loading dock. While we loaded in our set, the music of their opening number wafted through the air. We got to see many of the puppets and costumes up close, and even had the opportunity to chat with many of their actors and crew. Not only were our backstage areas adjacent, but so were our dressing rooms. One of our performances occurred simultaneously with their matinee show. It was funny to see ‘Rafiki’ in full make-up, talking on her cell phone in the stairwell, as we walked to places. We giggled with excitement as we saw many characters in various states of dress (including naked!) and smiled as we heard their show on our dressing room monitors. Some of their cast was just as excited to see us as we were to see them, and peeked their heads into our theatre to catch a glimpse of our show. Such a surreal experience!



And to top off our 'Lion King' bliss-induced euphoria…we had an opening act for our show – JuggleJoy - two friendly, magical, and yes, juggling clowns. We are definitely moving on up in the world, blog reader.

Ciao!
XOXO-
Janine