On Monday this week we performed at Madison Simis School in Phoenix. After our third show we were loading up the van, and we found this AWESOME sign on the windshield! Thanks to Mrs. Gordons class for making our day!
Thursday, December 17, 2009
Surprise Sign on Our Van!
On Monday this week we performed at Madison Simis School in Phoenix. After our third show we were loading up the van, and we found this AWESOME sign on the windshield! Thanks to Mrs. Gordons class for making our day!
Wednesday, December 9, 2009
On the Road
Three weeks of tour have taken us to Tempe, Paradise Valley, Phoenix, Glendale, Anthem and Tucson so far. As a cast, we are starting to settle into a bit of a routine on the road. Being a cast of six actors, we rarely ride in the van together. First of all, there are only five seats in the van. But most days, Anthony Toudjarov (The Captain) and Eric Boudreau (Lelio) who live on the west side of Phoenix will save some time and drive directly to the school where we are performing. On trips out of town, like our trip to Tucson last week, we have to take two vehicles.
In the van, or the following car, we have had some serious and not so serious conversations. The favorite topics of conversation currently seem to be about the Fox television shows “So You Think You can Dance” and “Glee.” Kate Haas (Isabella) has won the award of grossest story so far, although Jeremiah Neal (The Lion) came in a close second after a conversation about the Big Texan Restaurant in Amarillo, Texas where you can get a free 72 ounce steak if you can eat it and all the trimmings in an hour. Kate is a master of the word puzzle and we all enjoy trying to find answers to fill-in-the-blank pun puzzles like: “Is it mutton and veal you have a hankering, or is it for ______________ ?” (The answer is at the bottom of this posting.)
We’ve fallen in to a rhythm loading and unloading the set, and everyone seems to know what his or her assignment is although we never discussed it. For instance, Jeremiah is the van packer. He is the one who has figured out where each piece of the set goes in the van so it all fits. His nemesis is a bar stool that never fits in the van the same way twice. We’ve only left a couple of dollies behind us at Roadrunner Elementary, which were rescued promptly by the cast of Ferdinand the Bull who performed there two days later.
Before the show begins we get a personal concert from Jesse or Jeremiah on the guitar. Recently we’ve been inspired by the Dubie Brothers and George Micheal as Jeremiah riffs on his guitar strolling over the stage while we all warm up and sing along. We have success performing Lazzi with the students as they file in to see the show, and the younger students have a clear affinity for the slapstick.
As with all tour shows, our performances differ each day according to the space we are in. Sometimes the students are really close to us in an intimate space and sometimes they are in cavernous gymnasium, and we struggle to articulate over the din of a ventilation system. But these struggles are small ones. I often feel that I’m being paid lavishly in smiles. I’m thinking of one performance in particular.
That day we had a group of students enter the cafeteria just as we were beginning our show. It was an after-school program so there was a mix of grades spilling into the space. There were some girls who looked to be sixth graders whispering and laughing with one another. I immediately thought that they may be too old for the show and would talk a lot during our performance. However, I was proved wrong. They quickly got engaged in the story. One girl in particular sat with her chin resting in her hands and just smiled almost the entire show. Every time I looked out in the audience and saw her, there she was smiling again. It wasn’t the kind of smile you often see. She was relaxed and her smile was for no one but herself. She wasn’t smiling at her friends or at us as performers. In fact, I don’t even think she was aware she was smiling. She was lost in the story.
Those smiles are priceless. That’s what makes the road a fun and rewarding place to be. Oh, and the answer is porcupine. But you have to say it like this “porc-u-pine” for the pun to work!
In the van, or the following car, we have had some serious and not so serious conversations. The favorite topics of conversation currently seem to be about the Fox television shows “So You Think You can Dance” and “Glee.” Kate Haas (Isabella) has won the award of grossest story so far, although Jeremiah Neal (The Lion) came in a close second after a conversation about the Big Texan Restaurant in Amarillo, Texas where you can get a free 72 ounce steak if you can eat it and all the trimmings in an hour. Kate is a master of the word puzzle and we all enjoy trying to find answers to fill-in-the-blank pun puzzles like: “Is it mutton and veal you have a hankering, or is it for ______________ ?” (The answer is at the bottom of this posting.)We’ve fallen in to a rhythm loading and unloading the set, and everyone seems to know what his or her assignment is although we never discussed it. For instance, Jeremiah is the van packer. He is the one who has figured out where each piece of the set goes in the van so it all fits. His nemesis is a bar stool that never fits in the van the same way twice. We’ve only left a couple of dollies behind us at Roadrunner Elementary, which were rescued promptly by the cast of Ferdinand the Bull who performed there two days later.
Before the show begins we get a personal concert from Jesse or Jeremiah on the guitar. Recently we’ve been inspired by the Dubie Brothers and George Micheal as Jeremiah riffs on his guitar strolling over the stage while we all warm up and sing along. We have success performing Lazzi with the students as they file in to see the show, and the younger students have a clear affinity for the slapstick.
As with all tour shows, our performances differ each day according to the space we are in. Sometimes the students are really close to us in an intimate space and sometimes they are in cavernous gymnasium, and we struggle to articulate over the din of a ventilation system. But these struggles are small ones. I often feel that I’m being paid lavishly in smiles. I’m thinking of one performance in particular.
That day we had a group of students enter the cafeteria just as we were beginning our show. It was an after-school program so there was a mix of grades spilling into the space. There were some girls who looked to be sixth graders whispering and laughing with one another. I immediately thought that they may be too old for the show and would talk a lot during our performance. However, I was proved wrong. They quickly got engaged in the story. One girl in particular sat with her chin resting in her hands and just smiled almost the entire show. Every time I looked out in the audience and saw her, there she was smiling again. It wasn’t the kind of smile you often see. She was relaxed and her smile was for no one but herself. She wasn’t smiling at her friends or at us as performers. In fact, I don’t even think she was aware she was smiling. She was lost in the story.
Those smiles are priceless. That’s what makes the road a fun and rewarding place to be. Oh, and the answer is porcupine. But you have to say it like this “porc-u-pine” for the pun to work!
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