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| Hard at work, now calling the show from backstage! |
Our adventure continues! After an easy travel day that included our first meal stop at a Walmart so that everyone could stock up on food and supplies, we arrived at our first performance destination, New Haven, Connecticut, home of Yale, on Thursday night, and quickly settled in to our luxurious suites. Life on the road is always easier with nice hotel rooms, especially ones that have full kitchen facilities.
The cast and band immediately arranged a pot luck dinner, because they are just that sweet. A little later on Charles and I headed downtown with Kirsten, our swing tech, and John, our audio tech to the Theatre district for a substantial meal. As the crew had to do their first load in call at 7am Friday morning, it was an early night.
Friday morning at 10am four of the cast and myself were scheduled to appear for a Q & A session at a local performing arts high school, arranged by the educational outreach division of the Shubert Theatre. The five of us had an absolute blast sharing our stories with the students and faculty. They were such an engaged, generous audience that I sense all of us came away from it feeling even more pumped about our Opening Night performance that night. The local media was also in attendance, and we actually made the local paper & online section of their website. Here's the link: http://www.newhavenindependent.org/index.php/archives/entry/the_downbeat_and_the_lowdown_delivered_to_co-0p_actors/
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| The view from the 2nd balcony! There were a lot of stairs to climb to get this shot! |
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| The crew has just about finished the load in at this point. |
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| The view from the stage. I couldn't get the 2nd balcony in the shot. |
The Shubert Theatre here in New Haven Connecticut was built in 1914, and has hosted premiers of many landmark American plays including Oklahoma and A Streetcar Named Desire. It really is a beautiful space with a wonderful staff, and a great local crew. By the time I arrived on Friday afternoon, our touring crew was pretty much done load in, so I helped out where I could, mapping out dressing room signage, and prepping the space for the casts arrival.
We got our very first on the road sound check, all 15 minutes of it, and then it was the cast's 1/2 hour call. On the road you almost never get a lot of extra time to prep for a show...it's just a fact of life, and we all have to work within our limitations, while striving to deliver the absolute best possible show to each and every audience.
Our Opening Night performance had it's share of minor technical bumps and hiccups, but the cast were on fire! The zeal and energy that they bring to this show every night truly is inspiring, and the audience loved it. We received an immediate standing ovation for the curtain call.
Post show our producers had arranged an after party for us at a local pub, and I can guarantee that a good time was had by all.
Saturday was a double show day, and I took the time to explore the Yale Campus between shows. What an incredible experience! The campus is simply breath taking, and I wish I had had more time to explore all of the nooks and cranny's of this stunning educational institution.
It really was something worth seeing. I also hit the campus bookstore and picked up a wicked new Yale sweater that immediately makes me look smarter :)
Here's a few of the photo's I snapped of the campus, they hardly do it justice!
I have also started uploading some of my tour shots to my Facebook Photo Album, which is a tradition I started the last time I went out on the road - They should be accessible under the Godspell Tour Album. Enjoy!
Tomorrow we perform our final matinee here in New Haven, before rolling out for our next destination - Fredericton New Brunswick. Check back in a few days for another update!
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