We Survived Hell Week!

This week was all about numbers: 9 shows, 7 venues, 9 days, 5 states, 20 hours on the bus. Welcome to touring. One-off performances, where you load in, do a show, or sometimes two, and then load out the same night, take an undeniable toll on your body, and your mind. This week it got real. It was a whirlwind. This is what I remember touring being like. I am not going to bore you with a list of where we were, or what the theaters were like, in fact I couldn't if I wanted to at this point. The entire week is already a hazy indistinct blur of scattered images of calling the show, riding the tour bus, vague hotel rooms, only to lather, rinse and repeat the entire process again, and again, and again. What I can tell you, is that the show is in good shape, the audiences are loving it, and the cast are in good spirits. Oh, don't get me wrong. We are all exhausted, but we have all more or less learned to adapt to make the most of the creature comforts that we have. For the cast, learning to sleep on the bus during our long drives has become a marketable skill. Personally, I prefer to take advantage of the quiet time created by everyone else's naps to focus on the administrative paperwork that goes with being a touring Stage Manager. If I can be done my reports, logs, and emails by our morning rest stop, the rest of the ride is suddenly mine, to curl up with the latest Chuck Palaniuk novel, shoot douche waffles on my PS Vita, text with all the folks at home or otherwise relax and unwind until we arrive at the next venue.

It really is the little things that bring you comfort during a week like this that make all the difference in the world. Things like Venti Mocha Frappachino's, bus jeans, comfy hoodies, Skype, Netflix, clean laundry, a bottle of JD in your suitcase, all serve a very important purpose. The small pleasures that they bring make you forget how tired you are in the moment and focus on what is going right, right now. Yes, we spend all day on a tour bus, and we wake up in a new hotel room all most every day, but we are never bored, and this company is never unhappy. They have figured out that as long as you can control the little things in life that matter to you, you can get through anything with a smile on your face. Add all that to the fact that each and every one of us is out here doing what we love, and it becomes a pretty incredible experience.

We have been a little spoiled up to this point, with two or three day sit downs at every venue. We have had the opportunity to explore, and to get to see the sights in the cities we've played. That was not the case with hell week. All there was time for every day was literally: Get up, get on the bus, arrive, do a show, drink a pint, fall asleep, depart for the next city. The end. But all of our hard work is now paying off. As I write this post we are on the bus headed to Pittsburgh, where we have the night off, on route to Saint Louis. Our next show is Friday night...4 days from now. 4 days of rest and relaxation between shows. Almost unheard of in this industry. Our only responsibility is to be on the bus on time each day so that we can continue our journey. Heaven.
Until next time!
Check back soon for more updates.

Oh, Canada! Godspell hits the East Coast of the Great White North.

The journey continues...when we last left our heroes, they had one final matinee to perform in New Haven Connecticut, before moving on to our first Canadian stops of the tour. 
The matinee was a success, and from what I have been told by the crew, their first load-out was relatively painless.  We were also asked to sign the wall at the historic Shubert Theatre, a tradition that I have seen a few times at various venues on the road.  Kudos to Charles for finger painting us a great piece of signage, that will now become part of the legacy of the Shubert.  At this point our Crew also moved off of our coach bus onto their sweet Rock Star sleeper bus, their new traveling home away from home.

After the show and dinner in New Haven,  the cast and band piled onto the coach for what I think was an amazing night drive up to Portsmouth New Hampshire, our stopping point before crossing back into Canada.  Now, I can't speak for everyone, but I had a wicked time on this bus ride because I snagged one of the rear "lounge" spots for the ride: to clarify, we have removed some seats from the coach, and at the very back we have two sets of seats that have been turned 180 degrees, and installed collapsible tables to form what I loving refer to as "the lounges".  They are perfect spots for someone to work on lines, write show reports, have a group card game, or just stretch out.

 Initially I set up my laptop to write my matinee show reports and then once they were sent, I settled in and relaxed for what was one of my favourite rides thus far of any tour.  I watched about 6 episodes of Parks and Rec, and then when that got old, just set my music collection to shuffle and watched the world flow by.  It was a very Zen happy little bubble.

Upon arrival at our hotel most people promptly made their way to our very first hot tub of the tour! Any hotel with a hot tub and a pool is always a hit after a long day on a tour bus.

The next day we had a full day of travel to Fredericton New Brunswick, where we had the evening off.  Our company manager and I promptly found a great spot to have a wonderful meal in town.  Brewbaker's was magnificent.
Our two  shows in Fredericton at The Playhouse were well received, and I met some great people on the local crew who are friends of friends that work out here fairly regularly.  We swapped a few war stories and shared some laughs.  It was a not so subtle reminder of exactly how small this industry really is.

After our Wednesday evening show, the touring company organized an impromptu pre-Halloween party in one of the banquet rooms of our hotel.  Hilarity ensued, and I don't know that many people got much sleep.

We also had the next day (which coincidently, happened to be Halloween) off in Fredericton, so many of us took the opportunity to see the sights, sample the local micro brews, and experience some of the local culture.

 I explored the banks of the St. John River, following a great hiking trail along the shore of the downtown core, before staring a little pub crawl, and eventually having another fantastic meal, this time at The Blue Door.  Some of the cast caught an evening movie at the mall by our hotel, but I opted for something a little more daring and caught the opening night performance of a local community theatre groups production of Evil Dead: The Musical.  My thoughts on this production are also available here in a previous post.

Friday we had a leisurely 90 minute ride down the highway to our next stop: St. John New Brunswick - NOT to be confused with St. John's Newfoundland - Ivan.  

The Imperial Theatre here in St. John is a beautiful space that celebrated its centennial this year.  A gorgeous venue with another fantastic local crew, both of our shows here went off without a hitch.  Many of us took advantage of our free time in town to take in the local attractions, like the famous -  if wildly misnamed - reversing falls, the local brew pubs (Like the High Tide and The St. John Ale House), and many of us decided to do the Maritimes right and had a big Lobster & seafood dinner at Steamers Lobster Company down by the Wharf.  Dinner was a huge, butter smeared, success.

Tomorrow we bid farewell to Atlantic Canada, as we continue our journey back into the US with a matinee performance in Orono, Maine. 

Tomorrow also marks the beginning of what I have come to think of as our first hell week - 7 different venues in 8 days.  I am sure we will all come out the other side unscathed, but it will be a shock to the system after such a smooth, sedate first few stops.

Check back soon for more updates!