(60) THE END!!!

Thursday, April 23^rd: Eric and I left the hotel at 6:30am to finish up load in at the venue. The light board hadn’t taken any light cues so Eric had to go in and write about 30 cues out of the normal 170 cues. The rest of the company arrived at 8:00am. We had our LAST TWO SHOWS at 9:30am(117) and 11:30am(118). We had to be out of the theater by 2:00pm so we burned through load out and were out in 44 minutes(we think it was record time) at 1:18pm. Jill and I hopped in the truck and took off for the 306 mile drive(19,895 total miles) to Lexington, Kentucky. When we arrived, I immediately turned around and left with Carolyn, Eric, Jamie, Jonny, Rudy and Scott to go to Todd’s Karaoke Bar in Lexington, KY for one last night of fun. I sang “A Murder of One” by Counting Crows and then Jonny, Scott and I got up and san “I Want It That Way” by the Backstreet Boys. Everyone had a lot of fun and we were home by 1:00am.

Friday, April 24^th: My alarm clock was set to go off at 6:00am but I was suddenly awakened at 5:52am I got a phone call from Eric. The truck warning lights were going off, the truck was shutting itself down again, and he wanted to know where the bottle of anti-freeze was. I told him where the anti-freeze was and then threw on some pants and went down to the truck to make sure everything was ok. The rest of the drive was pretty normal. I was in the Red Van so I navigated for Dave a bit and then slept in the back a bit and then navigated for Caroline as we drove back into DC and to the Kennedy Center. The White Van got there a little bit ahead of us and was having a dance party on the sidewalk. When everyone got out of the Red Van, the White Van attacked us with silly string and made a mess everywhere! After we took our stuff back to the hotel, the Tech Crew and Scott went down to the 600 Restaurant for a cocktail dinner and debriefing with DK. Later that night, we met up with Michelle, who is the Lighting Director for the other tour, and went over to the 51^st State, which is a bar next to the hotel.

Saturday, April 25^th: The Tech Crew met at the Kennedy Center and took everything out of the truck to be packed or thrown away. Eric and I did quite a number on some of the panels when we tossed them into the dumpster. Eric also took apart and destroyed the tollbooth while I did some work on the bed. It was quite a stress reliever to break everything apart, but also a bit sad because of the number of times I’ve handled all the pieces. We had lunch at Cup’a Cup’a and then went back to the KC to finish everything off. We calculated how far we had driven the truck, from city to city and venue to hotel. On the first leg we drove 5,600 miles. The second leg was 16,392 miles. The total mileage was 21,992 miles. That’s like driving from one coast to the other coast 7+ times. We had another debriefing with Paige that went pretty well and then took the truck back to the rental shop. That night, Jill, with Caroline’s help, made a fantastic lasagna dinner. We hung out for quite a bit and then I called it a night.

And here ends the Kennedy Center On The Road again Blog. I’ll leave everything up for a while so that you can read any blogs that you missed or look at pictures from the tour. I hope you’ve all enjoyed reading about my exploits as much as I’ve enjoyed running around the country!

(59) Oklahoma City, OK

Sunday, April 19th: Eric and I drove 179 miles(18,975 total miles) to Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. We had a load in that night at Putnam City North High School. Rudy had been to this venue the year before and we had a pretty good idea that it was going to be all high school students and a bad Teacher. All of the performers are also considered Assistant Stage Managers so we can call them for to work load ins/outs which we never do, but did for this venue. They were all fantastic as well. We would not have been able to do the load in without them. The high school students were willing, but we really needed some smart responsible people as well. The equipment was pretty shotty as well, which meant I did a lot of running around so that I was in places to act as a safety control. The venue Technical Director wasn’t completely useless, but he was pretty bad. The cast Caroline and Jill went back to the hotel around 7:30pm and Eric, Rudy and I ended around 9:15pm and went back to the hotel. I went to my room and immediately started listening to the Sharks vs Ducks game on my computer until Eric texted me that they were watching it at the bar near the hotel. I ran over to the bar and watched the rest of the game with Eric and Rudy at the bar. The Sharks ended up losing, which put them down 2-0 in the seven game series!

Monday, April 20th: We had two shows this morning a 10:00am(113) and 12:30pm(114). We had a few microphone issues but Jill and I took care of them as per normal. Towards the end of the second show, all of the power in the entire high school went out. We had to stop the show until the lights came back on. That was one of the most exciting things that has happened on tour and everyone took it in stride like professionals. Back at the hotel, I slept the afternoon away and then walked over to the same bar as the night before to watch two more Hockey Playoff games. The server I had was very nice, but kinda started to hit on my until I mentioned I had a girlfriend. I sat at the bar for a couple of hours and then headed back to the hotel for the night.

Tuesday, April 21st: We had two more shows at 10:00am(115) and 12:30pm(116). There were even more microphone. On top of those, we also had some shoe lace issues. Jamie broke the shoe laces on her boots and Jill did some amazing mid-show relacing. We were all pretty strung out from performing in this venue so strike went very fast and we were on our way. Eric, Rudy and I packed into the truck and started our drive to Joplin, Missouri. Everyone had been invited to a cocktail party at one of the big donor’s house where there were other big donors, politicians and educators. Eric, Rudy and I had to start on our drive to Paducah, Kentucky so we weren’t able to join them. The drive was pretty good, but three people in the truck makes for some cramped legs. We did the 222 mile (19,197 total miles) drive to Joplin in good time.

Wednesday, April 22nd: We completed the 392 miles (19,589 total miles) drive to Calvert City, Kentucky, which is about 17 miles East of Paducah. When we got to the hotel, we learned that our rooms were smoking rooms. They weren’t horrible, but it definitely gave me a bit of a head ache. The rest of the company arrived around 7:45pm from Oklahoma City on their 600+ mile drive. At 9:00pm, Eric, Rudy and I piled back into the truck to head down to the Luther F. Carson Four Rivers Performing Arts Center. These were the shows that got iced out back in January which were rescheduled in the middle of the huge Quilting Convention going on in Paducah right now. We were basically jammed into the theater’s schedule which is why we had to wait until 9:30pm to load in. Jill and Caroline came as soon as they had gotten into their room and eaten. Everyone rushed through their stuff because we also had to be out of the theater by 12:00midnight. Jill and Caroline were done by just after 11:00pm so they left. Eric, Rudy and I finished up just after 12:00midnight and headed back in the truck. We got a little lost but were back at the hotel by 12:45pm.

(58) Kirtland, NM and Shamrock, TX

Wednesday, April 15^th: Eric and I drove 195 miles(18,228 total miles) to Kirtland, NM which is in the far North West corner of the state. Most of what we drove through was different Indian tribe reservations. We loaded in at the Brooks/Isham Performing Arts Center which was a little difficult but not horrible. They fed us pizza during load in which was a great treat. I was going to take the truck at some point to put gas in it, but had a slip of sanity and let Jill and Caroline take the truck to get filled up. The loading area was a little hard for me to get the truck into, but when they returned, Jill did an excellent job backing the truck into the loading area. It was very exciting to see how far Jill has come in driving the truck. I remember the first time she rode with me, she was freaked out, and now she can back the truck into a loading area. The rest of load in went well and we left early to head back to the hotel.

Thursday, April 16^th: We had a 1:00pm(111) show that was pretty packed. We had high school students for our crews who weren’t the brightest. This caused Jill to have to run around quite a bit to keep them in line with all the costume changes. I stayed at the venue in the afternoon where I took a nap and read a bit. The rest of the company came back around 5:00pm because the venue had a home cooked meal for us. It was the nicest meal we’ve had a venue! We had chicken parmigianoa, pasta alfredo, rolls, salad and cake. Two of the local crew were leaving for other jobs and school so the cake was a goodbye cake for them. It was all very good and a complete change from anything that we’ve had for hospitality. We had a 7:00pm(112) show where we had a few microphone issues. Jill and I have decided that we should do surgery together because we work very well in close quarters and complement each other abilities. Load out went ok even though Jill got poked in the eye by one of the high school students. She did not have a good day to say the least. Back at the hotel, I got on my computer and listened to the last period of the Ducks vs Sharks playoff game. It was really disappointing to listen to because the Sharks sounded horrible and ended up losing the game 2-0. The Sharks have a history of chocking in the playoffs, but everyone thinks that this year is the year to break that streak because they won the President’s Cup, which is the award for the team with the best record in all the NHL. Luckily this was only game 1 and it’s a best of 7 series.

Friday, April 17^th: I was in the White Van for the drive to Shamrock, Texas. After we made our first pit stop, Jill and I did surgery on Carolyn in the back of the van. Carolyn’s just starting to get over a bad sinus infection and wanted us to put hydrogen peroxide in her left ear to help clear it out. Jonny suggested a straw, so we found one while Carolyn layed out a pillow and towels to put her head on. Jill put napkins around her ear and I slowly poured hydrogen peroxide in. This just proved once more that Jill and I should do surgery together. The rest of the drive went great and we were back in Central time.

Saturday, April 18^th: I went to grocery store with Caroline and Lindsay in the morning. Just to show how small Shamrock is, this was one of the main grocery stores and it was ½ grocery, ½ Ace Hardware store. We felt very out of place. We had a marathon of “Lost” episodes today! We decided that we wanted to finish the second season and had 8 episodes left. We ended up watching 9 episodes because a few people were behind on the episode watching. We started at 11am and watched 3 episodes. Then we took a hour or so break and started again at 5pm and watched 3 more episodes. Finally, we came back at 8pm, after a nice long dinner break, and watched the last three episodes. It was pretty crazy, but a lot of fun and a good way to waste a day in Shamrock!

(57) Flagstaff, AZ and Albuquerque, NM

Saturday, April 11th: Rudy and I drove 495 miles (17,701 total miles) to Flagstaff, Arizona. It was a pretty hilly drive and we passed through some beautiful parts of California. One of places we passed through was Tahachapi, which is where Michelle’s Brother’s Girlfriend, named Brandy, is from. As we passed in Arizona and started to hit the higher elevations, we caught some falling snow! It was cold enough for it to accumulate on the ground as well. That night Carolyn, Eric, Jamie, Jonny, Scott and I went to a restaurant called Black Bart’s. It’s a steak house where the servers also sing show tunes and standards. They had a small stage with a piano and the servers would randomly hop up and sing a song. Our server and drink girl did a couple of songs including a duet from “Wicked.” The drink girl was looking at going to graduate school for Musical Theater so we talked to her about school we thought were good. We were gawked at a bit when they found out that we were on a national tour with the Kennedy Center. We had some great food and a lot of fun.

Sunday, April 12th: Rudy planned an Easter Egg hunt for everyone in the breakfast area of the hotel. Just after noon, we met downstairs and ran around the breakfast area searching for eggs. Each egg had a quote from someone in the cast and a piece of paper corresponding to a piece of candy. The competition to find the eggs was intense but very fun. The rest of the day I spent relaxing and catching up on pictures and paperwork and things like that. Caroline, Jeffery and I went back to Black Bart’s for dinner, even though it wasn’t as entertaining.

Monday, April 13th: Eric and I drove 332 miles (18,033 total miles) to Albuquerque, NM. I got lunch at the Applebee’s next door and then made some phone calls. We had load in that night at Popejoy Hall on the campus of the University of New Mexico. Load in went very well and Caroline and Jill ended up leaving early. We had a small scare with the light board at the end of the night but it was all worked by the time we left at 10:00pm.

Tuesday, April 14th: We had two shows at 10:30am(109) and 12:15pm(110). They did a short questions and answer session after the second show before we started load out. The load out went well and we were back at the hotel by early afternoon. We had our last tech crew meeting in the lobby. I bought everyone key chain compass/thermometers as an end of tour gift. They let me lead them all over the country for the last 6 months so I gave them something to help guide them when I’m gone! That night, Carolyn, Dave, Eric and I watched a couple of episodes of “Lost.”

(56) Stockton, California

Monday, April 6^th: Rudy and I hopped in the truck and drove 264 miles(16,956 total miles) to Stockton, California. When we got to the hotel, a group of us immediately drove down to the nearest Chipotle and Jamba Juice for some food. We had a load in that night at the Faye Spanos Concert Hall. We already knew this was going to be an interesting load in because this was one of our hardest venues. Load in started fine and we were making due with all the difficulties. A couple hours in, we were bringing in a pipe to hang our drop on when it got caught on another pipe. When it came loose, it fell down and hit the top of my head knocking me over and giving me a very mild concussion. This is what I’ve been told happened, because I don’t remember any of it. Caroline then took me to the hospital where they took X-rays and did some tests. I very vaguely remember riding to the hospital, but I don’t remember what Caroline or I said. I don’t remember going into the hospital, but after being there for a bit, I started to remember where I was and with the help of Caroline remember what had been going on before I was hit on the head. I still don’t remember what happened right before or after I was hit. We spent some time at the hospital and they told me that my head was fine but that the muscles in my neck had been overstressed. They gave me some muscle relaxers and Ibuprofen there and then a prescription for it as well. After we left the hotel, I called Michelle, because she was planning on coming to Stockton the next morning to stay with me. Once I told her what happened, she got in her car and drove out that night to be with me. The doctor said that I needed to be watched for the first 12 hours. When we got back to the hotel, Carolyn, Eric and Rudy came over to hang out with me until Michelle arrived. Michelle got there in record time and I could not have been more happy to see her.

Tuesday, April 7^th-Thursday, April 9^th: The next couple of days blended together. Especially Tuesday and Wednesday. Michelle and I went to get the prescription and then spent the rest of Tuesday relaxing. Wednesday was similar, but I was feeling well enough to go see the show. We went to the grocery store and then headed back to the hotel. By the end of Wednesday I was feeling about 85% ok. Up until then, I had felt a little bit like I was in a daze. That night for dinner we went out to California Pizza Kitchen. Thursday morning, I got dressed and went to work the show. I was very proud of everyone for the work they had done in my absence but we were all happy that I was back working the show. That afternoon, Michelle and I watched the Giants baseball game in the hotel and then went to dinner at Roundtable Pizza. We came back to the hotel and watched the Sharks hockey game and then headed to bed.

Friday, April 10^th: It had been a great week with Michelle, but it was time for us to head to our next city. I was very sad to see her go, but I also knew that I’d be back in San Jose in just 17 days. We had two more shows that morning, at 9:30am(107) and 11:30am(108) which capped off the 8 scheduled shows in Stockton. Load out went well and we were on our 250 mile(17,206 total miles) drive to Bakersfield, CA. That night, Carolyn, Dave, Rudy and I watched a couple episodes of “Lost” and then we headed to bed.

(55) Glendora, La Mirada

Saturday, April 4^th: We had a put in rehearsal for Jamie this morning. It went very well especially because she had been at the original rehearsals in September and had a good idea of the flow of the show. It was also fun because I got to run some of the fly cues for the show which was a fun change from the norm. The tech crew went to lunch at Subway where we got stuck behind a couple of people ordering 10 or 12 sandwiches. It was a little ridiculous, but the Subway people were really fast and got them in and out. We were annoyed so we were complaining out loud. The two or three people behind also got 4 or 5 sandwiches each as well! There was a track meet going on at the college which, so they must have been buying food for their teams. We had a 1:30pm(97) and 3:30pm(98) show and then loaded up and drove to La Mirada, CA. We stayed at the same hotel that we were in about 6 days ago when we performed in Cerritos because those two cities are right next to each other. That night, most of the company went out to the Elephant Bar to have dinner with Margo because it was her last night with the company.

Sunday, April 5^th: We had a 6:30am load in at the La Mirada Theater. I woke up just before 4:15am for no reason and soon after, my alarm went off. It had been set for 5:15am but had sprung itself forward(because this was when Daylight Savings use to start!) I reset my clock to the right time and laid back down. At some point I fell asleep and woke up at 5:55am, just 5 minutes before we were suppose to leave the hotel! Apparently, when I reset my clock, I had NOT reset my alarm! I jumped out of bed and immediately sent Eric a text message before frantically packing my stuff and running out the door. Luckily, we had only been in the hotel one night and I hadn’t taken much out of my bags. We drove to the venue and were still a bit early. The venue was very nice and we had a good load in. Eric and I had lunch at a bagel place in the shopping center where the theater was located. We then walked over to Albertsons to buy some cupcakes for our 100^th show that afternoon! We had a 1:30pm(99) and 3:30pm(100) shows. The Director of the Theater gave curtain speeches that were the most exciting we had ever heard. He even announced that it was our 100^th show. Load out went well and we packed into the vans to drive up to Grapevine, CA which is just North of Los Angeles. I rode in the White Van and had a good conversation with Jill about what she should do with her life. It was very exiciting to come down out of the mountains just North of Los Angeles because this is a drive I’ve made so many times before. We made it to the Best Western and I called Michelle to tell her I was on my way to Stockton!