Day Off - 1/29/06

Fairmont, VA - Upon waking up this morning, the sound of rain pattering off the roof combined with the grey light struggling to peek through the blinds meant I had a tough decision to make. Should I go out on the field trip arranged by some of the theatre students to a local state park for hiking and sightseeing? Or should I play it safe, nurse my aching and dripping sinuses, and stay in bed for another hour? Well, the fact that I am writing this at the moment already tells you what decision I made. I wussed out and decided to linger in bed that extra hour. It's a bit disappointing, since I really enjoy hiking and wanted to get somewhere off campus before I left Fairmont, and the last four days have really been sunny and relatively warm. But I felt I couldn't take the risk to go out in damp 40-degree weather. I've really not the gear for it, and I can't risk catching another cold. So, having already poured and downed the cup of coffee that I saved in my thermos from yesterday (still a bit warm!), I decided to spend this hour before the Falcon Center opens for breakfast writing in the blog and catching you up with the rest of the week. Always thinking of my reader(s).

We've completed our set of evening performances, and I must say that the audience response has been incredibly effusive. We're a big hit in Fairmont. The Thursday night performance of Planet was greeted with much laughter and enjoyment. Greg's William Shatner imitations brought down the house. But it was a funny show in some respects plagued with these little troubles: Alyssa's first dress had a busted zipper, so she had to wear Jessica's dress from MA; Greg's uniform pants split right up the crotch during my first entrance and song, and when I finished the number he was gone from the stage, so we all had to do a little ad-libbing until he returned in jeans and his leather jacket over his uniform top; I forgot my X-Factor bottle and so had to empty a pill vial backstage as a substitute. Stuff like that. Richard III was greeted with attentive seriousness. I believe they liked Andrew's weird humor in his characterization, and it was a good audience in that the lanuage held their attention.Much Ado was greeted with a storm of audience laughter and enthusiasm that was off the charts. We had to hold for laughter so many times in Much Ado that I think we added maybe 10 minutes or more to the running time. We also got a late start because the line to get in and see the show was out the building. The house was sold out. They told me backstage after the gulling scene with Benedick that it took me 90 seconds to get out the line "My Lord, will you walk?" which concludes the scene. Tyler had ended up in the audience with his butt sticking up in the air over a row of seats, and Daniel, Greg and I lost it on stage, me most of all , I guess. I made one attempt to get the final line out, but the audience just continued to laugh at the sight of Tyler in the air like that. Just about every funny line in the play was greeted with gales of laughter. It was almost surreal. And when we got to the wedding scene and the rejection of Hero, you could hear a pin drop. It was quite a way to wrap up three nights of performances. On top of that, last night Jessica and I (with Alyssa's help) sold $617.00 worth of merchandise, which I believe has to be an all-time record for a single night's sales on any tour. The two autographed copied of the Arden MA scripts went, we are out of small tour T-shirts, mugs, etc. When we packed up our merch bins the amount of room now in the was surprising. So all in all, I think we have made quite an impression in Fairmont, and I'm sure the company will be visiting here again. The people were wonderful: Rhonda, our contact, was phenomenal, the theatre is a great space in which to perform, the theatre staff and students were helpful in every way, the college president and his wife came to see all three shows (when has that ever happened on any of our tour stops?), and the audiences were super. Given the right sort of cultivation, this stop could become as much of a "rock star" stop as Shreveport or St. Lawrence University. All they have to do is give us better accommodations and life here for a week would be outstanding. Nice job, Fairmont!

Life apart from the shows has been at times relaxing and at times boring. The Nashville group (Chris, Greg, Alyssa Jessica and myself) had a rehearsal Friday for our gig which went very well. I still have some work to do on learning "Go Now" but I think we sound very good. Other than that it's pretty much about sitting in the Falcon Center, chilling, surfing the web, some workshops, eating, working out. After a treadmill session I walked the campus yesterday (sunny and 56 degrees) and took some shots around the campus, which you can see on my Flickr Photo page (you can also click the badge on the sidebar). I also converted some movies which I'll put up on the movie page probably sometime later today. Today is the company day off, and there's not much to do again other than getting my laundry done this afternoon and packing up. We are leaving early tomorrow morning - 6:00 AM - so as to get into Chicago by maybe 5:00 PM and have an evening in the Windy CIty. We have a very quick gig in Chicago, and then off to Iowa and Minnesota (Fairmont, MN in fact!). Please, powers that be, let it not be snowing up in MN.

And finally, before I forget, I'd like to thank all those Fredonia alum who wrote to me following Eddie's Fish Night. I've gotten a lot of pictures and some email messages from you all which I am going to respond to very soon. I see from some of the pictures that my image was scattered throughout the party. Leave it to Eddie Schneller to think of a somewhat excessive but very touching and loving way to get my presence into the party. Thanks, Ed - and thanks to all who who wrote and those who attended that made it a special night for all. I am sure Tim had as wonderful a time as the rest of you. -TWL