OHHHH! Oklahoma!

We made our way across the states from West Virginia all the way to Tulsa, Oklahoma.  My favorite conversation that first day came as we were attempting to repaint our fish puppets in hurricane level winds: I noted that Oklahoma was a freakishly windy place.  Our Cat, Prescott, wanted to know why and being the know-it-most that I am ;-D I explained that it's geographically flat so the wind just comes sweeping down the plains....aha AHA!  OK, if you didn't get the Rogers and Hammerstein reference there, we are no longer friends...well, I was amused and I'm the one in musical theatre so I suppose that's all that matters. ;-)

Tulsa was our first big city and we all really enjoyed it actually.  Mychal and I have made it our mission to experience as much of the vibe of each city as possible and thereby avoid hanging out at chain restaurants and Wal-mart- which for some reason have an unnatural amount of pull with our cast mates.  We are making some progress, however, and were delighted to find an amazing wine bar and bistro our first night in town and a cool local hot spot for bars and restaurants.  

Hold please (Sunday shout out), may I just take a moment to marvel at the cost of living here and how AWESOME it is that one can buy a pitcher of beer for 8 dollars!!!! WHAT?!  That's how much ONE beer costs in New York!  Per diem goes a whole lot longer in the middle of the country, so yay for that!

Anywho, we had a delightful time in Tulsa- the people were amazing, our theatre space was wonderful, and even the mall was surprisingly great (although we all- and especially Denise- found the lack of a bookstore a bit odd...maybe Joe Sixpack doesn't read ;-)!

Oklahoma was great save the fact that everyone got sick because of the pollen count and the mold infestation in our hotel so by the fourth day we were certainly ready to head out to bigger and better things.  Luckily enough the next stop on our trip was the land of bigger and better: Texas!

When and Where: Tour Dates and Cities

Hey Ya'll (I'm in Texas)-

So a few people have requested my itinerary (the better to stalk me with), so I thought the smartest and most efficient thing to do would be to write it in a blog so people can always access it.  Here goes:

Oct 8: Crockett, Texas 

9:30 AM & 12:30 PM Shows at Crockett Civic Center

Oct 9 & 10: College Station, Texas

10:00 AM & 12:45 PM Shows both days at Rudder Theatre @ Texas A&M

Oct 11: DAY OFF IN AUSTIN, TEXAS!!  Woohoo!

Oct 12: Austin, Texas

2:00 & 4:30 PM Shows at Paramount Theatre

Oct 14 & 15: Waco, Texas

10:00 AM, 1:00 PM Shows at Waco Hippodrome Theatre

7:00 PM Show on Oct 15 only at Waco Hippodrome Theatre

Oct 17: Texarkana, Texas

9:30 AM & 12:30 PM Shows at The Perot Theatre

Oct 19: College Station, Texas

2:00 & 4:30 PM Shows at Texas A&M's Rudder Theatre

Oct 21: Baton Rouge, Louisiana

10:30 AM & 7:00 PM Shows at Manship Theatre

Oct 22: Baton Rouge, Louisiana

9:30 AM & 11:30 AM Shows at Manship Theatre

Oct 24: Paducah, Kentucky

9:30 & 11:30 AM Shows at Luther F Carson Four RI

Oct 26: Raleigh, North Carolina

3:00 PM Show at Stewart Theatre

Oct 27: Raleigh, North Carolina

10:00 AM & 12:00 PM Shows at Stewart Theatre

That's all I have for now.  We get back to NYC on December 14th so obviously there are a lot of dates not accounted for yet- I will add them in as I get them!

In the meantime, if you're anywhere near the Bible Belt, I'd love to see you!

Much love from Crockett (home of Davey- and the ancestral home of my roommate Emily Crockett ;-)

OK!  I FINALLY have the rest of the dates for anyone who's interested!  

Hope everyone had a Spooooooky Halloween!

Oct 28: Lexington, North Carolina

7:00 PM show at Edward C Smith Civic Center

Nov 1: Hamlet, North Carolina

4:00 & 7:00 PM shows at Cole Auditorium

Nov 3: Chattanooga, Tennessee

9:45 & 11:45 AM shows at Memorial Auditorium

Nov 5: Winston-Salem, North Carolina

9:45 & 11:45 AM shows at Kenneth R. Auditorium

Nov 6: Fayetteville, North Carolina

9:45 & 11:45 AM shows at The Crown Theatre

Nov 7: Portsmouth, Virginia

9:45 & 11:45 AM shows at Willet Hall

Nov 10: Greensboro, North Carolina

9:45 & 11:45 AM shows at War Memorial Auditorium

Nov 12: Columbia, South Carolina

9:45 & 11:45 AM shows at Koger Center at USC (but not the REAL or the AWESOME USC)

Nov 13: Charlotte, North Carolina

9:45 & 11:45 AM shows at Ovens Auditorium

Nov 14: Greenville, South Carolina

9:45 & 11:45 AM shows at Furman University's McAlister Auditorium

Nov 17: Jacksonville, Florida

10:00 AM & 12:00 PM shows at Florida Theatre

Nov 18: Leesburg, Georgia

10:30 AM & 1:00 PM shows at Lee County High School

Nov 19: Madison, Georgia

10:00 AM & 1:00 PM shows at Madison-Morgan Cultural Center

Nov 21: Columbus, Georgia

9:30 & 11:30 AM, & 7:00 PM shows at River Center

Nov 23: Tampa, Florida

2:00 & 4:00 PM shows at Ferguson Hall

Nov 24: Tampa, Florida

10:30 AM shows at Tampa Theatre

Dec 1: Sarasota, Florida

10:00 & 11:45 AM shows at Van Wezel P.A.C.

Dec 2: Fort Lauderdale, Florida

9:45 & 11:30 AM shows at War Memorial Auditorium

Dec 3: Coral Springs, Florida

9:45 & 11:30 AM shows at Coral Springs City Center

Dec 5: Avon Park, Florida

9:30 & 11:30 AM shows at South Florida Community College

Dec 6: Sunrise, Florida

2:00 PM show at Sunrise Civic Center Theatre

Dec 10: Daytona Beach, Florida

10:00 AM show at Peabody Auditorium

Dec 11: Melbourne, Florida

10:00 & 11:45 AM shows at King Center for the Performing Arts

Dec 14: New York, New York!!!!! 

YAY!! Home Sweet Home!!

Yessss!! I have A fan!

...so what if it's my mom.  I'm still cool...shut up. ;-)

Adventures in Pillow-napping

You might have thought, as you read the title to this post, that I was referring to the large amount of napping which takes place whilst driving through such exotic states as Kentucky and Indiana.  But you'd be wrong.  True, the soporific effects of reading about the history of al Quaeda while in a moving vehicle are undeniable, but they are not what I was alluding to.  

In fact, I speak of a much more sinister development....Pillow Envy.  That's right, I said pillow envy.  My roommate, Mychal, has developed what we shall call an unhealthy level of infatuation with my pillow.  To be sure, it's a pretty nice pillow: allergen free, down alternative, supple but cushy and all within a luxurious, 6 million count, Egyptian cotton pillow case.  Not too shabby.  Which is why I elected to bring it with me on tour.  Lots of time spent in the van combined with lots of time spent in Super 8 hotels (jealous?), equals Sara making a good call to ensure her head and neck comfort.  

Unfortunately, I failed to enter into the equation a roommate who will stop at nothing to get her hands on my trusty pillow.  

The first night, Mychal "accidentally" thought that my pillow was one of the hotel pillows...despite the fact that my pillowcase is yellow, while everyone knows that all hotel pillows are white...I'm just saying.  However, I'll allow that the first night may have been unintentional (she does, after all, wear a super sexy eye mask which could have blinded her..or something).  All I know is that I came out of the shower looking forward to cuddling up with my pillow, only to find that it was missing- hidden beneath the head of my roommate.  Not wanting to wake her, and assuming an accident, I let it go.  

This was my first mistake.  

While I was attempting to "be generous" by letting her use the pillow for one night, I didn't count on the effects a whole night with my pillow might have on Mychal.  Now that she'd had a taste, she would continually want more.  Night two of the tour, I guarded my pillow well, only to be shockingly awoken in the morning by having the pillow yanked violently from under my head.  Night three resulted in an tug of war before bed because Mychal had stolen the pillow and was refusing to relinquish it.  And last night the action peaked as covert tactics were finally employed.

I reentered the room having been on the phone with my mom (like a good daughter), and like a good roommate, I was trying to be as quiet and courteous as possible by tiptoeing around the hotel room by the light of my cell phone (you know, you've all done it).  After removing miscellaneous things from the bed I was just ready to get in when I picked up my pillow- or I should say, what appeared to be my pillow.  It felt oddly stiff.  It seemed unnaturally square.  But perhaps I was hallucinating, or perhaps I had mistakenly picked up, my other roommate, Emily's pillow.  Again, not wanting to wake the roommates, I tiptoed over to my recently plugged in cell phone with the pillow for further examination.  It was indeed my pillowcase, but it seemed that someone had removed the pillow from within and replaced it with a crap-ass hotel pillow.  Hmmm...who could the culprit be.  

Removing my cell phone from it's charger and using it as a flashlight, I investigated the pillow upon which Mychal's snoring head now rested.  It was curiously like my pillow, nay, not like- it WAS my pillow.  

"That whore!," I thought.  *

Well, there's a time for generosity and a time for tough love- this I felt was clearly a time when all's fair in pillow war!!  Well, I held myself back a tiny bit.  Instead of yanking the pillow out from under her like a magician yanking a tablecloth out from under a table top loaded with a gourmet meal, I decided to see if I could gently pull the pillow out without waking Mychal (thus avoiding any guilt for waking her on my end, and any retaliation on her end).  I'm relieved to say that I was successful, although considering the amount of laughter that ensued from the apparently awake and highly amused Emily, I'm not sure that Mychal's sleeping through the pillow removal can be credited to my gentleness as much as some level of narcolepsy on her part.  

Well, here we are- night 6- and I write to you from the bed of a Days Inn in O'Fallon, Illinois.  Tomahawk Starfish aka Mychal Phillips, is sleeping peacefully in the bed next to me.  Where is my pillow?  Oh don't you worry, it's safe.  Neatly hidden between the bed and the nightstand.  Safe.  For now.  But I don't kid myself.  It's not over.  But for now, I'm winning- I've got the pillow, and that's all that matters.  B>)

*Those of you who know me should note that I only call people "whores" who are as far removed from people who could actually be considered whorish as possible, thus allowing the insult a sense of irony.  No offense is intended.  

Opening N*ght Sh*t Sh*w

Hey Ya'll!  

Being on the road is AMAZING!  Fall foliage is  just starting and it makes our drives ever the more lovely and scenic in Blueberry Surprise (our awesome and extremely dirty 10 passenger van).  West Virginia has been...ummm, Wild and Wonderful?  (mad lib answer for WV which is in actuality their state motto).  We spent the first night in Wheeling, WV- just across the Ohio River from---Ohio.  (Whoa.)  Actually, despite the fact that the hotel looked like it was falling apart, it was a pretty breathtaking destination.  We discovered a particularly fantastic playground and were inspired to play a game of freeze tag which resulted in much more hide and seek than anything else :0)

Eventually, after wearing ourselves out, we headed back to the hotel rooms to prepare for the impending SC game (or at least, that was what I was preparing for...maybe the rest of the cast didn't get the memo).  Sadly, the Trojans lost, but I was thankful to at least get the game in SEC territory!!  

Next day was our opening performance!  So cool to see the Marquee with our show on it!  The theatre was a gorgeous historic site which had recently been saved from being turned into a parking lot!  Great to finally do Seuss in a real theatre...although we could have used a bit more in the way of wings.  Needless to say, first time in a real space, we had the inevitable snafoos: mics not working, people (namely me) running into set pieces and breaking them :-/, and others (namely Mychal) forgetting to change costumes!  But all in good fun! It really was such a joy; we had a meet and greet afterwards and the kids really loved the show, so that makes it all feel so much better- though we do hope for a learning curve!! ;-)

So now we find ourselves in Summersville, WV...home of...Wal-mart?  Who knows.  Actually, compared with our last adventure in finding Wally World, this location is great!  Not sketch at all!...for which we are all deeply thankful!  

Well, on that note of thankfulness, I will leave ya'll 'till next time...for I am le tired und so I vill FIRE ZE MISSILES later.  

Love to you all!

Sara Lou Who