Birthdays, Moving, and Work. OH MY!

The birthday pups with their owners:  Miller, Crumb, & Buddy

I apologize for the delay in blogging, yet again.  Things have been rather busy here in Munchkinland.  Before leaving Saskatoon there was a birthday party for some pups.  Scratch that.  TWO birthday parties for pups:  Crumb, now 4 yo, Miller, 1 yo, and Buddy, 2 yo.  And believe me when I tell you that they went all out!  It's amazing how many animals actually travel; they're not really animals per say, but children of the cast and crew, and boy are they adorable and fun to have around! 

Birthday Party #1

Birthday Party #2

With Crumb, the not so cowardly lion.

View from my 18th floor room in Winnipeg.

We moved on Monday to Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.  It's our last stop before we're back in the states (Can I get an "AMEN?!").  Canada hasn't been terrible, but it's hard to adjust to no cell phone usage, more expense, and one-way roads.  I do have a car here, so I'm getting used to this street system... I think.  Many of us are staying in the same hotel, which is super nice when you want to visit.  We have kitchens, king size beds, kitchens, free water bottles, kitchens!!!  Need I say more?  I quickly found a grocery store down the street and stocked up.  Tuesday, the lovely Lisa, ensemble member and Glinda u/s, and her hubby had a get-together in their room with chili, salsa, beverages of choice, and homemade doughnuts!  She quickly put her cooking skills to use after living in a hotel with a micro and fridge for two weeks.  It was a lovely gathering and the only complaint was all the hot air swirling around the room due to the mass amount of people that attended.  Wednesday was opening night in the city and many of us were exhausted afterwards.  Thursday was a company party at this real neat spot, Hu's Asian Bistro.  It's a fancy restaurant that overlooks the Goldeyes Baseball Stadium in downtown Winnipeg.  They closed early just for the party, so we had the whole place to ourselves.  There was great food, great music, and great company.  You name it, they had it.  Friday, we had a golden birthday to celebrate.  If you're unaware of this occasion, it's when you turn the age of your actual day of birth (i.e.  Casey, another ensemble member, turned 26 on the 26th).  So many of the cast/crew got all spiffied up in their gold and headed to the local nightclub FAME.  Some of the outfits were so creative, it's amazing the town has any gold left in its stores.  This weekend we have two shows a day, so everyone is laying pretty low tonight.  Mainly in preparation for ANOTHER two birthdays we're celebrating tomorrow evening after the show, Kerry's was last week while she was on vacation and Michael's is actually tomorrow.  With that in mind, I must get some shut eye or I'll be the old lady pooping out of a party.  Not exactly ready for that reputation.  But before I go, here's a shout out to the one and only Michael Drolet:  HAPPY, HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!

All this puppy talk really makes me miss these little ones:  Van and Tucker

Wicked's 1000th Celebration

A couple shots from the party on my first night with the show, much thanks to Michael Drolet Photography!  You can click on the group shot for a larger view.

Wicked 2 National Tour's Cast and Crew

With Anthony, Lindsay, and Robert

E I E I O

Monday was my first "official" day off where there was no traveling or load-in scheduled.  Just a solid day to do whatever I wanted around Saskatoon, Saskatchewan.  This basically consisted of sleeping late, working out, going the see The Help (highest recommendation, both the book and movie) and a late night dinner.  Working on the road is an interesting schedule to get accustomed to (especially if you aren't a fan of coffee - no need to worry there) if you've been in the real world any length of time.  Most every weekday I am off and arrive at the theatre 2 hours before curtain (i.e. 5:30pm for a 7:30pm show).  Then I treat from that time until the end of the show, 5 hours later, whenever I'm needed for either scheduled visits posted on the call board or walk-ins.  On the weekends, the same thing occurs, except there are two shows usually on Saturdays and Sundays, therefore, a typical workday can be from 12pm to 11pm with an hour dinner break.  It gets to be pretty busy around the theatre these days, so I've found that you may as well get comfortable and wear warm clothes.  It's complete opposite from the 7am-4pm shift I began working all summer.  Now I'm just getting off of work at my prior bedtime, staying up into the early morning, and sleeping in until 10-11am.  I do miss my mornings, but it's worth it every minute of it.  Fortunately, most everyone I know has a similar schedule, which makes it more fun than work.  Speaking of fun...


Tuesday morning, I awoke bright and early around 9:30am to prepare for the field trip planned to a true-life SASKATOON FARM!  Linda, a member of the cast, met the man that owns it, and he offered to have us over.  Living the city life for the last 2 1/2 months made me jump at this opportunity!   Not only did he have lunch (with two homemade desserts!) prepared, he took us around his farm to see the piglets, chicken coop, sheep, cows, roosters, and baby chicks.  His sweet dog, Shelby, was at our heels the entire time.  In the end, we collected eggs from the coop, apples he picked right from his tree, and animal poop on the bottom of our shoes.. and for Lindsay, her shirt.  It was such a fantastic experience, and well appreciated after living in a hotel for the past 15 days (with many, many more days to come).  At least with living in a hotel I don't have to clean.  Definitely a perk!

Lindsay and Shelby

Linda with the piglet

Quote of the day:  "Is it poop?!" - Lindsay

All nestled on top of one another.

Christine and me on an egg hunt.

Something we didn't care to take back with us.

I Survived!

Well folks, I made it through my first show on my own, and boy was it a doozy!  I only had one person sign up before my time began to start treating, so I figured my night would be pretty slow.  I've been told that's to be expected on opening night in a new city.  Before it was all said in done I had SIX people needing my help just before and during the show! I'd say that was a successful night in PT!  My biggest fear with this process was coming in after someone who was so great and not being able to step up to that level.  It's hard to compare yourself to a PT who has 5 years experience on you doing this sort of work with multiple shows.  Setting all that aside, I had a great time treating, lots of company, and am prepping myself for a two-show day today.  Here's a picture of how the "clinic" travels.  Everything I need (minus a treatment table and cooler, which is separate) fits into this road box.  And, yes, it's bright pink.

  

OH, Canada!

Well, I'm obviously not fabulous at this blog thing, and for that, I apologize.  However, I'll try to be a bit more consistent so they don't end up so long in the future.  Things have been pretty uneventful since I made it to the land of expensive food, pretty money, crazy drivers, everything written in French, Sunday afternoon strollers at crosswalks, among other oddities.  But I'll fill you in on what's happened thus far.

View of Edmonton from my room.

I arrived August 4th after a 3-hour flight consisting of an irritating child constantly kicking the back of my seat, even though her mom kept telling her to stop (that just boils down to poor parenting, if you ask me).  Once I thought that was over, my second flight had 3 kids sitting in the row in front of me jabbering nonstop.  Optimistically, they were sitting in front = no kicking!  Finally getting to Edmonton, Alberta I prepared myself for one special night, the 1000th show for Wicked 2nd National Tour!  I got to watch the show from the sound booth (if that's what it is called), where I happened to meet a fellow Gamecock fan/alum!  WOOP WOOP!  There are actually 3 of us on tour that I'm aware of from SC, and it is SO nice to have a little "piece of home" out here.  Anyways, after the show they had a celebration for the 1000th show where I got to meet most everyone and try to remember 49857239 names and faces.  Ok, so that's a little exaggerated.  There are about 65 or so I think is what I was told.  It feels like a gazillion!  The party was so much fun and everyone is amazing on this tour.  It has made my transition a breeze, and I have some serious shoes to fill!  Lindsey will be missed greatly, and I owe her a ton!

Lindsey and me at Sugarbowl on her last night.

KC, Lauren, Courtney, Michael, and Me at Reba!

Edmonton was short lived (thankfully).  So came Monday...AKA travel day... where some of us took the whole 48-min flight to Saskatoon, Saskathewan.  From where I've wandered in my couple of days off, it seems like a pretty neat place with some very interesting folks.  We even got to check out the Saskatoon fair where REBA MCENTIRE was performing!  Of all places... Didn't exactly feel like home with the group of people that attended, but we had a blast!  That woman hasn't aged in 20 years!  I can't complain at all so far.  Everyone has been a pleasure to work (and play) with.  Tonight, I fly solo.  Best wishes to the cast/crew for their first show in Saskatoon!

America comes to Canada!

Costume change for the Encore: FANCY!