Worcester (or Woostah)

I wish that I could say Worcester is a fun little New England town with lots of interesting things to do. Alas it is not. Downtown Worcester is pretty dead. There are only a couple of restaurants (including the omnipresent Subway) otherwise there is not much else. The Hanover Theatre was recently renovated and the decoration of the house is very nice. The backstage areas are a nightmare though. There was one large dressing room that everyone but Dorothy and the dogs had to share. Awkward!

Here I go again. Pictures with the flash are dark with bad colors, and pictures without the flash are not focused and weird. Robert tells me a need a more powerful flash. I also need a more powerful bank account!

I did get some okay pictures of the lobby though.

The weather was fairly cool all week in Worcester, but I did not expect to leave the theatre on Sunday and walk into a snow storm. Sadly it was to warm for the snow to be anything but a wet mess.

Boston for the second time

I enjoy the surprises that tour can sometimes bring. After realizing that I would have 4 days off in Worcester, I of course starting researching what could be done with that time. Needless to say upon discovering that there is a commuter train from Worcester to Boston, I knew what I would be doing. I ended up taking the train over twice. There were no shows in town to see so I just continued my exploring of the city.

Day 1: I did a bit of shopping, quite a bit of walking, and walked through the theatre district. I stopped in the lobbies of the various theatres and covertly took some pictures.

Opera House
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Majestic Theatre

Colonial Theatre

Wang Centre

Day 2: I spent more time exploring Cambridge and Harvard, went to Rayburn Music, and visited the Museum of Fine Arts.

Wagamama is one of my favorite restaurants from my trips to London. I hadn't realized that they expanded to the States, but I was very excited when I discovered the one by Harvard!

I really liked this building from the Harvard campus. I don't remember what it is though.

The Museum of Fine Arts was slightly disappointing in terms of the art collection. The building itself was pretty cool though.

The collection of musical instruments was pretty fun although the Metropolitian in New York has a larger collection.

What Does One Do In Worcester With Four Days Off?

Why go to Boston of course! After finishing up in Chattanooga we drove over to Atlanta to fly into Boston. From Boston we bused over to Worcester. After just a few hours in Worcester it was clear that we should have just stayed in Boston! For whatever reason we had four days off (well the musicians did at least) before our next performance so I tried really hard to find things to do in Worcester. In a reversal of my typical luck, it just so happened that there was a different show in town that I wanted to see and was able to see. The dance troupe Pilobolous was performing at the Hanover Theatre where we would soon be performing so I bought a cheap ticket and went Tuesday night. Other than laundry, that just about exhausted the other activities in Worcester so I spent two of my golden days in Boston.

Picture Day At School

We actually had our "opening night" party in Chattanooga despite the fact that we hadn't had our opening night yet. Here is our year 2 Wizard of Oz orchestra class picture. And in the spirit of actual class pictures, I look really stupid. Oh well we will have other opportunities to get a good picture!

If It Wasn't For That Song...

Surprisingly I enjoyed my time in Chattanooga. Chattanooga has always just been a place to drive through on the way to Florida for me until now. The downtown area by the river is actually pretty fun with nice restaurants and things to do, and it is thankfully a short walk from the Memorial Auditorium. (The river area is also walkable from the hotel but only for crazy people like myself.)

You just cannot escape the song.

I am sorry to say that the Choo Choo hotel is a bit of a dump. The hotel is really in need of renovating. The carpets were dirty and worn out, and the elevator in our building stank.

I wish that I had had a chance to go to the Aquarium. Stupid job!

There was a college crew meet on river that weekend so I took a picture on my way over the bridge.

Tech in Chattanooga

I have previously commented about how strange it is to have to go back to rehearsal of a show that you have already played a hundred times when we took The Wedding Singer to Atlantic City. Well that is nothing compared starting year two of a tour that you have already played more than two hundred times. That was how I spent my time in Chattanooga. We had two days of orchestra rehearsal. There were a few changes made in the music. Firstly we lost our reed 3 book to the virtual orchestra so my part gained some of what was previously in reed 2 and 3. Also there were some cuts made in the music. The goal was to trim about 10 to 15 minutes from the show this year. Mostly though we were becoming accustomed to the new members of the orchestra. Joey moved up to conductor, and we got a new assistant musical director and new reed 2 player.

After our orchestra rehearsals, we joined the rest of the production. I am happy to say that some of the less effective scenic elements from last year have been improved for this year. For example, the Emerald City gate and drop are now green. Imagine that!? As for the cast we only had 3 leads and 3 chorus members return, so it is a mostly new cast. They are a younger bunch but seem talented. We shall see what they are like to travel on a bus with?!

On Saturday and Sunday we had our preview performances. They went as well as could be expected, and then on Sunday the crew had the monumental task of packing everything up for the first load out. I certainly don't envy the crew's jobs, especially at the beginning of the tour. I believe that the first load out lasted something like 10 hours. You have to applaud their efforts, but that is just not the job for me.

Won't You Choo Choo Me Home?

After three weeks of playing "Look at me. I'm a dancer. My life's hard!", or "A Chorus Line" as it is officially known, I made the drive back to Indiana. I then had all of one day to get my life organized before leaving to begin year two of The Wizard of Oz. Not unsurprisingly I was unable to get everything accomplished that I set out to do, but at the very least I remembered to pack all of my instruments for my flight to Chattanooga.

How I Spent My Summer Vacation

This is how I spent my summer vacation:

I got to visit Mom and Dad's cats, and in turn they got my luggage to lay on.

I spent time with the family including my two nieces.

I made the trip to Warsaw to see a couple of shows at Wagon Wheel.

I got to reestablish my annual tradition of going to Taste of Chicago and seeing the Broadway in Chicago Preview Concert for my birthday.

My favorite!

I also got to experience the new Art Institute of Chicago's Modern Wing.

I went to Cedar Point with a Wedding Singer friend.

I played Oliver! for Ross Summer Theatre, but more importantly for Trish.

I went to New York to attend the NFA Flute Convention. It was my first time actually attending and not working for the Woodwind. Above is a picture of James Galway being condescending to 2000 flute players. Below are the 2000 flute players attempting to break the World Record for most flute players playing a piece simultaneously.

While is New York I got to meet and puppysit for my friend's new puppy: Rory Calhoun.

I also saw a couple of shows. Yes I'm obsessed with Next to Normal!

Avenue Q one last time before it closed on Broadway.

Also my first time seeing Hair. Well now I've seen it!?

But mostly I used any excuse to spend time in Chicago!

I saw some shows in Chicago including Water Fools at Navy Pier with Heather. It was no Dogtroep!

I also went with Mom to the Harry Potter Exhibition one last time.

One has to be careful of flying Ford Anglias.

I was a criminal and took a picture inside the exhibit!

I also took the Broadway in Chicago theatre tour. I actually got to take pictures inside my favorite theatre: The Oriental Theatre!

I also went to the Lyric Opera's concert in Millennium Park at the Pritzker Bandshell. This was a Friday night about a month before I was going to return to tour. Little did I know then that my world would turn upside down within 48 hours.