Yesterday was a pretty good day. We had a show at this old music hall in Tarrytown, NY. The theatre itself was beautiful. The load in was a little less beautiful. It was very much like the theatre in Nashville where we had to park perpendicular to a porch and use a ramp to bridge from our lift gate to the theatre. Luckily, we had done before so it wasn't that big a deal. It also helped that the crew was really eager and plentiful, so not many of us had to do anything. Which was good for a number of reasons, mostly the fact that getting in the crew's way was a little hazardous. Flo almost got knocked off the ramp twice because one of the crew members was a little overeager to get stuff out of the truck. But on balance, it was a swift and easy load in. We were also told that we wouldn't have to cut any part of the set or any of the equipment for this space, so Schneider and I unloaded everything. Then we went inside. There was NO freaking space in the wings for all our stuff. Why? Because it was a music hall, not a theatre. I mean, there was wing space, but once you got everything back there, it was so crowded, you couldn't actually fit any people. But our paperwork said they used everything the last time, so we had to use everything this time, no matter how unwieldy. Oy. But the best part came when we were talking about the fact there was to be fog during the Sleepy Hollow ride, and the crew told us we couldn't use fog because it would set off the fire alarms. Levitt insisted we COULD use fog because the paperwork said we could. The crew tried to point out that they would know better than the paperwork, since they worked there, but Levitt continued to insist, until we were told we could shoot the fog out onto the stage for about a second to make sure it wouldn't set off the smoke alarms. So Levitt won, and the fog existed, but hardly at all, so whatever effect she was going for was mostly lost, but the point was made. The paperwork is always right. That was continued when we were all asked if we would mind cutting the act two platform extensions in order to make more room backstage. We all said we would be fine with that, since all they do is make the platforms longer, and we don't NEED that. WEll, after giving our answers to that question, we found out they weren't being cut because she didn't feel she could since the paperwork said they had used them last time. This guaranteed that the backstage area would be crammed with set pieces, making rushing backstage in order to make fast changes, like most of us do (especially ME) would be an obstacle course no matter which wing you went out. I guess I shouldn't be surprised. I don't know why I keep expecting the ability to think for oneself to come out of our stage management.
The plus side of this equation was the kids. They really got into the show. I got gasps during the Tell Tale dismemberment, and laughs during Sleepy Hollow, which, considering these kids grow up with this story an integral part of their everyday lives, is pretty damn cool. We got big applause, and despite Ted's assertion that they hated us (which is what he asserts of EVERY audience) they loved every story. Necklace is one of the slower stories, so it's usually the one that gets very little reaction, at least til the end, but these kids went right along with the whole thing, no matter what. I love when that happens; it makes me feel like this show actually makes a difference to these kids. I have no idea how much of an impact what I do with this show has on any kid, but at least if they seem entertained and enthused by the show, I can assure myself that if nothing else, I made their life a little more enjoyable for 90 minutes. And really, sometimes that's all you can hope to do. The crew (who despite sometimes being near-fatal were all REALLY nice and friendly and helpful) made load-out easy, and were even nice enough to block off space on the street for us to leave our truck parked there while Levitt took all of us in the van to the Sleepy Hollow graveyard, where Washington Irving is buried. It was pretty cool, I must admit, even though I am in no way a graveyard aficionado. I got a picture of Irving's grave, and we spent a good amount of time walking around looking at moldy gravestones because Levitt really wanted to find the Van Tassels. When it was pointed out to her that they were fictional characters, she insisted that the crew guys told her they were buried in that graveyard. And in her defense, we found a couple. Both of them lived after Irving had written the story and had died long after mostly everyone else in the graveyard, leading me to believe they were faux Van Tassels. Both of them had died in the early 20th century, so it's likely they TOOK the name Van Tassel because of the story. But she was satisfied, which was good since we had a two hour or so drive to Albany staring us in the face, and Alice wanted to get home (she's from near Albany) and see her family. It basically took Alice pleading with Levitt that she had to use the facilities really badly to get LEvitt to finally get the van and take us out of the graveyard. I have to admit, I don't understand the draw of graveyards. It was historically interesting to see Irving's grave--for five minutes. But hey, it meant Levitt stayed in a good mood, so there's always a silver lining.
Today was a beautifully lazy day. After wandering downtown, I came back to the hotel in which there is a heated pool. Excited about that idea, I got down to the pool room and discovered that the heated part of that phrase referred to the room itself. The pool, at least the indoor half of the indoor/outdoor pool, was freezing. I found that interesting since the outdoor half was closed, but there it was. I guess I should have known it would be that way when I had to chip a hole in the ice to stick a toe in. Silly hotels. At least I found out I was wrong in my assumption that we have no free breakfast since the hotel has a full restaurant. They still feel compelled to feed us free in the morning, which I am all for. I'm even more for them serving BACON! IIiiiiiiiiiiiiiit's BACON!!! What can I say? I'm a man of simple pleasures. It's basically bacon and discussing epistemological issues. Simple. That's the kind of man you need in the White House. Pond in 2012--He Knows What Epistemological Means. It's a SImple Choice.
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