The annual update (2010 edition).

So. Its been over a year since I last posted to this Blog. So much for trying to be better and post more frequently. Ah well. Life Happens.

In the time that has passed, I have toured with The Wizard of Oz for 9 months, Dreamgirls for 2 months, Opened 3 shows on Broadway in 2 weeks and and wrapping up 2 months on A Chorus Line. In a week and a half I will head back to Wizard for another 4 months and I couldn't be happier.

As the years on the road add up and the grey hairs on my head multiply, I am beginning to truly understand the importance of friendships and connections in the world. I have some pretty amazing friends in my life... spread across this country (and world), and I know how lucky I am. And my family is the Best. Just The Best.. But to have a group of friends a la Sex and the City, people who know you sometimes better than you know yourself. I miss that.

I have recently started thinking much more seriously about the future. I think part of growing up and getting older has finally caught up with me. Either that, or I have been watching far too much HGTV in my hotel on the road. I find myself wondering what it would be like to be completely debt free and be able to start thinking about a down payment on my own place. No more wasting money on Rent. I always thought I would never own a home, but as I get older and start thinking about settling down in one place, the thought has crept its way in.

What would it be like to be in one place for a while and be able to actually date? Not fall in love or anything, at least that isn't the goal, but I miss going out on dates. Going to dinner. The movies. Window shopping. Whatever it may be. Life on the road is not very conducive to dating. Especially on a show like this. I am in a town for less than 24 hours sometimes, not easy to meet cute that quickly. Also, dating other tour folk is a little too much Shit-Where-You-Eat for my liking. The few times I have let myself get involved with anyone on the road it hasn't ended well.

Ahhhh well. Just some of the things ratting around in my head, felt the need to write them down. Now...Back to work.

Montana, Montana....

Another one of my Drowsy adventures brought me to Montana for the first time to visit one of my dearest friends Andy. Andy and I went to college together and then got to travel the country on the Annie tour for 9 months. So much of the debauchery I got into on Annie was with Andy, and here is the proof...

Disney World on my 28th Birthday:


Here are Andy and I in Savannah, GA:


Andy by my booth in the Concessions lobby in Jackson, Mississippi:


Andy ad I at the Annie Closing Night Party in Cerritos, CA:

When we were playing Colorado Springs we had a few days off so we went up to Denver for a few days to hang out with our Miss Hannigan, Lynn and her family and our friend Kinsey from Wagner, who was in Denver working on the John Edwards Presidential campaign (Pre-Mistress/Baby-Daddy Drama!)..

Andy helped make my first year back on the road one of the best years of my life. We had so much fun reconnecting after so many years out of each others lives while I was working in NYC and across the country on Wicked and he was out on Staten Island at Snug. I hope he and I get the opportunity to tour together again. Love you Shnanderman!

Its the touring life for me...

So in continuation of my previous post, Here are some more tales and images of my life on the road over the last 2 years..

One of my favorite cities to visit on the road is San Francisco.


The first time I visited was in 2005 for 2 months with the First National Tour of Wicked. It was not the experience I had hoped it would turn out to be.. I thought I'd never get back there and be able to truly appreciate what the city had to offer. In 2008 I was fortunate enough to visit the city by the bay twice in one summer.

The first time was for 3 weeks with the First National Tour of The Drowsy Chaperone. We played the Orpheum Theatre (the same as Wicked), where I trained my replacement on the show who took it oer and closed it out for me. The Drowsy Chaperone was a show I LOVED working on. Even though the sales were not great, the people, the company (cast and crew) were all unbelieveably kind and welcoming. I have joined many shows after they have been out for a few months and have never been so accepted into the family as I was on Drowsy. It was on Drowsy that I met one of the coolest chicks I know, my friend Alicia.

If you know me, you know that Side Show, the musical, is a show that has changed my life. I saw Side Show for the first time in early December 1997 when I was a Freshman at Hofstra University. It was a breathtaking theatrical experience. A few weeks later I became involved in the "Save Side Show" campaigin that involved handing out flyers at the TKTS book in the middle of TImes Square with the entire cast of the show and seeing the matinee performance. After handing out the flyers between matinee and evening shows one of the cast members handed myself and another fan $100 to get a 2-for-1 ticket so we could see the show again. To this day it is one of the kindest things that someone has done for me. A few weeks later one of the guys I met that Saturday helped get me an audition at Wagner College, so I could transfer out of Hofstra after my first year. If I hadn't seen Side Show on that cold December afternoon in 1997 I wouldn't be where I am today, and I would not have met many of the people who have helped make me who I am today.

Anyways, Alicia was the Fortune Teller in Side Show.. "I'm a Fortune Teller.. I can See the Future...." she was a swing and covered Drowsy, Mrs. Tottendale and Trix in Drowsy Chaperone. We officially met in Houston, TX which was the 2nd stop for me on the Drowsy tour and became best buds for the 3 months I was there. While we were in LA for 2 weeks playing the beautiful Ahmenson Theatre... Alicia, myself and 2 of the other gals in the show spent a day at Disneyland. We had such a fun day and had an AMAZING dinner at the restaurant that overlooks the Pirates of the Carribean ride.

Here is a pic of the girls on one of the many rides we hit on that very long but FUN day!

Jennifer, Megan (Where's Mickey?) and Alicia

The third time I was in San Francisco was with the First National Tour of Spring Awakening in September 2008. This was the official opening city for the Spring Tour at the Curran Theatre. The Curran is the smallest of the 3 major touring houses in SF and a perfect fit for Spring. The staff there is fantastic. I met 2 buds, Kevin and Tyler. They helped me celebrate by 29th birthday with a double show Saturday and a YUMMY Birthday dinner at Lois's Diner..

Here are Tyler and I being silly during a show..

There's a Moment You Know...


Tyler and I recreating the iconic Wicked poster.. Sort of.



Now that I am reliving all of these amazing experiences on the road again, It makes me realize how truly fortunate I have been to have these amazing experiences and how I wish I had written about them as they happened. Still to come, more photos from the many cities I've been and an entire post dedicated to some of the AMAZING classic old vaudeville/burlesque theatres I have had the honor of working in.

2 Years, 48 States and 129+ Cities...

On Sunday I end my time with the National Tour of Rent: The Broadway Tour.

This has been the 7th show I have done the Merchandising for in the 2 years it has been since I went back out on the road on September 17th 2007. In that time I have worked on the Non-Equity tours of Annie (Directed by Martin Charnin) and Cirque Dreams Jungle Fantasy (Direct from Broadway), and the Equity tours of The Drowsy Chaperone, Mamma Mia, Avenue Q and Spring Awakening (Handling the set up and launch of the First National tour in San Diego and San Francisco).

In this time I have been to 48 of the 50 US states and 129 different Theatres in 129 different cities. I never thought growing up that I would be able to see the country in this way. I only hope that one day I will be able to see the rest of the world in a similar fashion.

Of the cities I have been to so far. I have to give special recognition to Madison, Wisconsin and Baton Rouge, Louisiana as 2 of my favorite places. Madison is the greatest little city, home of the University of Wisconsin and the best little college town feel. Baton Rouge got me to New Orleans for the first time. To this day that night will rank in the top 5 experiences of my life. To experience a city so alive and vibrant, in the aftermath of such a horrible and gut wrenching disaster was thrilling. On the drive back to Baton Rouge (after about 3 hours of sleep and a night of Debauchery) we drove through some of the areas hit by Katrina. To see the devastation in person and how it has been all but abandoned, with the search markings on the homes, was intense. It is an experience I will never forget. San Francisco is also ALWAYS a great city to play (Well, not with Wicked..but the 2 times I have been there since have been AMAZING)!

Some of the lame-o cities... Wabash, Indiana (it doesn't have a taxi company so the front desk woman at the Holiday Inn express gave me a ride to work), Champaign, Illinois (We played the Assembly Hall arena with Annie in October.. No Air Conditioning on an 80 degree day and about 100 flies dive bombing my tee shirts and the cast during the show. Add that to a contact who was less than pleasant to deal with, made it a VERY long night.

There have also been some unbelievable occurrences.. On the Annie bus on our way to Roanoke, VA from Charleston WV one of our Wheels fell off the bus... I guess they will only go round and round so often! We were stranded on the side of the highway with our wheel (which had rolled directly across from the bus, leaning against the median, taunting us) off and a new bus 3 hours from getting to us... Then the transmission blew on the bus and we were stranded at a truck stop in Effingham, Illinois for 3 hours on a travel day. In Melbourne, FL our substitute bus driver backed the side of the bus into a tree, shattering the exterior pane of window, but not breaking it. It was this insane spider crack that took up the entire window. We started our (already) 12 hour drive from Melbourne, FL to Athens, GA...and about an hour in we pull off the highway because the glass had started to fall out of the window and they deemed it unsafe to continue.. An hour later we were on our way again, making it to Athens in about 14 hours.. for a One Nighter. FUN TIMES!

Here are some pictures referencing some of the events described above:

The shattered bus window (Somewhere in Virginia):


New Orleans (CB, Matt and Andy):


My Annie Booth (New Haven, CT):


The Drowsy Booth (Post Renovation):


The Spring Awakening Booth (San Diego, CA):


That is all for now. Tomorrow night I will continue adding some of my favorite pictures from the past two years.

CB

a new routine and other random thoughts

well. i have settled back into home, been doing some work on the apt, fixing our LR chandelier, picking out paint colors, unpacking, rounding up all the boxes I sent from Minneapolis so I didn't have to carry them in my luggage...ahh touring. I love it and miss it. I also love being home, and the importance of having a home to come back to. When I went out with Wicked, I saw it as escaping from NY to solve all of my problems. But I was extremely off base. You may leave behind some problems when you bolt like I did, but you also develop new ones. It is how you handle the problems that counts. I know this now. I have learned from the mistakes and problems I have faced in the past. Now what?

I am still in the merch world. I do like it. I think I am good at it. And it provides a paycheck that pays the rent/expenses and health insurance. I am thinking about getting a job as a dog walker. I want to do something that makes me happy. I am never happier than when I see a dog on the street. Or when I get to play with my parents dog when I go home. So why not get paid to play with the pooches? I have the address for a place to apply that has PT/FT weekend etc options starting around $200 a week. I'd rather be out enjoying the city walking dogs than sitting at a desk answering phones for $15/hr.

I am still considering going back to acting/head shots. I'd like to, but I am extremely out of practice. I am working on a few monologues, trying to get some rep to show prospective acting teachers. I feel like the more i figure out about myself, the more i see the mistakes I made in college when it came to performing/auditioning etc. I miss the process.

My comp is still sickly. Don't really have the $ to get it fixed. It generally works to use the Internet and photos. But anything requiring musical sounds doesn't work so well. And it takes FOREVER to boot up and shut down. I am thinking of getting a MacBook. I think its time for the mac switch.

If you are an actor and have cable you check out the show 'Theatre Biz' on Ovation (Ch 83 on Time Warner-NYC). It is about a group of conservatory kids in London's version of ADDA/AMDA, going out after their Showcases to get a job. Lots of audition footage and interviews with people like Judy Dench and Amanda Holden (UK Millie) etc. Really great show.

I'm Dreaming of NYC

In 6 hours I head to the Airport to fly back to NYC after 6 weeks here in Minnesota.

I have had a wonderful time here working on Irving Berlin's White Christmas. I have met some great people, made some great friends and colleagues. But I am ready to come home for a bit. Even if I go back out on the road in a few weeks or months, I am ready to be in my apartment and see my roommate and go up to CT for our belated family Christmas.

The weather is just about to turn here and i have a feeling it is gonna turn colder in NY when I get back. But after the -1 degree weather we had a few weeks ago here, i can handle pretty much anything at this point.

My comp is having a few issues. I need to have it checked out when I get back to NYC. So it may be a little while before I post again.

But, when I do post again, I will be in NYC. OH YEA.