On The Road With Sam Spade, Part 2
The tour journal of our favorite Ensemble You can find part 1 here:
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Friday, November 7th:
Friday was an early day. We were up and had to be at the theater by 9AM for the first of our two shows, which was to start at 9:30AM (the second being at 11:30AM). We all got into costume and were ready to go in plenty of time. Unfortunately, one or more of the schools scheduled to attend the first show didn’t get buses to pick them up. So, we ended up starting that show a half hour late. Luckily we were supposed to have an hour between the shows, so we still had a half-hour breather before our second show.
The shows went really well. Nic was really pleased with everything. He is usually happy with how the shows go, but today he was particularly pleased with everything. The Name Polka [in Rumpelstiltskin] during the second show was eventful for me. I usually run around in the crowd and end up diverting attention from the stage. Today, though, it was dark in a large auditorium. I couldn’t see that well and all the rows had people occupying them. Needless to say, I couldn’t get from on side of the hall to the other. So, I ended up running out through the lobby and down the left side of the auditorium, where Brian happened to be sitting. He didn’t notice that I had come up next to him and he started looking around for me right then. I think I scared him a bit when he finally saw me, which kind of made my day.
The shows were the only “work” we had scheduled for the day, which was great. After them, we got out of the costume and tore down the set. Because of a Farmer’s Market directly adjacent to the Warner Grand, we couldn’t load the truck back up. So, we put the sets off stage so they could set up for Saturday’s orchestra concert.
Elyse, Rachel and I hit up Niko’s Pizzeria for lunch. We shared a pizza with italian sausage, black olives and green peppers. It was a great time. Sometimes, at least for me, it’s nice to spend time either alone or with just a few people from the ensemble. I enjoy mixing it up a bit and having more intimate conversation with just a couple other people, rather than seven others, so I really enjoyed lunch.
After lunch, I got a bit of a headache. The Warner Grand was very dusty…at least the stage area was. Rachel had an allergic reaction to the dust during the shows, and I think that’s where my headache came from. I was planning to take a run with Will, but I had to cancel and took a bit of a nap.
That night, we had dinner at the Sixth Avenue Bistro with Linda, Fred, Jim and Erin from San Pedro. One of the guys in our group, who shall go unnamed, took a bit of a liking to Erin, a young woman working for the Warner Grand as she applied for grad schools, and spent much of the evening talking her up and much to the delight of some of my coworkers and me. Dinner was fun for other reasons. Nic, Will and I discussed various films and played with our phones. Will and I shared our dinners, which is always fun: he had the salmon, while I had sea scallops. Both were good, although, the salmon was prepared much better in both our opinions.
After dinner, Nic, Will, Brian and I went and found a nifty little gelato place. Nic loves gelato and loves making gelato, so he was in his own little heaven. I got the peppermint which tasted like mint chocolate chip and Nic got pumpkin, which was very good as well.
To cap off the evening, most of us gathered in Rachel and Elyse’s room to hang out and eat more fudge. Elyse’s Mom was there. It was great to see her and to see the dynamics between them. Seeing a colleague with a parent or longtime friend can show you another side of that person that one couldn’t necessarily perceive previously. So, even though I had experienced Elyse with her boyfriend Ben that previous weekend in San Francisco (I went up there for a Merola audition), it was even more interesting to see her interact with her mother.
All in all, Friday was a pretty easy day. It turned out to be a very good thing. Saturday was packed.
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Nic never makes gelato for us here at Aria Serious and we're deeply offended. Part 3 of Sam Spade's tour journal will appear when we get over our hurt feelings enough to post it.
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