Free Performance!

Come on out and enjoy some fun, free music tomorrow (sorry for late notice!)  It will only be an hour long, there are 2 performances....and it's right on 42nd street, so it's actually harder to NOT come to that it is to COME to :)

Where:  Studio Theater at Theater Row  (410 W 42nd Street, NYC)

When:  1:30pm  &  3:15pm

What:  "Joshua the Musical is a new musical based on Joseph Girzone's ground breaking series of novels about Joshua, a mysterious stranger who arrives in a small town and may or may not be Jesus himself.

Joshua is a Broadway style musical that is written for and speaks directly to people of faith.  This musical is a family-friendly story that we hope will resonate with viewers of all faiths and backgrounds and be relevant to our times." - as quoted from the website.  (I'm playing Joshua)

More:  www.joshuathemusical.com

How much:  FREEEEEEE!

Deep in the heart of TEXAS

I think I ate my weight in barbecue during our 5 weeks here.  That's right, between 3 cities (Houston, Dallas & Ft Worth), we spent 5 weeks of the spring in one of the biggest states in America.  And everyone in Texas tells you where the "best BBQ in town" is....and it's NEVER the same place :)  I probably went to 5 different places that all claimed top prize.  But one of the spots was actually in-between shows in Houston when the local crew brought in their own meat, grill and sauce to feed us right in back of the theater.

It was HUMID down there....wow.  I remember dreaming about warm weather when we were freezing in Toronto earlier this year.  But a couple days here almost made you pine for the frigid north.  And it wasn't even the dog days of summer yet!

Houston also gave us an opportunity to get a private tour of the NASA Space Center.  This was probably one of THE BEST field trips we made on tour.

Above is the HUGE pool where the submerge mock-ups of the space station and practice space walks with astronauts preparing for a trip to do the real thing.  A pool is as close to weightlessness as we can get.  Below is a picture of the trainees coming back up from the practice.

We got a chance to talk to one seasoned astronaut that had done 9 different space walks!  He was so cool, actually asking us questions about our show.  We got him to tell a story about one of his space walks where he almost lost his life.  All of our jaws were dropped as he was telling the details.  This was no movie...this was the REAL DEAL! WOW!  The also let us in Mission Control (the very one that  was used in the Apollo 13 mission and many others. Below is probably how I would have reacted to the dire situation.....

Ft. Worth had a fantastic new performing arts house that looks like an old opera house.  Plus, we got a chance to go down the the stockyards and saw many more boots than bulls.  Check it out!

Sorry it's not rotated...I can't figure out how to do that on my blog!  

Gold Rush: SACRAMENTO

Ah California, we finally made it to the ocean…well, almost.  We sit down in Sacramento for 2 weeks, a perfect amount of time to get to know a city that size.  The Govenator’s Office, the CA State Capital, is right down the street from our hotel.  I don’t think we’ll be seeing him this week, though he has MUCH to attend to with the economic troubles in CA.  However, those troubles didn’t seem to keep people from coming and enjoying LHOP.  They were some of our most responsive audiences to date!  Thank you Sacramento J

The highlight of this stop was seeing my sister who currently lives in Berkeley.  Kara and I took that first Monday of travel and drove down to the Bay Area to see my sis, her friends, and throw some serious Frisbee!  I also showed Kara around some of my hold haunts near the Berkeley campus where I used to live when I taught summer school to middle-schoolers when I was in college.  What a great, eclectic town! 

The 2^nd Monday we had there, we made a trip out to Yosemite National Park.  If you are EVER near this amazing place, you must take the time to explore.  The mountains, sheer rock cliffs, majestic waterfalls, wildlife, and up close hiking trails can take your breath away at every turn. 

We also met a wonderful couple from London at our B&B the next morning over breakfast.  It turned out that they were on a trip around the world because she won a contest for boucoups of free nights at any Hyatt in the world and tons of airline miles.  Wow, I guess people actually DO win those sorts of prizes. Kara and I managed to convince the two of them to come down to Sacramento and see our show since there was a Hyatt conveniently located right next to the theater J  Two more wonderful friends to add our lives!  However…as we were gabbing over breakfast, snow started to fall..and I’m talking huge flakes of white fluff.  I wasn’t too worried because it was at least 60 degrees the day before. But low and behold, the snow was sticking.  So instead of a couple more hours in the park, Kara and I decided to head back to make it in time for our performance that night.  It wasn’t 30 miles into our return journey that we got stuck behind a slow car attempting to go up a hill….sliding off the road.  So, I pull pass them on the left, trying to keep momentum.  But we were too slow already, and I ended up sliding off myself.  AHHH!  It all happened in slow motion, literally!  I was probably going 3 miles an hour.  After about 40 minutes, a plow came by to clear the road a bit.  We were able to back out and be on our way.  Not a couple hundred fee down the road, the snow was merely rain.  AHHHH!  So crazy.  

We saw a huge field of strawberries on the way back and scored 8 cartons of huge, juicy deliciousness for $10.  I definitely think we got the fat end of the stick on that one!

Thanks Sacramento for your great audiences, fresh produce, delicious downtown eats, and reliable snow plows.  Until next time!

Back from Break, Let's go WEST! (Spokane)

Yep, a goat....but not just any kind of goat.  Though unassuming, this meek metal animal packs a powerful special skill.  Just inch your way towards it...SLOWLY...slowly...have your piece of trash or pine cone or small object you never want to see again in your had...push button to right of goat....now feed your trash to the friendly animal...don't be shy...go ahead...and watch it...WOOSH!...the goat has sucked up your trash so quickly you barely know what to do with yourself ;)  You HAVE to try this if you go to Spokane.  It is one of the left over exhibits from the '74 World's Fair held at the fantastic park right in downtown Spokane.

We also met a fascinating street musician called Tommy G from the 509.  Kara and I found another fantastic breakfast spot, Madeline's (which has coffees the size of the milchekaffes I found in Germany!).  This guy was playing is guitar in the corner of the cafe, singing with more soul than I've heard in a while from a white guy :)  We got to talkin for about 30 minutes or so, and he has quite a life story.  I found him in the park a couple days later "busting" (defiantly playing on a bench with his case out for money...which is currently illegal in Spokane).  So, I guess I broke the law with him and bought one of his CDs....take that Uncle Sam!

(This is another famous landmark in the park.  We made a cast photo before we left!)

All in all, besides the small hail storm we got, Spokane was a great little town.  I was excited to get to our next destination because it is near my sister in CA!

Raleigh and Appleton

Raleigh was definitely a highlight for me, coming back home in a way.  I grew up in North Carolina and even went to school at UNC-Chapel Hill which is near Raleigh, but I never actually spent that much time IN Raleigh.  I believe, as with many cities, they are trying to revive the downtown and are making nice strides.  It was nice to get to know my own "backyard" a little better.

The best part was seeing old friends.  My parents came, my voice teacher (pictured above), a couple friends from college as well as one guy who voted me in the all male a cappella group I sang with, The Clef Hangers.  The Clefs were a HUGE part of my time at UNC.  I also got a chance to reconnect with the scholarship foundation, the Morehead Scholarship (now called the Morehead-Cain Scholarship), that helped change my life by bringing me to UNC.  Below is a photo with my girl in front of one of the most famous UNC landmarks, the Old Well!

Appleton was probably the nicest city we've been to.  Granted, we've gotten great treatment everywhere, but Appleton kicked it up a notch...cranked it to eleven, if you will.  I celebrated my birthday out there, and a number of people in the restaurant (who I did not know) insisted on singing to me and buying me a drink.  Granted, they were a little tipsy but genuine :)  Our audiences were so boisterous that we had to hold for applause and laughter in places we never had to hold before!  What a way to close out the 2nd section of our tour.  We're looking forward to getting our original Laura back, and I'm looking forward to getting my girlfriend back on tour :)

See you in Spokane, Washington!

Florida Sunshine: Tampa & Naples

For me, Tampa was more than just hope for warmth.  It also meant a chance to see family...LOTS of family.  Most of my father's side of the family live(d) in Tampa as I was growing up.  Consequently I have many memories of making the 12 hours drive down from NC after Christmas to spend the rest of the holiday with the Masseys.  60 or 70 degrees on New Years Eve was always weird though!

I was able to stay with my aunt during the week and see almost all 6 of my cousins and their families.  My oldest cousin is a pastor in a new church.  He asked me to sing on that Sunday and played for me as well.  That marked our first "duet" together :)

While it was warmer than Toronto, it wasn't ALL that warm.  In fact, it was quite windy.  That didn't stop us from enjoying the awesome art fair that was going on right outside the theater downtown.  I liked it so much that I made my first real grown-up art purchase.  I was nervous :)  But I got to meet the artist of the unique piece and can't wait to hang it up in my apartment back home!

*I have to mention that I was surprised at one performance by the older couple that was camping next to us last summer in the Adirondack Mountains (see an earlier post).  Can you believe they remembered us from upstate NY!!  I love those kind of stories :)*

Naples gave us the first chance to hit the beach...and we did as soon as the rain stopped :)  It was SO WONDERFUL to sit in the sun.  I definitely got a little more color than I bargained for...cause I guess I was enjoying it too much :)

I also found this fantastic cafe only a couple of miles from our hotel called the Sunburst Cafe.  The owner is Jerome, a Boston transplant who probably makes the best muffins I have ever laid eyes on.  Unfortunately I couldn't eat them myself because of the gluten, but by the smell and my cast members reactions I could tell he knocked it out of the park.  Plus, he was SO generous, giving more than a plateful as gifts to the cast.  The best part was that he brought his family to see our show on Saturday night.  I feel like I made a friend!  So, if you are ever in the area you will be delighted with the food and welcomed by the owners of the Sunburst down in Naples. I got to borrow Melissa's convertible (shown in the pic above) and it was AWESOME! :)

We also had to say goodbye to the smallest member of our cast, Carly Sonenclar, who played Carrie.  She will be missed!

Soon we'll be back in my home state, North Carolina!

Canadia: Our friends to the North!

Toronto was our longest sit-down of the tour (5 whole weeks!).  It finally gave us time to really get to know a city.  I was able to rent an apartment north of town and used the subway to get everywhere.  Though it's not quite as extensive as the NYC Subway system, it definitely takes the cake for punctuality!

We were in the beautiful Canon Theater pictured above.  It is owned by one of the biggest producers of theater in Canada, the Mirvish's.  Though the audiences were a bit quite and the reviews were less than stellar here, we had a great run.  In fact, the size of the audience grew steadily over the 5 weeks, indicating that we are a word of mouth audience favorite...the kind of show I would rather be in :)  Funny enough, right across the street was a music venue with quite a sensible name (see below ;)

The weather was pretty good considering we were in Canada in the dead of winter.  Actually, my parents in NC got more snow from all of those crazy storms in February than we did!  We did take advantage of some winter sports.

But I wouldn't have been able to take part in this ice-skatery if it weren't for the good folds at the Sports Medicine Clinic.  My PT, Chris, was great!  Check out how pain free it was:

That new fangled thing in the bottom picture is a laser that helps accelerate tissue recovery.  Medicine has definitely advanced since I was a kid...oh no, I'm starting to sound old! 

All in all, it was a wonderful stay in Toronto.  Everyone from my dresser, Woody, to the doorman, Mahesh, was so friendly in the theater.  I got to see some of my Canadian friends that were in The Three Musketeers with me in Chicago.  Plus I got to experience both sides of the coin: watching with amazement as America defeated Canada in Hockey at their first meeting and then eating a good dose of humble pie when Canada defeated America in the final game.  It was great to be in the host country during an Olympic season.  

Onto sunshine in Tampa, Florida.  I could use a day with just a T-shirt on :)