Uganda Arrival!

I can’t believe I am really here!  It has been almost 11 days since I landed, and I am still amazed that I finally got an opportunity to come to this wonderful continent.  I left the blizzard filled world of America and arrived in the warm, dust filled world of Uganda after 36 hours of travel time and an unexpected trip through Ethiopia (thank you snow).  Unfortunately, my luggage forgot the make the entire trip with me, so I am still without my…well, without anything really.  Note to self: always pack one extra pair of socks and underwear in carry on!

Luckily, I have generous friends here that lent me essentials (and I realize that you don’t really need much), and I soon found myself bouncing from wonderously new place to place….and no, not always in a safari van pictured above ;)

The first major even was my friend’s wedding.  In fact, Tara is the reason I am on this journey.  As a true friend for 9 years, I could not miss the opportunity to watch her join her life with a wonderful Ugandan man named Grace Nyanga.  And for a bonus, she immediately gets to be the mother of the spunky 11 year old, Edith Nyanga, who will surely grow up to have as big an impact in people’s lives as her parents have been to others. 

 The Ugandan ceremony has many unique traditions as you might imagine.  One of my favorites is when they introduced this large crowd of Ugandans as Grace’s family.  “Now,” they say to Tara, “this is YOUR burden”….HA!  Family is more than immediate here!

 This was followed by many introductions, pictures…and of course food!  Ugandans do not usually send invitations to weddings.  If you know them, or even just know of them, you come….and you come expecting to be fed as well.  Grace and Tara are both well known here in Jinja, so we had to enlist a couple “bouncers” to ensure all true friends and family got fed!

Finally, as the wedding party got whittled down to the most intimate, we drove 45 minutes down the road to a wonderful getaway right on the Nile River called The Haven.  The view from its perch was incredible.  Needless to say, we all slept well that night.

Wrapping up for the Holidays

Well, one more week left of Bonnie & Clyde here in Sarasota.  We've had a great run here, although it zipped right by.  Opening night was really exciting.

Because there is a lot of potential for this show to move to Broadway, there were a lot of people from New York and other areas in the audience hoping we would put on a good show!  Luckily, we have a fantastic creative team and a super talented cast.  Everyone worked really hard, and we ended up with a really good story to tell.  I'm definitely proud to share this with my friends and family.  

(The tragic couple, Bonnie & Clyde...and Ted on opening night)

There are a bunch of production shots on BroadwayWorld.com if you want to check it out.    

The flip side of working in Sarasota is access to some of the most beautiful beaches in America.  Siesta Key Beach has sand that I liken to Splenda.  It is made of finely ground white quartz and is always cool to the touch.  In fact, let me me show you how to end a long day in Florida:

I know, I know...how do I get through it?  Well, it's tough to bear such a horrible sight, but I always remember that there must be beauty somewhere in the world :)

Next stop for me is NC for the holidays and then a trip to Uganda for my friend's wedding and non-profit work.  I finally got all of my vaccines.  Luckily I only needed 4 shots...and I didn't faint!  I will definitely post more about my Uganda trip once I'm there or soon after I get back.  If you'd like, you can look at my friend's non-profit called Sewing Hope: empowering African organizations caring for orphans and children by teaching practical skills.  I'm really looking forward to being outside of my comfort zone again.  That is when I learn the most!

Merry Christmas to all!

Everybody cut, Everybody cut...FOOTLOOSE!

View from the back of the MUNY

I'm actually down in Sarasota, Florida at the moment working on my tan....and Bonnie & Clyde :)  But I realized I forgot to write about a couple things that happened this summer after PRAIRIE ended.  So...let's be kind and rewind (a reference that is lost on the generation that only knows DVDs and missed the wide wobbly world of VHS).

Lights up.  100 degrees and 100 cast members.  1.5 weeks of rehearsal and 7 night shows.  11,000 audience members fanning themselves and eating popcorn.....Will the show be ready?  Are we going to pass out form the heat?  Most importantly...can I make them laugh?

Willard's "goin' out" look. Don't espect him ta dance!!!

That was my biggest worry about playing Willard in FOOTLOOSE.  It turns out, everybody loves an honest goofball.  Most importantly, we all had a blast.  The MUNY stage is probably the largest stage I have performed on to date.  Of course, it has to be that big in order to put on a show for 11,000 people!  They actually have airplane propellers in the audience before the show to cool everyone down.  I'm not kidding!!!

Another great MUNY perk is that 50 or more high school students get a chance to be a part of the productions.  Some of these kids have done more shows than I have!  They brought so much energy that it made the rest of us "outsiders" have to kick it up a notch.  It's great when you can feed off each other's energy...especially when it's still around 100 when the sun goes down.  Luckily we had lots of water and gatorade in the wings to keep us going.

Willard's attempt at being sexy...

If you are ever passing through St. Louis during the summer, you really should try to catch a show at the MUNY.  You can even get one of the 1500 free tickets they give away each night.  They cast some amazing talent in each of these shows.  I got to work with actors that have won or been nominated for multiple TONY awards like Dee Hoty and Jeff McCarthy.  The MUNY has a rich history of talent...believe me...I looked at the list..wow!!!  Don't miss it if you're near it.

I wish I had some pictures of the show from the audience's perspective, but I can't seem to find them.  Sorry they're just me bein' goofy backstage!

Gym class...don't we all miss it?...

The night of the DANCE Y'ALL!  And no, that's not a real flower.

New Project = New Adventure

I'm super excited to say that I've officially accepted the role of Ted in BONNIE & CLYDE this fall at Asolo Repertory Theater in Florida.  I was a part of one of the first readings in NYC back before the 2nd act was finished.  Ted is one of the deputies in a small town who happens to be in love with Bonnie.  After seeing his feelings are not returned, he has to join and eventually hunt down the notorious killers, B&C.

The hope is that the next stop for this production will be Broadway.  Below is the announcement on the Asolo website.  The production is directed by Jeff Calhoun with whom I worked on Big River, my Broadway debut back in 2003.  I'm glad to have another opportunity to create something new again!  I actually had to turn down the role of Sky in MAMMA MIA on Broadway in order to do this.  I may be crazy, but I wanted to see B&C through to completion and hope that MM will have a spot for me again down the road.

This business is never dull!
November 19–December 19
Bonnie & ClydePRE-BROADWAY RUN!
book by Ivan Menchell, music by Frank Wildhorn, lyrics by Don Black

Everybody had a dream. They had a plan. 
Bonnie and Clyde’s riveting adventures are brought to the stage in this vibrant and stylish new musical from the composer ofJekyll and Hyde, The Scarlet Pimpernel, Svengali and Wonderland! This seductive and cinematic new musical examines how a troubled Texas teen and a love-sick waitress became America’s most infamous couple, with a thrilling new score that combines 
rockabilly, blues and gospel music. See it at Asolo Rep before it hits Broadway!

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!