Travelin' South ... Tales of the Day
Dec. 30th, 2004 12:51 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
mrdreamjeansUNWELCOME ATTENTION
The two days in Upstate New York went very quickly, but not without an oddity or two. We completed our second of two shows in Schenectady with a debut performance by Marc Cardiff as Juan Peron, subbing for Phillip Hernandez who called in sick. One of our male dancers was out, making an unexpected visit to the hospital to have a cyst on his chest checked out. The doctor isn’t sure, but suspects a staph infection. It’s good Halden had it checked out sooner than later. Needless to say, our male swing was busy, covering chunks of two tracks. It was a successful performance and was once again a near sell-out.
Backstage gossip last night centered around a bizarre set of calls made by a local guy (yesterday morning) to three of the guys in the cast. The man, who identified himself as Rick, spun a slightly different story to each guy, telling Jeffrey, Billy and Chris exactly what he wanted to do to them in sexually graphic detail.
Jeffrey thought it was an intimate friend of his playing a trick. He jokingly replied that he wasn’t awake yet, but give him an hour and he’d shower, have a cup of coffee and a cigarette and be ready for some fun. An hour later there was a knock on the door; Jeff opened the door and what Jeff described as an “old troll” was standing at the door. Jeff said, Who are you?” The guy said, “I’m Rick and I’ve come over to suck your dick.” Jeff told him to go home or he’d report him to the police.
All three guys were upset that this guy had obviously seen the first performance in Schenectady (in fact had told the other two guys he worked for the theater), pulled their names from the program and knew that performers coming through town with shows always stayed at the Holiday Inn. The most bothersome element of the unwelcome attention is that he knew Jeff’s room number. Who in the hotel gave out the information? We joked about it, but there was an underlying edge to the humor. Stalking isn’t something to joke about and our company manager made a formal complaint to the management about the serious breach in security.
TRAVELIN’ SOUTH
We had an excellent travel day on Southwest Airlines, experiencing none of the bullshit that Delta, Northwest and Commair have put us through recently. We arrived early at all of our destinations, and as is often the case the attendants kept the passengers entertained and relaxed. The African-American male fllight attendant, who made most of the humorous announcements, was terrific.
Some folks don’t like Southwest’s approach to making the flights fun, but I enjoy it immensely. By using humor, which he described as “good for the soul”, this attendant was able to convey important information in a disarming way; it actually tricked you into paying closer attention. When’s the last time you heard a a flight attendant receive applause just for delivering safety information? The guy today earned three rounds of applause and smiles all around:)
In an aside, our new conductor Elaine Chapman, a good ole girl from Texas, offered to knit a winter scarf for me if I’d buy the yarn. I bought some back in Detroit and gave it to her this morning on the company bus to the airport. She finished the scarf shortly after we arrived in Baltimore. She did an amazing job and I was wearing it two hours later, just in time to put it away till next week when we head further North to South Carolina.
BUSING and a BUST
We arrived in Orlando 20 minutes early; our luggage was already circling the baggage carousel when we got to the claim area. We had to wait a bit for our buses, as we had arrived so early. Most of us took that time to pack our coats and scarves away. The 24-degree weather of Albany, NY had become the 74 degree weather of Orlando.
I had no idea that this time of year was so popular at the theme parks. We encountered heavy traffic around the Disney and Universal parks and consequently the drive to Sarasota took two hours. When we checked into the hotel about 7:30pm, we had been traveling for eleven hours! Unfortunately, our hotel is a bust. It’s the Wellesley Inn and Suites; it’s typical of many properties in Florida, expensive and poorly maintained. I looked at five rooms before I finally landed in the one I’m in. This is the first time I’ve requested a move on the entire tour. I’m usually pretty relaxed and easy to please about the rooms.
The first room was noisy and near the elevator which dinged every time the doors opened. The second room reeked of toilet and mildew. The third and fourth rooms were on the first floor, one near the breakfast area, the other near the pool. We are sharing the hotel with a soccer team, so noise was again going to be a factor. The locks are broken on several doors. It’s obvious that maintenance and cleanliness are not priorities at this property. I am in a smoking room with cigarette burns in the carpet. (I’m afraid to take my socks off and walk on the carpet, it’s so dirty.) There is a smear of tar on one of the bedspreads; the phone had no cords and wasn’t hooked to the wall. Other than that, the space is lovely. HA!
DAY OFF
Since it took the trucks carrying the sets, lights and costumes 32 hours to drive here, we have tomorrow off while the production is loaded into the Van Wesel Theater. It’s a purple monstrosity, but if memory serves me correctly, we’ll have adequate space backstage. I’m going to try to rent a car and visit friends in Tampa, but cost will be a factor. The price of rentals in this week between Christmas and New Years are at their highest, $70-80 a day. I may not be able to afford it, but I’ll be searching diligently for deals. I don’t want to be cooped up in this hotel!
So, that’s the stories of the day headin’ South... a Schenectady stalker, a new knitted scarf, terrific service from Southwest Airlines and a smelly bust of a hotel...
The two days in Upstate New York went very quickly, but not without an oddity or two. We completed our second of two shows in Schenectady with a debut performance by Marc Cardiff as Juan Peron, subbing for Phillip Hernandez who called in sick. One of our male dancers was out, making an unexpected visit to the hospital to have a cyst on his chest checked out. The doctor isn’t sure, but suspects a staph infection. It’s good Halden had it checked out sooner than later. Needless to say, our male swing was busy, covering chunks of two tracks. It was a successful performance and was once again a near sell-out.
Backstage gossip last night centered around a bizarre set of calls made by a local guy (yesterday morning) to three of the guys in the cast. The man, who identified himself as Rick, spun a slightly different story to each guy, telling Jeffrey, Billy and Chris exactly what he wanted to do to them in sexually graphic detail.
Jeffrey thought it was an intimate friend of his playing a trick. He jokingly replied that he wasn’t awake yet, but give him an hour and he’d shower, have a cup of coffee and a cigarette and be ready for some fun. An hour later there was a knock on the door; Jeff opened the door and what Jeff described as an “old troll” was standing at the door. Jeff said, Who are you?” The guy said, “I’m Rick and I’ve come over to suck your dick.” Jeff told him to go home or he’d report him to the police.
All three guys were upset that this guy had obviously seen the first performance in Schenectady (in fact had told the other two guys he worked for the theater), pulled their names from the program and knew that performers coming through town with shows always stayed at the Holiday Inn. The most bothersome element of the unwelcome attention is that he knew Jeff’s room number. Who in the hotel gave out the information? We joked about it, but there was an underlying edge to the humor. Stalking isn’t something to joke about and our company manager made a formal complaint to the management about the serious breach in security.
TRAVELIN’ SOUTH
We had an excellent travel day on Southwest Airlines, experiencing none of the bullshit that Delta, Northwest and Commair have put us through recently. We arrived early at all of our destinations, and as is often the case the attendants kept the passengers entertained and relaxed. The African-American male fllight attendant, who made most of the humorous announcements, was terrific.
Some folks don’t like Southwest’s approach to making the flights fun, but I enjoy it immensely. By using humor, which he described as “good for the soul”, this attendant was able to convey important information in a disarming way; it actually tricked you into paying closer attention. When’s the last time you heard a a flight attendant receive applause just for delivering safety information? The guy today earned three rounds of applause and smiles all around:)
In an aside, our new conductor Elaine Chapman, a good ole girl from Texas, offered to knit a winter scarf for me if I’d buy the yarn. I bought some back in Detroit and gave it to her this morning on the company bus to the airport. She finished the scarf shortly after we arrived in Baltimore. She did an amazing job and I was wearing it two hours later, just in time to put it away till next week when we head further North to South Carolina.
BUSING and a BUST
We arrived in Orlando 20 minutes early; our luggage was already circling the baggage carousel when we got to the claim area. We had to wait a bit for our buses, as we had arrived so early. Most of us took that time to pack our coats and scarves away. The 24-degree weather of Albany, NY had become the 74 degree weather of Orlando.
I had no idea that this time of year was so popular at the theme parks. We encountered heavy traffic around the Disney and Universal parks and consequently the drive to Sarasota took two hours. When we checked into the hotel about 7:30pm, we had been traveling for eleven hours! Unfortunately, our hotel is a bust. It’s the Wellesley Inn and Suites; it’s typical of many properties in Florida, expensive and poorly maintained. I looked at five rooms before I finally landed in the one I’m in. This is the first time I’ve requested a move on the entire tour. I’m usually pretty relaxed and easy to please about the rooms.
The first room was noisy and near the elevator which dinged every time the doors opened. The second room reeked of toilet and mildew. The third and fourth rooms were on the first floor, one near the breakfast area, the other near the pool. We are sharing the hotel with a soccer team, so noise was again going to be a factor. The locks are broken on several doors. It’s obvious that maintenance and cleanliness are not priorities at this property. I am in a smoking room with cigarette burns in the carpet. (I’m afraid to take my socks off and walk on the carpet, it’s so dirty.) There is a smear of tar on one of the bedspreads; the phone had no cords and wasn’t hooked to the wall. Other than that, the space is lovely. HA!
DAY OFF
Since it took the trucks carrying the sets, lights and costumes 32 hours to drive here, we have tomorrow off while the production is loaded into the Van Wesel Theater. It’s a purple monstrosity, but if memory serves me correctly, we’ll have adequate space backstage. I’m going to try to rent a car and visit friends in Tampa, but cost will be a factor. The price of rentals in this week between Christmas and New Years are at their highest, $70-80 a day. I may not be able to afford it, but I’ll be searching diligently for deals. I don’t want to be cooped up in this hotel!
So, that’s the stories of the day headin’ South... a Schenectady stalker, a new knitted scarf, terrific service from Southwest Airlines and a smelly bust of a hotel...
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Date: 2004-12-30 01:55 pm (UTC)I have never heard of any stalker stories from Chip when he was on tour with "Les Miz" and I certainly don't recall any incidents like that when we were travelling with "Sunset Blvd" (First Nat'l) - but I'm sure he'll chime in with his $0.02 and add something, pro or con, to the discussion.
Enjoy the warm surroundings and don't shave the fur - you'll need it! ;)
XOXO
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Date: 2004-12-30 03:26 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-12-30 05:13 pm (UTC)