Run in The Motor CIty

[mrdreamjeans]

We landed in Detroit last night after a six-hour bus ride from Chicago. The drive was uneventful. I was on the “quiet” bus which contained most of the crew who had been up till 3:30am loading the show out of the Auditorium Theatre in Chicago. It snowed most of the way, changing the arrival time by about an hour, but I was prepared for the journey with a good book, a gallon of Arizona Diet Green tea and snacks. The bus was silent except for the soft sound of snoring and the occasional ringing cell phone. We lunched on fast food in Paw Paw, Michigan, some of us playing supermarket sweep, grabbing a few groceries to store away in our rooms in Detroit. There are no major grocery or drug store chains anywhere near our housing.

“Evita” is staying at the Renaissance Center in downtown Detroit right on the river. It’s the building that houses the General Motors corporate headquarters. It’s all concrete and steel, closely resembling a giant ant hill, fortress or prison...take your pick. Everything is circular, divided into four towers and very confusing. My hotel room in the Marriott is comfortable; the view out the window is of the river which is the border between the US and Canada and of the Windsor Casino in Windsor, Ontario Canada. Later in the run here, I plan to take a taxi through the tunnel under the river and spend an afternoon doing some power shopping in Canada

Although there are some pockets of redevelopment such as the new MGM Grand Casino, the renovated Fox Theatre (currently featuring the Rockettes Christmas show) and the new baseball stadium, the city still saddens me, so much faded glory. For the past 40 years, Detroit has been the prime example of urban blight and corrupt municipal government. There are examples of stunning buildings all over the city, but most are empty shells, ghosts of Detroit’s more prosperous past. There are entire blocks which have disappeared including the seven block Gimbel’s building. Only GM out of the major auto manufacturers is still located in the city center.

There are some lovely people at the Fisher Theater where we are playing for the next two weeks. Many are dressers who worked the 1998-1999 tour of “Evita”. We teched that tour here and played the Masonic Temple Theatre for three weeks. The Masonic is in the middle of a crack drug neighborhood and we had to be bused in under guard nightly. My dresser from that run in Detroit, Thomas, was assigned to me again tonight and so is familiar with my costumes and the 16 changes. I was happy to have someone where explanations weren't really necessary. There is also a nice lady named Necie who I've worked with several times. I got a great big hug from her and that made my evening!

I’m dressing in a hallway/alcove right above the stairs to the basement next to a water cooler. Only the best for me:) The only wonky moment tonight was when I was changing into my Magaldi manager suit. I was stripped down to underwear and tee-shirt when the local chaperone brought the 10 children for the “Charity Concert” up the stairs. I asked politely that she take the kids back downstairs until I was through the change. The last thing I need is some parent with ten wide-eyed children in tow, giggling and staring at me in my underwear.

Our crew did a magnificent job of getting us on stage. When we arrived at 6pm for our sound check they were far behind in getting set up, but managed to pull it together under difficult circumstances and we had a safe show. The Fisher Building is beautiful but the theatre (owned by the Neaderlanders) is right out of the 1970s, and unlike the beauty of the theatres in Boston and Waterbury, it's a real eyesore. It is also in need of renovation. I watched tonight as it rained on Eva during the balcony scene during “Don’t Cry for Me Argentina”. Kathy’s a trooper, but there were leaks throughout the backstage area and onstage which can be very dangerous to the performers.

We have three-hour rehearsals plus shows for the next two days, but I don’t mind. I’m prepared to complete quite a few projects such as Christmas cards and finalize Christmas presents. In addition, I'm going to have the opportunity to visit the Ford Museum in Dearborn, will hopefully make contact with a friend from "Phantom", Barb Scanlon, who is working on her Master's Degree in Information Technology at the University of Michigan and will also get to meet WonderBoyMI (Brian) from Live Journal. I'm hoping he'll be able to take me up on the unexpected offer of comps this Thursday night. I love it when I can get my friends and acquaintances in for free:)

We did get a piece of negative news tonight. Our run in Washington, DC has been canceled; evidently the show just won’t fit into the theatre for which it was slotted. I will now have several weeks off, three in January and the first and third weeks of February, then the schedule gets much stronger again. I may try to find some work for the off weeks, just to stay productive. Meanwhile, it’s 13 more days in The Motor City and my engine is running:)