Big Update

Lets do a fast catch-up:

Chicago- We loved chicago! Its got New York sophistication with midwestern friendliness.  It was great to see our show up in huge lights again.  We played on Chicago's Bway equivalent so it was a trip to walk to work though all the flashing lights of the different shows that were playing.  Kevin Duda hooked the Varela's up with a SWEET penthouse about a mile from the theater. Incredible views and a flat screen tv.  We had a hard time leaving that one.
The audiences were great, lots of autographs to sign after the show.

Appleton- Its starting to get cold out there and Appleton is the furthest north we go until Minneapolis.  Its a nice town with a good strip of lively shops and restaurants that serve a college crowd. The theater itself is state of the art (its a hard rule that the larger the city, the more decrepit the backstage area, Appleton was spotless). Susan Spencer is from Wisconsin so she had lots of family come in to see her perform.  On Grammy night, Katie Fisher had the honor of stepping forward during bows to inform the crowd that Maureen McGovern had won a Grammy award for her work on a collaborative children's album! Maureen was very moved and thanked everyone onstage and called us "the best cast ever".
Kevin Duda took over the role of Laurie while little Stevie Patterson went to NYC to take part in the workshop of the ABBA people's new musical "Christine". Our associate director, Darcy Evans, will join the company in the Laurie/John Brooke standby slot.

Minneapolis- Cold. 18 below 0. However, we do find the Mall of America and we spend alot of time in the amusement park there. Our producer, Randal Wreghitt, is from the Minneapolis area and his sister invited the cast to her house for a luncheon to celebrate Randal and to meet his family. 
Now, Randal is robust 6'2" and he's the runt of the bunch, because everyone there looked like they belonged at one of those Strongman contests. Uncle Fred was the epitome of the term "gentle giant". They were so loving and so proud of Randal (Randy, as they say) even old teachers of his were there.  They all came to see the show and, afterwards, had a gathering at a restaurant near the theater. They were a bunch of characters and I can completely understand how they made Randal the character he is.

St Louis- when you play StL, the first question you ask is "Are we playing the Fox?" Besides being one of the most beautiful theaters in the country, the backstage area of the Fox is covered with the graffitti of a thousand tours that have passed through, from the simple signatures of Ray Romano and Bill Cosby to entire walls of feathers that memorialize the tour of "La Cage".  When you're not onstage you can just walk around reading all the signatures of friends and legends and you'd never get through all of them.
Bob "I can't help my hard face" Stattel, an accomplished artist, is responsible for the Little Women painting and when I tell you it looks like a Monet, I really don't know what a Monet looks like.  Bob always paints a moment from the show, one that isn't onstage but is talked about.
After a matinee, we had a cast barbecue.  Squatch, our giant flyman, drags out his grill and we make burgers, dogs, and basically whatever else you want.  Its just another way we make the road seem a little more homey.  Someone stole my bratwurst, I'm still p.o.ed about that.
Katie Fisher left us on a medical leave, her knee requires a little surgery so she's going to be out for the next 5 weeks.  Susan Spencer will take over the role and Julie Foldesi will be the alternate Jo.  For those of you who followed the Bway run of the show, Julie was the Jo alternate in NYC.  Back on Bway, she and I used to play a rather cutthroat game of Monopoly in the standby room during the show.  She's a great energy and is going to fit perfectly with the family we have going out here.

Tampa- Florida FINALLY!  We are now out of the winter doldrums and can enjoy the outdoors again.  We spend as much time as we can soaking up the sun.  The audiences are fantastic.  They hootin and hollerin at all the jokes and jumping to their feet when the curtain comes down.  Nice weather=good audiences I guess. The Varela's stayed with some friends who had a pool so Tampa was a great pseudo-vacation.  Stephen Patterson came back to us.
Bob Stattel, who has played Mr. Laurence in every incarnation of the show and has never missed a performance, comes down with the flu and our own James Darrah goes on.  He, thoughtfully, walks around to everyone he has to work with and shows them the beard he has to wear.  After we have a laugh (and a couple of Amish jokes), James gives a wonderful performance.

Ft Lauderdale- so now we're relatively up-t0-date.  FtL is in the middle of spring break so the city is really busy but, again, great weather all the time.  In our first week we've had two barbecues and we're planning the next one already. 

I'm going to try to blog weekly henceforth, a gentle prod from fans of the show was well received.  Forgive me.

Comments

[Christine Daae ;-)]

I'm the gentle prodder! :-D Thank you SO much for updating! Sunscreen for all of you while in Florida, and FLIP FLOPS for certain members of the cast... :-)

[Krista]

Hey guys! I saw you all in the Minneapolis tour. I was wondering if you remembered us. My friend Kristen and I stood outside the stage doors asking for autographs (at the last show). It was REALLY cold and you all kept coming out looking at us like we were crazy haha! I loved the show, I'm obsessed with "The Weekly Volcano Press" for some reason. It was an amazing show -- please come back again!!

[kk]

I just came back from the show... Ft. Lauderdale it is!!! It was amazing! First time I've seen it (altough the book's been my favorite forever) Thanks guys for an amazing day (you made me cry for like 3 hours) hope u have fun around here, im sure u will.