Second National

Hello from the road again, my friends! Most of you know this, but I've been hired to play the Housekeeper on the national tour of Man of La Mancha. I can't tell you how lucky I feel. I'm working with a fantastic group of people, and I couldn't be happier to be spending the next three months traveling across the country with them. I've already made some amazing friends who have been right here with me for the ups and downs of the past month.

We've been rehearsing since the beginning of December and flew out to Salt Lake City on January 1st. I actually spent my first day in Salt Lake with a good friend of mine from high school who I hadn't seen in 12 years or so, and got to hear a rehearsal of the Utah Symphony as well. What a way to start the year!

It's now the 5th day of tour, and our first long travel day on the bus...11 and a half hours to sit. Sit and sleep. Sit and write. Sit and think. Thankfully, there's wifi on the bus so I'm able to do all sorts of things...including sit on Facebook. But I will be productive. I've got poems to write for a song cycle that I've been commissioned to create. I've got lots of research to do for other auditions. And hopefully, I'll find a few minutes to blog and keep you up to date on how things are going.

We opened last night in Idaho Falls, Idaho. It was a lovely, little town. Everyone so friendly. The food, AMAZING. The prices, cheap. Now that I've been living in New York for over a year, there's always a sense of sticker shock when I get out into the real world. Appetizers for $2.95? Isn't that missing a one or a zero somewhere?! But really. Baked Potato Soup. In Idaho. You know, like where Potatoes come from. Phenomenal. And dirty martinis for $4. I was in heaven.

The audience at the Colonial Theatre was so appreciative. Standing ovations all around. I wish I could say that I remember every moment, but I don't. When I'm up on stage, I'm not myself so it's hard for me to tell you what happened while I'm up there. I might be able to tell you about a bad note that I wasn't happy with (had a real clunker on opening), or a new moment that I find with another actor on stage, but it all goes by so quickly that I rarely remember. To be honest, I didn't even realize that we had gotten a standing ovation last night. Other cast members told me.

It's noon. Quiet hours on the bus are now over. The Bengals/Chargers football game is on the TV so the boys are making their manly sounds with each tackle. We've been on the bus for four hours already. The rest will fly by.

Till next time friends. Sending you much love from this wide-widthed country of ours.

Yv-