Beep-us Interrupt-us

So, I'm blogging from NYC, where we are stationed for two nights, as we prep for the "northern" part of our tour. Maine, Mass, Rhode Island, Connecticut, here we come! However, before we get up that far north, it's time to recap the excitement of, in this case, Upstate New York.

The most eventful of our shows came in Saratoga Springs. The town, by the way, is easily one of the nicest in which we've spent the night. Lovely college-town feel, with springs and cheap eats/drinks. I got a peak at the town when Leah and I went out to grab food. And the next morning, refreshed and relaxed (and having sampled some of the local spring water, straight from the source), we headed to our venue inside a Middle School. Where we were supplied with a breakfast of Dunkin' Donuts and coffee, and given made-to-order subs for lunch. Did I mention how much I love Saratoga?

Anyway, our first show went great and, after our provided lunch, we were all ready for a super-dooper second show. The kids filed into the theater, Lydia made our pre-show announcement, the overture played and Ruby went out to say her first lines. As she was discovering the mud pie, however, blaring beeps and flashing lights interrupted the show. It appears that somebody in the kitchen had set off the fire alarm, and the entire school (actors included) was to evacuate as quickly as possible. Meaning all six of us, in costume, headed out of the building and into confusion. On our left were the under-6 year-olds of our audience, a little freaked out by the incidents of the last few minutes (and confused as to why Max didn't have ears; we all put our hats back on immediately). On the right were middle school students, who did the classic point-and-laugh routine. Hoping to avoid the ogglers, and to keep the kiddies happy, we retreated to the van, which also caused an interesting sight:



Emileena joined us with the news that this might take a while, so Ben and Michelle headed out to teach the kids basic fire safety (watching Ben "stop, drop and roll" in the Max costume is perhaps one of the funniest things I've seen on this tour). Twenty minutes later, the "all clear" came, and we headed inside, only to discover that we had only 30 minutes in which to do a 50 minute show. Some quick thinking ensued and we decided to summarize the first half of the show, and perform from the attic onwards. Which felt weird. I kept forgetting which part of the play we were in! However, the show went smoothly and the kiddies loved us. Which is, of course, ultimately what matters. Emileena hosted a quick Q&A in the remaining five minutes after our show wrapped up, and then we loaded out. Certainly one of our strangest days.

Kid quote of the day: During the talk back, a little girl asked, very earnestly, "Does the Blue Tarantula bite?"

Call tomorrow: 9am, Manhattan garage near Columbia. We're going to Maine. I know somebody who's going to be eating a lobster!!!