Young At Heart

Believe it or not, our first week on the road is almost at an end! And although this is technically my first grownup job, this is like the least grownup I've felt in...ever. Why? Because our first week is all PPs aka Private Performances aka Middle School Auditoriums. Augh! I feel a sudden urge to slather myself in body glitter and cover my head in butterfly clips. Then go cry in the bathroom because no one asked me to slow dance.

We began at a Holiday Inn in Nashua, New Hampshire. Surprisingly enough, a friend of mine happened to be in the neighborhood, so my "gentleman caller" (as some of the cast enjoyed referring to him as) and I sampled the local nightlife (keep in mind, this is Sunday, people), which consisted of a Boston Billiards bar stuck in among warehouses and empty factories. All of the waitresses were dressed in slutty Patriots football uniforms, but they made a mean Flirtini, so Boston Billiards = two thumbs up.

The first show was...a first show. That's the best way to put it. A little messy, but not horrendous. It's really exhausting - load in takes a couple hours, then the show is like two hours, then we load out for like two hours. Thankfully that night began the Weird Hotels. The Best Western in Seabrook, NH features a playground, pool with frog waterslides, stationary swanboats, a ferris wheel, and an Old Mcdonald's Farm petting zoo complete with goats. We played on the swingset and watched the stars, and all I could think was "Damn, I am so happy I'm not sitting in a pantssuit at Goldman Sachs right now." The march of the Weird Hotels continued with a Coco Key Best Western, in Fitchburg Mass, "The Key West of Massachussetts!" Seriously. There were 40 foot waterslides and beach chairs. Our last hotel, the Comfort Inn in Port Jervis NY, wasn't really that weird, except we did watch the cops escort a very drunk guy named Ray out of the Mountain Top Lounge, so there was a little local flavor.

So far, life on the road is pretty great. Two of the guys play guitar really well, so we've been having some pretty kickass van singalongs, as well as a waltz/polka dance party under the gazebo at Coco Key. But the best part has been the kids. They've assigned us student groups to help at most of the shows, and everyone has been so wonderful. On our second day, a team of students, moms, and even the vice principal all rolled up their sleeves and helped out. The next day, we had a team of junior tech guys, who were pretty much hilarious. There was almost a rumble in the cafeteria (yes, we ate in the caf with the kids, surrounded by cheerleaders and guys in jerseys and it was the weirdest thing) because one of them sat with me and the Other Actress as opposed to this very forward junior girl who was not too happy about the situation. And today, I had a very enthusiastic team of 13 year old girls helping me hang costumes and talking my ear off about how much they loved Sleepy Hollow and asking me to show them how to make funny squeaky noises and hit boys. Things have been a little rough - there's no wing space in the auditoriums, we've had to change in everything from the band room to a janitor's closet to the spanish classroom, but for all the little girls who've dreamed of prancing about in ballgowns and wigs, it's totally been worth it.