The Bad and the Beautiful

Week 13: Fort Myers, FL

Lest you suppose that the touring life is all glamor, my experience here in Fort Myers may give you a taste of reality. As with most journeys, there will always be surprises along the way, some good and some not so good. I will preface what I am about to write with the sincere hope that I won't offend the citizens of this Florida town. The audiences here are great and I am sure that there is much to appreciate in Fort Myers. Nevertheless, my first impressions have not been pleasant ones. Fort Myers is just sort of a depressing place, one of many American communities that have become victim to a kind of urban sprawl, a network of highways lined with strip malls and fast food restaurants. This is, regrettably, what most of the American landscape of today has become. Chain restaurants and franchise mega stores. And it is here in this prefabricated environment that much of the company found ourselves faced with having to stay at a substandard hotel along the highway about a 15 minute drive from the theatre, the Barbara B. Mann Hall on the Edison University campus. Finding housing for the company has proved challenging as we are in Florida at high season and everyone in the company has a limited budget, plus we require group rates. So it's a crap shoot and unfortunately, this week's hotel, which shall remain nameless (to protect the guilty) is, well, crap. Mildew, ancient carpet, fluorescent lighting, airless, ugly rooms with windows that won't open, and a great first floor view of a parking lot. Depressing. Ick.

However, as I have said before, there is beauty to be found everywhere. Just over the bridge from Fort Myers is the beautiful island of Sanibel. I had the good fortune to stay on Sanibel for several weeks a decade ago when I did some theatre out there. It is a nature preserve and has one the most incredible stretches of beach in the world, famous for the thousands of shells that wash up on the sand there. This is beachcomber's paradise. My friend Jonathan and I drove out there today and took a chilly walk on the windy stretch of sand and shells. The sea has always brought such a sense of clarity to me and a feeling of peace. I also have fond memories of my season on Sanibel and revisiting this charming place brought them all back. I was very happy to be reminded that there is beauty around us at all times--sometimes we just have to seek it out. So with the bad comes the beautiful.




There have been other great things about our week in Fort Myers. We got to rehearse with Gary Beach and get prepared for his opening next week in Miami. He is a wonderful, wonderful actor and someone I have emulated for years. I have had the chance to spend some time really talking with Gary and he is generous and funny and loves the work of the theatre. Next week I will dedicate a post specifically to Gary and how much his work means to me. This week I have also gotten to socialize more with the company--a poker party, a barbecue--and it is a delightful, rowdy, fun loving group, complete with about ten terrific dogs. The group gatherings are a delight. We are all excited about going to Miami! I have secured a condo right in the heart of South Beach for the week, and having never been there before, I am eager to soak up all the fun of this popular resort. This should make up for the dismal hotel I have stayed in this week!


Continuing the tradition of the dresser photo gallery, here is a shot of me with my Fort Myers dresser, Susie (on the left). With us are her daughter, Crystal, who also works wardrobe, and her husband Gus, who works fly rail (the system that raises and lowers set pieces and curtains). They have turned stage work into a family affair. Truly nice people and Susie is a real pro and an excellent dresser. In the end, this town has turned out to be more beautiful than bad. It's all about perspective, isn't it? More to come from glamorous Miami Beach, friends.