Paris of the Plains

Week 30: Fort Worth, TX

In the theatre in which we were raised, it was taken for granted that one toured. To ask us if we like touring is like asking us if we like to eat. It is sad that younger actors have not had the experience of playing before different audiences in theatres of different sizes. It is part of the job of being an actor.
--Lynn Fontanne

I just completed the marvelous and inspiring biography, "The Fabulous Lunts" by Jared Brown, thus another insight from Miss Fontanne. I highly recommend this exhaustive and wonderfully entertaining book! The Lunts estimated at one point that they had performed in their time for over 1.2 million people. The greater part of their career was spent on the road, playing mostly one night stands in any venue that would accept them--high school gymnasiums, VFW halls, you name it--sometimes without sets, costumes or lighting. Their dedication to their craft and to bringing their work to any audience in America that wanted it is an inspiration to remember the next time I am grumbling about life on the road!

A great theatrical anecdote from last week's run in San Antonio. Our Lancelot, Patrick Heusinger, landed a guest role on a TV series and had to leave us on short notice. Now, the tour company has four "swings"--two men and two women who are responsible for covering all the ensemble parts in the show. When a principal actor is out, one of the ensemble men who understudies the role goes on and a swing moves into that performer's place. As fate would have it, at the end of last week one of our ensemble men, David, had to go away for a wedding, and he happens to be one of the Lancelot understudies. So Nigel, one of our swings, went on as Lancelot. Our other swing, Graham, had to go on in the place of another ensemble man who was out. Which left no one to cover David's ensemble track. So, the solution?
Tera-Lee, one of our female swings and our stellar assistant dance captain, had to go on in male drag and perform David's role. And what a trouper she was! Clad in chain mail, a mustache, and her high heeled dance shoes, Tera-Lee executed every bit of David's track with finesse. She was adorable, especially when paired with the lovely Bree in the finale who was at least nine inches taller than Tera-Lee in her heels! Ken, our droll and very clever stage manager, has named Tera-Lee's alter ego "Ted." This whole thing is further proof that when "the show must go on," theatre people, in the words of Tim Gunn, "make it work!" I doubt if anyone in the audience noticed that "Ted" was really a girl. The photo was captured from the wings by our stage manager Jovon.

Fort Worth began it's life as a military outpost, then evolved as a major cattle town along the Chisholm Trail, with a strip of saloons and bawdy houses so attractive to traveling cowboys that it earned the town the nickname "Paris of the Plains." I regret that I don't have a whole lot to say about Fort Worth. As has happened in the past, I am housed several miles outside of town and have pretty much carpooled to and from the theatre or to the gym, which is right next to the theatre.
The theatre itself, Bass Performance Hall, is a majestic building, and from what I understand, the crown jewel of Fort Worth. It combines modern design and technology with a nod to the ornate and elegant European style theatres of the past. An imposing facade with enormous bas-relief angels encloses a gleaming interior of polished marble, tromp l'oeil ceiling murals, and a house arranged in graceful horseshoe shaped tiers; the entire theatre is in ethereal shades of cream and dove gray with mauve seats. The angel motif extends to the domed ceiling, encircled with stylized feather "wings"--the feather pattern is echoed in the carvings on the plush seats. The venue is lovely, and the dressing rooms are very comfortable and spacious. After the raucous audiences of San Antonio, the Fort Worth crowds seem polite and sedate by comparison but are enjoying the show every bit as much.

Of course, I couldn't leave Fort Worth without seeing some art. You know my motto--look for the beauty everywhere you go. The Kimbell Art Museum has it in spades. Their small collection of European art is like a wonderful jewel box, containing an exquisite array of gems from some of art's greatest masters. Among them, astonishingly, is one of the most famous and most influential canvases by my favorite artist, Caravaggio. When I entered the gallery and saw "The Card Sharps" hanging there, I almost hit the floor. Caravaggio influenced generations of artists with his revolutionary approach to realism, light and shadow and this particular painting, which depicts a delightful, spontaneous human event was often imitated by many fine artists. What a thrill to see the painting in person. How fortunate for Fort Worth to have it, and how lucky I was to have been able to see it (okay, I'm a dork, I admit it). While I was at the museum I read a quote from Henri Matisse that represents a freedom and lightness of touch in creating art that I would aspire to, particularly in my work in "Spamalot:"

I have always tried to hide my own efforts and wanted my work to have the lightness and joyousness of a springtime which never lets anyone suspect the labors it has cost.
--Henri Matisse


From the sacred to the profane, now... I'm hosting this week's "Shot Night" and have the perfect dressing room for it--it's even equipped with a wine cooler! My shot is western themed, and has an obscene name which I will omit out of consideration for those of you with delicate sensibilities. However, it consists simply of Irish cream and butterscotch schnapps. It's delicious, and if you want to know the off color moniker of this shot I will leave you to search the internet and find out for yourself! At any rate, I enjoy hosting shot night--it's like a little mini-party and a chance for the entire company to socialize for a few minutes together at the end of a long work week.


My Fort Worth dresser is Rhonda. She is married to a stage hand (a pattern for marrying into the backstage profession has emerged in my experience with various dressers) and when her children reached high school age she decided to pursue work in the theatre, settling on wardrobe work, which she has been doing for about eight years now. She is one of the most cheerful people I have worked with--always smiling, and with an infectious and bubbly laugh. Rhonda also has a charming Texas accent, and pronounces 'theatre' "thee-ay-ter."

Our company managers threw us a party this weekend to celebrate the successful completion of 22 one-weekers in a row. Our crew, a stellar group of people, have not had a day off since Boston (and if you recall folks, that was JANUARY). Vancouver will give all of us a chance to have a month of relative normalcy after the weekly grind of traveling from place to place. From all reports, I gather Vancouver is a wonderful city, surrounded by beautiful natural scenery and full of fun things to do. So, more from Canada next week, friends! Hope you are enjoying your summer thus far.

200

Week 29: San Antonio, TX

After the dry hot air of Albuquerque, the oppressive humid heat of San Antonio hit me like a wall. It is swelteringly, sultry hot here. Fortunately, San Antonio is an eminently walkable city and the theatre is in walking distance of my hotel, the historic Wyndham St. Anthony.
This landmark hotel was founded in 1909 and over the years hosted luminaries and celebrities ranging from Eleanor Roosevelt to Lucille Ball to Fred Astaire to Grace Kelly. The lobby is ornate and old world; something out of Henry James. And I have to say the guest services are the best I have encountered on my travels thus far. Truly wonderful customer service. Especially housekeeping. Incredibly discreet and efficient--none of that horrible rapping on doors screeching "housekeeping!" at 9AM every day. I have a lovely big room with a huge four poster bed and a spacious black and white tile bathroom-- a great space to host this week's movie night, and it is a far cry from the Extended Stay in the strip mall! Truly it makes such a difference to have comfortable and pleasing accommodations.


All of San Antonio's popular sights are within easy distance of where I am staying and working this week. The big attraction here is, of course, the Alamo. This old mission, originally erected by the Spanish to educate and convert the Native Americans, became a fortress which was the scene of the famous confrontation between Texians, led by William B. Travis, Jim Bowie, David Crockett and others, against the Mexican forces during the fight for Texas independence. Of course the brave Texians were massacred after putting up a valiant fight and the Alamo has become the symbol of Texas liberty. Far from being a reverent and solemn place--despite the many plaques and monuments, the ancient yellowed buildings, and a magnificent tropical garden on the 4.2 acre grounds--the Alamo is a busy tourist attraction, overrun with crowds of noisy visitors snapping photos. It is incongruously situated in the midst of a busy shopping district and surrounded by hotels and souvenir shops, as well as garish attractions like Ripley's Believe it or Not! across the street. I imagine if one could visit the site in the very early hours or late at night, one might enjoy the place and have an opportunity to "remember the Alamo" as a place where idealistic men gave their lives for the concept of freedom.

The San Antonio Riverwalk is equally crowded with tourists, but is intended to be a lively pedestrian passage below street level along the banks of the San Antonio River. Started in the 1920s, the construction of the walkways and attractive bridges was executed mostly in the 30's by the WPA. Today it is a very quaint and appealing stretch of restaurants, bars and shopping. Many of the cast and crew enjoyed a first night of dining on the Riverwalk, absorbing the revelry and energy of this popular area. Once you get past the business sections of the Riverwalk, moving north, it becomes a charming and beautifully landscaped public park. It's a lovely feature of this city.
On a particularly beautiful stretch of the Riverwalk lies the Southwest School of Art and Craft, housed in what was once the Ursuline Academy, a convent school for girls from the mid-19th century. While I was not especially impressed by the artwork on display in the gallery or the gift shop, I was very taken with the compound itself: beautiful old stone buildings with wooden upper galleries, and an exquisite courtyard with lush greenery and a charming fountain. It was a lovely place to enjoy a quiet old world respite from the scalding heat of the city.




This week marks the start of my second six months on the tour. I have already worked through half of my initial one year contract and it is unbelievable how quickly it seems that time has rolled by. I gave my 200th performance as Sir Robin this week. This is a milestone for me as it is the most performances I have given of any role, with perhaps the exception of my nightclub acts which I performed on and off over a period of eight years. There are performers in this tour who have been with the show since the tour launched in 2006, and they have done close to 1000 performances each at this point! I guess on the one hand there is something so strange about an actor doing one part for so long, but at the same time, there is such an opportunity to perfect and refine one's performance and really (one hopes) master it. My experience as an actor has been mainly in regional theatre, where at most one gets maybe four to six weeks of performances of any one role, and as I have played quite a lot of Shakespeare, I wonder how much I would have achieved in some of those parts had I been given 200 performances to play.

Here's a little mundane tidbit about touring life, lest you think it is all glamour and standing ovations.
Living on the road presents certain challenges, and one of those can be the doing of laundry. Many of the hotels we stay in have guest laundry services (and in fact, Candlewood Suites, one of our favorite chains, offers free laundry facilities to its guests), but many hotels do not--as in the case of my San Antonio hotel. The real kicker is that there is no laundromat or laundry service ANYWHERE in the downtown San Antonio area. After doing research and inquiring at the hotel front desk, I came up with one which is a 15 minute drive away. Not a help when one has no transportation. I am astonished that this downtown area, so full of tourists and business travelers, offers nowhere to clean clothes. And if you have ever had laundry done by hotel housekeeping services you will know that they charge ridiculous prices--the St. Anthony wants $4 per shirt. Fortunately, our lovely wardrobe mistress, Angela, took pity on me and allowed me to use the theatre's machines, which are usually off limits and used only for costumes.

Cool, indoor activities are the order of the day, so I visited the San Antonio Museum of Art, which houses a fine collection with an emphasis on Latin American art from all periods, including a gallery of religious items and iconography and a delightful collection of folk art.
Great Latin American artists are represented too, with a few pieces by renowned Mexican painter Diego Rivera, and a delicious Botero sculpture of Venus. There are some very fine antiquities, including a gallery of Roman, Greek and Etruscan sculpture, and a decorative arts gallery with an extensive collection of Wedgwood and one of the most famous canvases by the wonderful late 19th century painter Bouguereau, "Admiration."




We are performing this week at the Majestic Theatre, which has the distinction of being the gaudiest, kitschiest, most over the top theatre I have played in since joining the tour. Built in 1929 as a movie palace, it is a wacky blend of Mediterranean, Baroque and Spanish Mission architecture which adds up to what looks like a combination of the set of "Sunset Boulevard" and the background for an old Mario Lanza movie. The place is a fantasy villa, complete with starry sky, balconies and statuary, stuffed peacocks and doves poised in mid-flight, and a proscenium arch adorned with enormous urns containing plastic potted palms. The place is a hoot. And so was our opening night audience! What a reception they gave us! Those people came to have a rollicking good time and man, was it ever. Nothing like a playful, enthusiastic audience to remind you why you do this crazy stuff.


Dana is my San Antonio dresser, and what an admirable woman she is. Married to a stagehand, Dana is mother to four children, two of them older teenagers and two of them quite young. Her ten year old is named Jamie--good choice! Dana not only works wardrobe (and expertly at that), she works full time for Mary Kay Cosmetics, part time as a waitress on the weekends, and part time as an assistant special education teacher. I am reminded of my mother, who worked several jobs when I was a kid to support me and my two siblings. My hat is forever off to hard working moms like Dana.

Next week we bus to Fort Worth to complete the Texas leg of the tour, and then the long awaited sit down in Vancouver begins! Thank you to all of you who have generously written to me to let me know how much you enjoyed "Spamalot" and my work in particular, and for all your good wishes. I assure you, I take none of it for granted, and am most grateful to have the joy of doing what I love and receiving your support and kind words.

Desert Song

Week 28: Albuquerque, NM

As we landed here in Albuquerque and the landscape of brush, baked earth and mountains came into view it acted like a tonic on me. It is so nice to see a different vista and this is my first time to a desert place. The air is clear, dry and hot and my sinuses thanked me! I am also staying in a nicer hotel this week and in general it's like a big sigh of relief. I have come to really need comfortable lodgings and easy access to things to do in the various places we play. It creates a sense of balance and provides needed respite from the hard work of our eight show week. Someone recently asked me why doing what we do for only a few hours eight times a week is so taxing. In reading a book on Alfred Lunt and Lynn Fontanne that I picked up at Ten Chimneys, I found this quote from Fontanne that really addresses it:

Acting exacts a terrific toll.
The physical energy that is compressed into three hours of performance is comparable to the energy needed to run a marathon, and that does not take into account the emotional intensity required to represent a character in the throes of one sort of crisis or another. In addition, being the focus of thousands of eyes produces a hypnotic magnetism which makes the actor physically stronger than he is himself, but when the eyes are withdrawn and the current is switched off he feels like a pricked balloon.


I realize that I have spent a great deal of space here on relating my travels and experiences on the road but not a lot about the actual experience of performing. I will say that this is the longest I have consistently performed a single role and there are definite challenges in keeping the work fresh and staying interested and energized. I was inspired when I read about the Lunts and how they were forever tinkering with their performances and trying new things even long into the run of a show. This is exactly what I do. When I feel I have gotten stuck in a particular reading of a line or the delivery of a bit of business, I subtly change it up. This might be in the way of a new inflection or emphasis, a different intonation or vocal coloring, or the adoption of a slightly different attitude or intention. I abhor the idea of becoming mechanical or stuck in stale repetition.

"Spamalot" is a finely tuned show with strongly orchestrated pacing and an established structure, but within that structure one has room for a great deal of play. For example, my tower guard at the top of the show. I experiment with subtle differences in energy--maybe King Arthur woke me from a nap? maybe I have a stomach ache? maybe I have been bored and desperate for someone to come along and chat with me? A small adjustment in my imagined circumstances may be imperceptible to the audience or my fellow actors but it creates a slightly different color in my energy and brings a different dynamic to the scene which assures that I am alive in the moment with my fellow performers--rather than mechanically delivering lines and business in an habitual pattern. I am also forever looking for ways to improve what I am doing and I gauge the audience's reactions to various moments and look for subtle changes or refinements that might get a better laugh or a stronger response. And I admit I am rather hard on myself. I still feel deficient that I am not a piano player and can't execute the cadenza that was inserted into the "Jew Song" for David Hyde Pierce (who IS a pianist). I have turned my "chopsticks" bit into an amusing moment that works but it still rankles me somewhat that I can't do that one extra bit that was a part of the original conception of the show. I hope I make up for it in the other ways I put my personal stamp on my big number.

Back to Albuquerque. On our first night here, my friends Tim, Rick and I took the tram up to Sandia Peak, 10,000 plus feet up the Sandia Mountains, and had dinner at High Finance, America's highest restaurant. The views from the tram were spectacular but of course there were lots of butterflies as we ascended in this little car suspended by a cable, crammed in with 30 or so other people. What a magnificent landscape of crags and pines and the sweep of the desert peppered with the lights of the various homes and businesses of Albuquerque. The restaurant was pleasant and we enjoyed our dinner, although the altitude did make me a little woozy! Looking out across the expanse of land below, I was heartened by the fact that there are still large portions of unspoiled land in this country of ours. It's very beautiful.





We are performing this week at Popejoy Hall on the University of New Mexico campus. It's an attractive campus, with buildings all reflecting the prevailing Southwestern style: matte plaster structures in shades of beige and terra cotta. Popejoy Hall has been a landmark in the Albuquerque community for over 40 years.The hall was completely renovated in 1996 and equipped with state of the art acoustical systems. Its long time resident companies include the New Mexico Symphony Orchestra and the New Mexico Ballet Company. It's interesting to me that the 1990s saw such a surge in the establishment and refurbishment of major performing arts centers and legitimate theatres around the country. Certainly the investment in these spaces has made possible tours of large scale Broadway shows like ours.

This region has a rich and ancient Native American tradition. The city itself, established in 1706 by Spanish colonists, celebrated its tricentennial two years ago. Albuquerque was named by the provincial governor Don Francisco Cuervo y Valdes in honour of Don Francisco Fernández de la Cueva, Duke of Alburquerque, viceroy of New Spain from 1653 to 1660. The first "r" in "Alburquerque" was dropped at some point in the 19th century, supposedly by an Anglo-American railroad station-master unable to correctly pronounce the city's name. The cultural diversity and combination of Native American and Spanish influences is apparent everywhere in Albuquerque.
The Albuquerque Museum combines an eclectic collection of Southwest-inspired art as well as a very interesting historical exhibit containing rare artifacts from the rich Indian and Spanish heritage of Albuquerque. Next to the museum is a lovely sculpture garden, also reflecting the cultural history of the area.
Nearby Old Town is very quaint, with it's central plaza, the beautiful San Felipe de Neri Church, and numerous shops and restaurants. However, the area is entirely geared toward tourists and after a while, the art galleries and gift shops all seem to be repeating the same selection of pottery and turquoise jewelry. It was an interesting contrast--the work of fine artists inspired by the landscape and native culture of New Mexico at the museum, and then in Old Town shops, the mass-produced Southwest style objects piled high for tourist consumption which seem to exploit it.


A walk east from the UNM campus along Central Ave (Historic Route 66) takes you to Nob Hill, the funky part of town which has less in common with its San Francisco namesake and more with another Frisco neighborhood, Haight-Ashbury. Yoga studios and tattoo parlors are interspersed with funky clothing boutiques and shops selling Mexican, Himalayan and Indian arts and crafts. The street is lined with great art deco structures and vintage motels sporting great old graphic neon signs, and there is even an old Texaco filling station converted to a popular restaurant, Kelly's Brew House, its outdoor patio still retaining the old 1950's gas pumps.


Ann is my Albuquerque dresser and did a terrific job.
Ann got the acting bug at the age of five, and went from actress to stage manager before she met her husband, who is a lighting designer. While he was designing at Santa Fe Opera, Ann became the wardrobe mistress. She loves the theatre and loves what she does. She was right on every task the very first night and did her work with a smile. It's a pleasure to do my job when I get such great support. I have enjoyed my week in New Mexico and the countdown continues to our month long stay in Vancouver (XO, G.M.!)--two weeks in Texas before then, San Antonio then Fort Worth. We can remember the Alamo together next time, folks.

They Can't All Be Greenville

Week 27: Oklahoma City, OK

America is a nation that conceives many odd inventions for getting somewhere but it can think of nothing to do once it gets there.
--Will Rogers

Summer is here in Oklahoma. We stepped out of the airport and were hit with hot, humid air and a temperature climbing above 90. And the wind does "come sweeping down the plain" here. It is one of the windiest places I have been to. The weather has been erratic at best--on Thursday night there was a terrific storm with lightning, torrential rain and hail. Oklahoma City is another of those stops in which my hotel is located on a highway amongst the strip malls, about 12 miles from the downtown area where we are working. I am staying in a studio at an Extended Stay hotel, which, while it has a kitchen and basic amenities, is one of those rather depressing, anonymous places where people go when they are getting a divorce. My room is gloomy and poorly furnished--when I arrived I had two hangers and one fork. However, on the bright side, we do have Target right next door. Where would Americans be without our comforting and familiar megastores? Unfortunately, this is one of those weeks where I am pretty much stranded out in strip mall land. The performers do get minivans to carpool to and from work and the gym, which is fine, but even if I had my own car it would be useless to me. Yes, friends, that's right. I am a grown man who does not know how to drive. I have never driven. The second most anticipated teenage rite of passage passed me by. I just never got a license, and living as I have in midtown Manhattan for the past 15 years, I have never really needed to drive. It is something I always say I am going to get around to but never do! However, I am determined, especially if I continue on with the tour next year to California, to learn to drive.

At any rate, there is not a whole lot to do in Oklahoma City. One can appreciate the history of the place. Established in the late 19th century on "unassigned lands" during the Oklahoma Land Rush, in one day settlers erected a tent city which in time became a metropolis so large that it supplanted Guthrie as the capital of Oklahoma. In the film "Far and Away" there is a wonderful depiction of a land rush that captures the determination of those early settlers. And just as Grand Rapids was obsessed with Gerald R. Ford, so Oklahoma City is with its favorite son, the great humorist and wild west performer Will Rogers. Rogers was an early 20th century icon--vaudevillian, movie star and beloved American celebrity--who tragically died in a crash during an experimental flight over Alaska in 1935. Will Rogers is everywhere in OK City--the airport is named for him as is a local highway, as well as the horticultural gardens.

The city is home to two universities, the Softball Hall of Fame, and several other cultural institutions, including the Civic Center Music Hall, where we are performing this week.
Called "The Municipal Auditorium" when it originally opened in 1937, the building was renamed the Civic Center Music Hall in 1967 when it was renovated to be strictly a performing arts hall. The original structure and two other civic buildings in the area were built by the WPA and still retain their solid, art deco exteriors. By the 1990's, of course, the Hall had begun to deteriorate and was very out of date as far the amenities available to performing companies. Extensive renovations began that essentially rebuilt the interior of the historic building.
The Music Hall's original seating capacity was 6000, an extraordinarily large auditorium (which nonetheless housed eight sold out performances of "Hello Dolly!" during its original tour, according to our stage manager Jovon), and the streamlining of the space in the 90's reduced that capacity by half, while installing state of the art technical facilities and creating an impressive space of dark wood and royal blue seats. The facility is enormous and very well equipped; the principal dressing rooms are especially nice, and laid out with comfortable sitting areas and televisions. After the intimate traditional setting of the Orpheum in Minneapolis, we had to adjust to this cavernous space and the distance of the audience, especially in the upper tiers of this mammoth house.

So OK City seems to be just, well... okay. However, you know me. I look for the beauty in every place I visit, and I did have the opportunity to visit the Oklahoma City Museum of Art, which has the distinction of housing the largest collection of Chihuly glass in the world. Dale Chihuly is one of the greatest and most prolific and beloved glass blowers and sculptors ever.
For over 40 years, his extraordinary pieces, created by Chihuly and his team of glass artists, have been seen and enjoyed all over the world. The exhibit here in OK City did not disappoint. The scope, sheer virtuosity and exuberant creativity of Chihuly's work is spectacularly represented here. Also included are pieces that resulted from a collaboration between the artist and some of the greatest masters of glass blowing in the world, including the two acknowledged masters of the Venetian tradition. A remarkable documentary film accompanies the exhibit and all in all, it was a thrilling display. They also permitted photography, so I was able to take some very nice shots there.




I also visited the Oklahoma City National Memorial, honoring the victims of the tragic Oklahoma City bombing perpetrated by Timothy McVeigh in 1995, which, prior to September 11 was the worst act of domestic terrorism in American history. Following our performance one night, a group of us went to this moving and beautiful monument.
Two monumental gates stand as entrances to this starkly beautiful park on the site where the Murrah Federal Building had stood. They bear the numbers 9:01 and 9:03, documenting the two minutes in which the destruction took place. Sculptural empty chairs are arranged on one side of the reflecting pool, each bearing the name of one of the victims, and laid out in rows corresponding to the four floors of the building where each was either working or visiting at the moment of the explosion. Touchingly, there are smaller chairs for the children who were killed and all the chairs are illuminated at night, creating a peaceful and moving landscape. It's a remarkable work of art, this monument, and we all expressed the wish that a similar simple and powerful memorial will be erected in honor of the victims of 9/11 in New York. And so, friends, while Oklahoma City did not speak to me in many ways, there is beauty and humanity here that speaks to everyone. My faith in us as humans and as Americans is being continually renewed as I explore our great country. Now if we could just do something about the strip malls...

My dresser in Oklahoma City is Megan. Megan has been razzed by fellow stagehands this week because her usual "gig" is as an electrician and lighting technician for concert events.
Megan had to overcome sexism and skepticism to prove herself before becoming this region's only female spot light operator--not an insignificant achievement in a male dominated area of the business. So this rough and tough gal has had to endure the indignity of ironing clothes and working zippers this week! However, Megan has done a great job and been very helpful. I am constantly amazed by the stories of people I meet along the road. Megan's story includes having been a figure skater from the age of five and having her Olympic dream ruined by a car accident which left her with an injury that never healed right. She told me, movingly, how much she is enjoying working with us but how jealous she is too that she is dressing someone instead of performing herself. I felt profound gratitude that I have the opportunity to be in my metier and to go out there and give my all for thousands of people a week.

I won't lie. Touring life can be grueling. And as we near the end of a series of 22 one week engagements in a row, and I approach the six month mark of my personal tour, I confess to feeling somewhat depleted, weary and homesick. These feelings come and go and certainly don't overshadow the pleasure of doing the work I love and the satisfaction of earning a living in my profession. That said, I think all of us have our sights set on Vancouver, where we will stay for a whole month, going about work and daily life with some sense of normalcy. But that is three weeks away, and Albuquerque, New Mexico is next. More from there next week. Meantime, hug the ones you love, express appreciation for your coworkers, and cherish whatever place it is you call home--you don't appreciate it quite as much until you are away from it for a long, long time.