Philadelphia Freedom

Week 37: New York, NY and Philadelphia, PA


"The doors of wisdom are never shut. Well done is better than well said."
--Benjamin Franklin

I freely admit that I am a bad American this week. I regret to say that in the week I have been in Philadelphia I have seen no sights, have not traced the footsteps of history. As the keeper of a blog that is essentially a travel diary, I have certainly not had the kinds of experiences here that make for "a good read." So, mea culpa, dear reader. Philly is a terrific city, with a wonderful history and a vibrant multi-cultural urban life. If you have not visited it, I highly recommend it. Having grown up in the Boston area, I know how important these northeast cities are to our sense of ourselves as Americans, steeped as they are in history; rich in character. Yet I have enjoyed the simple pleasure here of having a mellow routine. My inn is a charming, lovely old house which in it's heyday must have been something right out of Henry James. My corner of the house is a comfy, quiet retreat and the neighborhood is quaint and relaxed. It has been such a pleasure to move slowly through my days here, with little or no agenda--a gym workout here, a dinner with my cousins there, and of course, the show. Perhaps I am just reserving my energy for my trip next week to Amsterdam. There is a strange contradiction to taking a vacation from traveling by traveling--to Europe! But this vacation is a promise fulfilled. My dear best friend, Mickey, and I have been talking about seeing Amsterdam together since college. And no, I won't tell you just how many years ago that was! "Spamalot" has made so many wonderful things possible for me and this week in Europe with my best buddy is one of those fabulous perks.

Another reason for my lack of Philly adventures is that I went back to New York for our day off this week, catching a train right after Sunday's show and staying in the city until just before showtime here on Tuesday. Easy visits home are few and far between and I used this one to do important things like get an annual physical, get my teeth checked, and do sundry bits of business with my apartment building, etc. While my halfway mark was three months ago, this juncture of the tour for me feels like a transition mark, with my vacation coming, the end of Gary Beach's tenure as the King, and something more intangible: a growing sense of comfort and relaxation in my routine as a touring actor. I think I am just getting good at all of this and it feels freer and more manageable, this road life. There are many changes in store over the next few months, many changes of cast as well as an entirely new physical production of the show which we will have to rehearse with and adjust to. So perhaps it is best that Philadelphia has been a resting place rather than a tourist whirlwind.


Being in Philadelphia is evocative for me because it reminds me of the musical "1776." I was in strong contention for the role of John Adams last year for the Goodspeed Opera House, and the preparation for the audition process led me to fall in love with the show, and of course the role created originally by William Daniels. Gary Beach has told me some of his stories about his history with the show. He was in the first national tour of the show, started in a smaller role but was promoted to the part of Rutledge and transferred to the Broadway company when the original cast went to Hollywood to make the film. I am pretty much dying to play Adams. But I digress.

Those of you who follow this mishegas of mine may remember that my Aunt Nancy and Uncle Larry came to see the show in Clearwater, Florida. These are fabulous Beaman relatives who are living a marvelous retirement bursting with all kinds of travel.
They came to see the show in Philly with my cousin Kristen, her husband and their son, Brandon--a real charmer, this one, quite a young actor himself, who is also a mean hockey goalie! My family is far flung and we don't intersect as often as we could, but what a pleasure it is to visit with them and have them experience the work I am doing.

I did do one touristy thing and that was a visit to the Philadelphia Museum of Art, a mammoth collection housed in a massive building.
The steps of the museum, as you may recall, were the place where Rocky triumphantly ran to strains of "Gonna Fly Now." I chose only a section of the museum to explore--the European art of the 16th through 18th centuries. Some really wonderful stuff here; many important Flemish paintings as well as numerous portraits by Gainsborough and a large number of paintings by Tintoretto, one of my favorite Venetian artists. Philadelphia is a great US city with a rich cultural and historical heritage. I am glad I got a taste of it.

My dresser in Philly is Elisa, who has been in wardrobe for many years as part of a family tradition.
Her mother began doing this kind of work when Elisa was a kid and she herself started when she was sixteen. Which of course makes her an absolute pro and a delight to work with. What is great is that Elisa's mom is still doing wardrobe and is in fact working on our show as well. Having grown up in theatre as a family business I can appreciate how unique and special it must be for Elisa and her mother to share this common profession. Thank you Elisa! I know you will take good care of my understudies next week while I am in the land of wooden shoes and tulips.

And with that, I depart for Amsterdam, friends, for a well-deserved rest and relaxation. I will write more in two weeks, when I have returned from Europe and rejoin the company, with our new King, in Hartford, CT. Meantime, I had a request from a reader to do a Q&A blog post, to answer some of your questions about tour life and the theatre. Feel free to formulate your questions over the next couple weeks and email me at james@jamesbeaman.com.