300

Week 43: Toronto, ON

Yep, this Saturday marks my 300th performance as Sir Robin. Of course it feels like the time has rushed by and this past ten months of "Spamalot" passed in the blink of an eye. Repetition is one of the central themes of a stage actor's life; it is a profession rife with ritual and routine. Most people are engaged in professions that require the execution of repetitive tasks and routine, and there is a certain comfort that comes with those familiar tasks. And then there are the times when one asks oneself, "This again??" As glitzy as my job looks from outside, some days are about artistic inspiration and some are just about earning that paycheck. But there are always ways to stay present and engaged. If nothing else, the audiences are always different. Going out in front of a new audience is like a blind date. You want to put your best foot forward and make a great impression, and you hope that they will like you. And sometimes the connection is delightful, exciting and fun. Sometimes you feel like they would rather be anywhere else and that you simply are not their cup of tea. Live theatre, like life, is indeed, as Forrest Gump said, like a box of chocolates. You never know what you are going to get. Here in Toronto that is especially so. On a weeknight we can have a small, small audience that is quiet and unresponsive but on Saturday the crowd can be large, raucous and enthusiastic. Regardless, the show must go on, shiny and funny and true to itself, eight times a week.

Then there are the changes in cast which can infuse wonderful fresh energy into the process, as a new actor or dancer steps in and brings his or her own special quality to the show. Syracuse next week will bring the debuts of two new showgirls and our new Lancelot, Matthew Greer.
Matthew is an accomplished actor who has appeared on Broadway in "The Real Thing" and "The Judas Kiss" and played Cliff in the Sam Mendes revival of "Cabaret." Interestingly, he was starring as Oscar Wilde in "The Fall of Constance Wilde" at the Guthrie Theatre in Minneapolis while we were there earlier this year. Patrick Heusinger, as I mentioned before, is leaving us to ride the success of his latest good fortune on television in "Gossip Girl." Patrick is a fine actor and a great guy. He threw us all a party in the fabulous roof top function room of his Toronto apartment building on our day off this week. It was a nice opportunity for cast and crew to socialize together, enjoy some laughs with Patrick and welcome in the new performers. I wish Patrick all the luck in his future endeavors--his good looks and talent will take him far, and he will be missed.




We also say farewell this week to Tera-Lee Pollin, one of our wonderful dance captains, who you may recall taught me my show when I first started, and who appeared triumphantly in male drag as one of the knights during our run in Fort Worth. Tera-Lee is a beautiful dancer and a beautiful person who is nothing short of a breath of fresh air. She always has a smile on her face. I know that her positive energy will be missed also amongst the "Spamily."

And then there is the exit of my darling Bree.
Bree and I have been buddies since she joined the tour back in Orlando. She is half my age, literally, but we are kindred spirits. She is a supremely talented dancer, with a wonderful work ethic and a fierce ambition to do great work with great people. I admire her drive, her honesty, and her confidence in her abilities and her dream. She is stunningly beautiful, funny and a joy to spend time with and I will miss her terribly. She just got great news that she has been cast in the new Cirque du Soleil show that will be in development next year. It has been her dream to do a Cirque show and I am beside myself with happiness for her that her vision and her tenacity have paid off. I expect nothing but great things from the lovely Miss Bree Branker.

My leg improves daily, with the bracing, taping, icing, not to mention my daily gym routine and my physical therapy. Having never been seriously injured in a show before, I had not fully appreciated the enormous benefit of physical therapy to the recovery process. Truly, without the ministrations of my therapist Karen at Physioarts in New York, and Adam here in Toronto at Cornerstone Physiotherapy, I would never have been able to return so quickly to my performance schedule.
I was fortunate indeed to find Adam, who, with his business partner, just opened his wonderful clinic. He is a man of great skill and easy humor and has helped me to strengthen the calf muscle while working on the underlying soreness and stiffness of the scar tissue that has built up since the injury. It's amazing how quickly the muscle atrophied after the initial trauma and how much dedicated work it is taking to build it back up. But truly, I could not be doing this without my physical therapist. Thank you Adam!

So, Toronto. Or "Tronno" as it sounds on the lips of the natives. It's a nice city. Sort of a mini-New York in some ways. Very diverse, very liberal, and made up of lots of little neighborhoods mainly characterized by ethnicity--Greektown, Little Italy--there are even three Chinatowns, I hear. I regret to say that I have not ventured much beyond the downtown and midtown areas where I am staying, working, and doing my physical therapy. Mostly in the interest of not stressing my leg. I had set aside one afternoon this week to go to the Royal Ontario Museum, but after discussing it with the folks at the physiotherapy office, they steered me to the Art Gallery of Ontario, which houses more paintings and sculpture; more my interest anyway. I cabbed over there in the pouring rain only to find the place closed for renovations. By the time I had done that, the better part of my afternoon was gone. The remainder of the week has been dedicated to the gym, physical therapy, and rehearsing with our new performers. So, boo. Bad travel diarist that I am, I have not much to impart about Toronto and environs. But I can take a moment and answer another of your questions about tour life.

Liz asks:

How does the cast and crew travel between gigs? Are you on a chartered ordinary coach? a tour bus with bunks like a traveling rock band?? If verra long distance to the next stop on the tour, do you fly? Are travel costs charged to the cast or paid by the show? Details like these would be interesting to read.


We travel generally by plane or by bus, depending on the distance we need to cover between cities. The company arranges flights and chartered buses. The crew travels often via sleeper bus (which has the bunks you mention), but the company goes by regular coach. The company covers all travel costs, unless an individual chooses to makes his or her own arrangements. In that case, they can sometimes receive the reimbursement for the company flight and apply it to their alternate travel plan. However in those instances, cab fares and other transportation expenses are not covered by the company.

My dresser in Toronto, another wonderful helpmate in this process of reintegrating myself into the show, is Maureen.
Maureen has had a passion for fashion since she was a kid and a love of performing arts that started with an obsession with ballet. She works mainly on film and TV production, but through a dispensation from the unions, she and other of our dressers have been allowed to pick up work with us at the Canon Theatre. She is a very thoughtful and lovely person to work with and was a great help to me as I worked carefully through my first week of shows in Toronto. On Monday we return to the states for a week in Syracuse, NY. That week will mark the debuts of three new performers and our final shows with our existing physical production, which will be getting a complete overhaul. As the leaves change, change on our tour and in life comes as well. The only constant.