Why I avoid Foxwoods...

Here's another pic I took of Disneyland looking down Main Street toward the castle.

Anaheim wound up well. I got to see my friend Kim who I toured with about 9 years ago,plus I made it back to Disneyland for a second night. Corinne is a SoCal resident so when we bought our 1-day park hopper passes on Wednesday,she was able to turn them into 2-day hopper passes. So Jamie and I headed over after our last show on Sunday night and basically had the parks to ourselves for a few hours.

We're in Reno NV right now and it sucks. The local crew was incompetent and the hotel is making me miserable. We're staying at Harrah's casino,which is fine except it's a casino and therefore REEKS of cigarette smoke,which I am highly allergic to. So I haven't been able to breathe for the past 3 days. And breathing is key when you're trying to dance around with 50 lbs of Giant Pony Butt strapped to your back.

Samantha,who playes Wysteria,has left the show permanently. So we're trying to find a replacement to finish out the run. Anyone who knows of any actress/dancers between 5'4" and 5'6" who can handle this kind of costume and needs work between now and July,send 'em my way!

Oregon tomorrow provided the weather holds and the mountain passes are open.

Sunny California!

Here's me at Disney's California Adventure with Jamie, Casey and Corinne,who's shoving cotton candy down her gullet. Casey is our Company Manager,essentially our boss on the road. Corinne is one of Jamie's fellow Ladybugs in the show,as well as Casey's fiance. Obviously we are now in Anaheim,California. We spent the day at Disneyland and DCA,as the other park is called by the locals. Tomorrow I'm meeting up with my friend John whom I've known since 3rd Grade. He's a computer animator for a video game company and he moved out here about 10 years ago.

Notes from the show - Tim is back in the show none the worse for wear,but Samantha,who plays Wysteria,had to go home for a family emergency and is out indefinitely. So her swing,Laurie,is on as Wysteria for the forseeable future. Maybe SOMEDAY we'll have a full cast back again!

Anaheim all this week and a split week next week - Reno NV and Eugene OR.

High Plains Drifter

Okay,from left to right: Wysteria(Samantha Wallace), me, Sweetberry(Elissa Newcorn),and Minty(Taylor Morgan).

We spent all last week in Denver,where I got to spend quite a bit of time with my friend Jacques,who I worked with at the restaurant for 7 or 8 years. He then went into the management side of things and got transferred out to Denver,where he's been for the past 2 years. The plus side of him being a manager now is that he can comp anybody's meal that he feels like,which he very kindly did when Jamie and I showed up at his restaurant for dinner Sunday nite!

A split week in Montana this week. For the uninitiated,split week means 2 cities in 1 week. So we're in Billings now and will be in Great Falls the second half. We've been lucky in that this is only our 2nd split week so far,Dayton-Evansville being the other back in November. However,we've got a lot more coming up,including 5 in a row in April-May. This is actually my first time in Montana,which brings me up to 48 states that I've been to. I still need Hawaii and North Dakota.

More weird casting changes going on. My roommate Tim,who plays Rainbow Dash,was out all last week after having a cyst removed from his back. Not a big deal,except he can't wear his pony costume until the incision heals! So he'll continue to be out of the show here in Billings and possibly through Great Falls as well. Luckily,RJ was ready to go in for Thistle Whistle right at the time Tim went out,so Josh (the swing) was able to move right over to Rainbow Dash. But we just found out that RJ will be moving to one of the other tours to take over as their Sound Tech in 2 weeks. But if everything goes according to plan,RJ will be leaving right about the same time that Carlos FINALLY comes back,so hopefully that will be a seamless transition. We will then be getting a new Assistant Electrician to replace RJ. Hopefully Tim will be ready to come back the end of this week or the beginning of next week in Anaheim.

Cross-border sporting events

Here are all our non-pony characters: Spike the Dragon (David Vain) and the Ladybugs (Ally Smith,Corrine Atlas and Jamie Critelli).

First off,Congratulations to the Indianapolis Colts on their Superbowl victory. My boss made me say that.

I had the interesting experience tonight of watching the Superbowl in 2 different countries in 2 different languages. I watched the first half in our hotel in El Paso,and then the second half in a bar in Juarez,Mexico in Spanish. Jamie and I decided to go into Mexico tonight with our castmate Danny Mendoza for some authentic Mexican food. Of course over there they just call it "food". Danny was actually born in Mexico and still retains Mexican citizenship,although he's been a legal US resident since he was a little boy. Since he also speaks fluent Spanish,he was able to find out where the "nicer" part of Juarez was away from the seedy shops right over the border,and also find a taxi that would take us there without overcharging the 2 gullible Americans. Had a lovely meal and am now back at the hotel avoiding packing.

Denver tomorrow.

Crazy Cast Changes

Here I am with Pinkie Pie (Carmela Adams). I am apparently sleepy.

We're in the midst of our first major cast change. All the Vee veterans are saying they're surprised it took this long. Two weeks ago in Chicago,our Thistle Whistle (Carlos Martinez) came down with a hernia. He bravely finished out the run in Chicago and stayed there to have surgery while we continued on to Memphis. Luckily,he lives in Chicago so he could just go home. He'll be out about 5-6 weeks,the doctor said. So they immediately launched a Nationwide Search to find a replacement Thistle Whistle! Every network fought tooth and nail for the broadcast rights! They brought in Paula,Randy and Simon to judge the competitors! Actually none of that happened. I think they just made a couple of phone calls. Anyway,they finally decided to go with our Assistant Electrician,RJ,to step in to the role. He apparenty has some performing experience when he's not being a technician,and his job can be covered by other people for a few weeks. So he started rehearsing today. Meanwhile Josh,the swing,has been playing Thistle Whistle for the last 2 weeks and his 3 other covers(myself included)haven't had a day off since! RJ is scheduled to go into the show next Friday in Denver and Carlos will tentatively be back when we get to Oregon in about 4 weeks. It's actually been rather entertaining backstage watching RJ in his tech blacks and headset trying to do the choreography along with the show.

El Paso TX this week and Denver next week.