Hope everyone had a wonderful and safe Thanksgiving! We were in Nashville TN and while we had quite a nice dinner that the hotel provided for us,the venue was not so nice to us. Hot and dry,which was a combination we hadn't experienced yet. The venues are supposed to be kept cold for us,but this one wasn't. We've done the hot and humid thing enough that we know how to deal with it,but hot and dry made it very hard to breathe. It almost felt as if we were doing a high-altitude show in Colorado or something like that. We're also at that point where people are starting to drop like flies. This is a killer of a show and it's starting to take it's toll. Our 3 understudies have been quite busy lately. I haven't crapped out quite yet,but my shins might make me before too long.
Couple of personnel changes recently - Ruth,our Head of Wardrobe left quite suddenly while we were in Ohio 2 weeks ago. Kind of took us(the cast) by surprise but several of the crew,especially ones who had toured with her before,said they saw it coming and that she wasn't happy. I wish her well and hope she figures out what's bugging her. She was a good egg. So her assistant,Kayce,got promoted to Head and we have a new Assistant Wardrobe. It's none other than our old buddy Star,who played Minty on last year's Pony tour! She didn't come back as a performer this year because she had another job that has since ended. So she was just kind of bumming around when this opened up. She was also hoping that something on this tour would open since her boyfriend Kyle plays Telly Monster.
And just a few days ago Rachel,who plays Abbycaddaby,was let go. She had injury problems and attitude problems,so mangement decided it would be better to replace her. Rachel was a replacement on the Pony tour last year. She took over as Spike the Dragon right before XMas,and is one of those people who was on tour just to be on tour. No work ethic whatsoever. She would mark through the show and had no interest in working hard,and that carried over into this year. She got injured early on and wouldn't take care of herself. Instead of resting and healing,she would go out drinking and partying,so she never would heal and would miss several shows every week. And when mangement would tell her she needed to rest,she would talk back and give attitude. She's one of those people who honestly thinks that she's superior to everyone else because she's from New York. I am NOT gonna miss her. I was stunned she was brought back this year and annoyed that I had to tour with her again. So we get a new Abbycaddaby who I believe arrives today and supposedly will go into the show maybe as early as the end of this week. I guess she's been an understudy with the company before so she can pick up stuff quickly.
Salem VA this week,where nothing interesting has ever happened,and Portland ME next week. Long drive between them.
