Last one from the road! (May 2012)

From the Green Room:

Here we are, show #221 of 235... A mere 14 shows remain in this grand adventure. Two more cities. Two more sound checks. Two more travel days. Next G2GR will come from the land of the unemployed actor! Crazy... After a wonderful two week sit-down in Ft. Lauderdale, we had a split week through the southeast, hitting north Florida, Georgia, and Alabama. We flew out of Birmingham into a week long sit-down in Buffalo. We played the fantastic Shea Theater to sold out audiences all week. It was, however, a bittersweet week. We enjoyed the crowds but also had to say goodbye to our wonderful Nellie, Mrs. Jennie Sophia. She left us to play Guenevere in a production of Camelot in Chicago. We were excited to draw from our own cast and promote the incredibly talented Rachel Rhodes-Devey into a full-time Nellie role for the remainder of tour! Our final split week took us through the northeast, finishing with a weekend sit down in Worcester, MA. Our show today was informally nicknamed, “Understudy Appreciation Day” as Nellie, Emile, and Cable were all out. Everyone stepped up and we put on a great show! Chaotic, but great!

From outside the Green Room:

This job is pretty awesome. I can't think of many other professions that would allow you the opportunity to hang out on the beach on work days, eat from the very first chicken wing joint, and be part of an epic marriage proposal... all in a month! We were able to recharge the batteries with our two weeks in Ft. Lauderdale. We stayed right on the beach, so most days consisted of beach, pool, volleyball, etc... It ended too soon, but it was good to get back to reality (and the Croswell bus... well, maybe not the bus!). In Buffalo, I grabbed wings at the Anchor Bar, home of the very first chicken wing. They were pretty good! I also got up to check out Niagara Falls which was really cool. Taking the cake for the month was witnessing my good friend (and fellow Steelers fan) propose to his girlfriend after a show this weekend. You've GOT TO read this article. It was truly magical and I wish them nothing but the best!

Lessons Learned:

It's okay to get tired. The key is learning how to cope with it. Our final push, meaning the last two months of tour have been: 16 straight shows, 2 days off, 8 shows, day off, 17 shows, day off, 16 shows, day off, 8 shows... That's 65 shows with five days off. It's completely normal to get tired with that schedule, but the important thing is to take care of yourself so as not to get sick or injured. I've been forcing myself to get a good warm-up in before every show and it's really been helping. The days I'm too lazy to warm-up, I end up giving a sub-par performance and in pain. I have also been constantly reminding myself that this won't last forever, and it won't take long of the audition circuit before I'm yearning for my days on tour again! It helps keep me focused on what I have, not what I want. A dangerous trap to fall in so near the end.

Hope all is well,

Andrew Mauney
www.andrewmauney.com