Saturday, November 05, 2011

Rochester Diary.

NOV. 4, 2011 FRIDAY
On the train back from Rochester

Amy and I are sitting in the coach class cabin and I can’t find my video camera, which I know I brought on board because I took some pictures using it. Dammit. Even went back to our seats -- we changed because there was no wifi on our car. Too bad, cuz there’s none here, either. Will post when I get home.

 We’ve just done three shows in Rochester and have met a guy named Eddie Urish, who was on staff at Downstairs Cabaret Theatre, who directed the show. Eddie is from Peoria and had come to Rochester to work with Chris. We got him to help us with the show and he really brought it to life.

Amy and I began our journey last Monday at 1pm from Penn Station. I took the “magic” bus, the one that goes down 9th ave. and takes an eastbound turn on 34th st. I kept waiting for Amy and waiting for Amy, finally giving up when they called the train, only to find her already ahead of me in line. The 6-hour trip up was nice and relaxing -- and beautiful with all the leaves in their fall colors.

The wifi was working the whole time, so I played Words With Friends, and was able to cheat a lot using the Scrabble page. Doesn’t help. I lose every game anyway.

We were put into HAL (House At Lyndhurst), a rather spartan arrangement, but fine for short term lodging. On our way to the house, we dropped by the grocery store and bought items -- apples, cottage cheese, turkey, pita chips, oatmeal,, Truvia, spinach, broccoli, asparagus, two broiled chickens and a few other odd items. This is my first time in HAL rather than HAL2. I think HAL is a bit nicer.

I set about washing dishes and making us some lunch. There are six or seven others in the house in various rooms. They’re doing a show called “Disenchanted” or something like that. So, I decided to be the dishwashing fairy, and clean up after everyone else until we leave to see if they miss me when I'm gone.

The lighting designer, Greg, had just gotten there that day, and our stage manager, Hannah, was also new. We kind of ran through the show to set the lights and stuff. But we didn’t know what we were doing, so it really helped to have Eddie's eyes out front.

 One thing we came away with was a group of pictures shot by a self-described "amateur" photographer -- Van Meter. They’re just terrific, so I’ve been spending this trip designing a new poster design for us.


One nice thing that happened was being taken out for a steak dinner -- the calamari had corn meal batter, which tasted weird to me, but I still enjoyed the meal and the conversation. On our way out the door, there were two guitarists standing there. I hadn't heard them. So, I approached them and sang, “Helpless”. Then Chris Burley -- who was in TLS with us there at the Downstairs Cabaret Theatre back in 2002 -- grabbed one of the guitars and we did “Moondance.” That was fun.

Oh, and I never did find my video camera.

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