Movin' Through The Midwest

When we last left off, we were headed to Madison, WI where we enjoyed our day off.  The good news was, we were staying at a Marriott Courtyard Inn for the two nights we were there.  The bad news was, I discovered that my camera had died when we got downtown and I wanted to take a picture.  I ended up taking it to a camera shop where the staff told me it would cost as much to fix it as it would to just buy a new camera.  Therefore, I have begun my quest to find my next camera.  I'm looking for something simple, that takes good pictures, is preferably thinner than my last camera and is no more than $150 max.  I've been doing some research on Consumer Reports and have found a couple that may fit the bill.  If anyone has any suggestions, let me know!

Madison is the home of the University of Wisconsin.  It has a very nice downtown area where Liz and Brian and I headed for our lovely day off.  We had a nice lunch at a local cafe and did some looking around in all the cute shops.  I didn't buy anything, but it was fun to look.  That afternoon, our new cast member, Ethan Angelica, joined us.  Ethan has done the role of Mr. Barley/Alien Green Gorilla/Gracie the Bunny Scout before.  In fact, Ethan had a blog during his tour experience and I read it before I had my callback.  It was helpful to read it and kind of get an idea of what the show was about and what I might be in for.  That night, we got together in Lauren and Colleen's room and played Celebrity together and some Balderdash to welcome Ethan to our crew.

We left Madison on Monday and headed to Janesville for a morning performance at a school in a gym.  It went well and was Josh's last show with us.  We had one last "buddle" with him before the show and I enjoyed doing the show with him one last time.  Ethan watched the show and was able to see what had been changed since the last time he did it.  

After the show, we drove to Oak Brook Terrace, IL which is a suburb of Chicago.  We had really nice rooms at the Hilton Suites for two nights which was really nice.  The suites have a separate bedroom, a HUGE bathroom with both a standing shower and a separate tub, and a microwave and fridge in the living room.  The first night, most of us went out together to The Cheesecake Factory as a Goodbye Josh/Welcome Ethan dinner.  It was delicious.  I did learn from our first visit to the chain earlier in the tour, and ordered less food this time.

When we got back to the hotel, Josh gave Brian, Liz, and me a Priceline tutorial, teaching us how to work the system and get good deals on last minute travel.  He's been working his magic the whole tour and now it's our turn to take over for the last bit.  After the tutorial and some laughs, we said our goodbyes.  Josh was leaving early in the morning, before any of us would be up.  I missed him immediately and am looking forward to hanging out back in NYC.

The next day, Tuesday, was our rehearsal day with Ethan.  We had a conference room booked in our hotel, so it was nice not to have to get up and drive anywhere.  Also, because of the fridges and microwaves, we were able to buy breakfast, lunch and dinner items from the grocery store and save some money.   Best of all, because I don't have many scenes with Ethan's characters, my call time was not until after the lunch break so I was able to get up at my leisure, watch some Today Show and Martha Stewart, and relax.  The rehearsal was fine.  Only a matter of review for Ethan, and making sure he was not going to be running into any of us, since we're all set on our individual "tracks" and have our pattern of movement.

This morning, we got up and drove to our venue, another school gym.  Ethan's first performance with us went really well and it was exciting to have new energy on stage with us.  

After the show and lunch, we drove several hours to Coralville, IA which is a suburb of Iowa City.  We are only here for the night.  Tomorrow we drive to Red Oak, IA which is home of the Bridges of Madison County, according to our front desk clerk here in Coralville.  I have no idea if it's true or not, and I have to admit I've never even seen that movie.  Not sure why I haven't...maybe I should Netflix it.

The plan for the rest of the week, is to drive to Red Oak tomorrow (Thursday), do three shows there on Friday and then drive back to Coralville for the night.  Saturday and Sunday we do a bulk of the drive back to NYC, followed by a day off in the city on Monday.

Tuesday and Wednesday we have local drive shows.  Thursday we drive to Syracuse for the night.  Friday we do a short version of the show for a showcase and then drive back to NYC.  Saturday and Sunday are days off and Sunday is our last official day of the tour. Whew!  It's going to be an interesting week and a half.

Depending on which camera I pick and what kind of deal I can get at a Walmart, I may or may not have more pictures to post for the remainder of the tour.  I'm hoping I can find one of the ones on my shortlist.

The journey is winding down...