Tucson. Wait, Tuscon?......No, it's Tucson.

Unfortunately for you, Tucson, you get the "least favorite city so far" award.  It's hot, it's dry, and a strong stench of sewage runs rampant through the streets.  It doesn't really help going from a place like Orange County to Tucson.  It's like watching Spider-Man 2, and then following it up with Spider-Man 3.  Just a bad idea.  It also doesn't help that I've been sick the entire time I've been here; my throat is sore and my sinuses are dry and congested.  I blame Arizona.

                                                           Tucson Music Hall

Last night we had Shrekzophrenia.  Our usual Shrek wasn't feeling too well at the end of the first act, so an understudy went on for him for act II.  Interesting show.

Something that's been characterizing these cities for me is the audience and how they react to the show.  Our best audience so far, meaning the audience that understands the flow of the show and receives it as it was meant to be received, was in Costa Mesa.  Tucson is by far our worst audience yet.  If you're an actor reading this, you know how difficult it is to work with an audience that gives you little feedback- that's this audience.

I've been branching out within the cast a little more.  Five cast members and I went and saw the premiere Paranormal Activity 3 on Thursday night at midnight.  There were more people there than I've ever seen at a Harry Potter or Star Wars premiere in the Quad-Cities.  It was, how you say in Tucson, muy ridiculo.

So far, we've been hiring coaches to take us from one city to another.  When we leave Tucson to go to El Paso tomorrow, we'll be getting our bus- the bus we'll have until Christmas.  This means that I'll no longer have my own seat.  Anticipate a follow-up to this.

Goodbye, California- We'll Meet Again

Well, I'm down to my last few days in California.  On Monday, we head to Tuscon, AZ for a week, and then move on to Texas, where I've come to understand that everything is bigger.  My stay in California has lasted almost a month, but I'm not sick of it at all.
                                                  Segerstrom Hall, Costa Mesa, CA

The shows have been going well.  Last Sunday, an understudy took on the role of Shrek for the first time.  It was a refreshingly different show, to say the least.  That night ended with a barbecue at the house of Luke Yellin (aka Pinocchio), which was just more proof that I need to start going out with these people more.  I'm so lucky to be surrounded by such great people.

This past Monday was our first "Golden Day", which we define as a day without traveling or shows.  Much of the cast went to L.A., and a few of them went to Las Vegas.  I went to Disneyland.  I met someone here in Orange County who used to work at the park and we got complimentary park-hopper passes (Disneyland, CA consists of two parks- the main park and California Adventure).  Although we went on a lot of cool rides like Space Mountain, Indiana Jones, Star Tours, Haunted Mansion (temporarily redesigned to the theme of Nightmare Before Christmas), Tower of Terror, and many more, my favorite events were the fireworks over the castle and Fantasmick, a combination character/lights/water effects show.  I didn't think it was possible to feel so old and so young at the same time.
                                                           Disneyland, Anaheim, CA

                    The finale of the Disneyland fireworks show entitled "Remember....Dreams Come True"
                      And the quality's not great, but that's Tinkerbell flying over Sleeping Beauty's castle!

The cast is still hard at work learning understudy/swing roles, I'm still making edits in Notion, and the scenery is about to change yet again with 40 performances under our belts.  We've reached probably about 50,000 viewers, and we've only just begun!

I Left My Heart In Sacramento/ ONE MONTH!

Okay, I didn't love Sacramento THAT much, but it's been my favorite city so far- which doesn't really say that much, since it's only our 4th city and we have SO many to go.......and I probably won't be lucky enough to be watched over by a giant chocolate bar while I sleep at any future hotels....

    Seriously- I didn't expect to see anything like this until I got to Hershey, PA in late December.

The show's been going well- after almost 30 shows, we've basically just hit our stride and nothing too interesting happens anymore.  On occasion, we throw in swings and understudies to perform, which makes for a slightly more interesting show.
                                               Community Center Theatre, Sacramento, CA

                                                           California Capitol Building

It's been one month to the day since I left home to go on tour!  This is the longest I've been away from home since I left Miami almost 2 years ago.  Although I'm having a ton of fun doing what I love, there's still so much I miss back home- especially autumn.  The ironic thing about this is that it's going to be much cooler this week in Southern California than in the Quad-Cities.  However, knowing the weather there, it'll be snowing next week.


Just as a fairytale comes true in Shrek, I, too have experienced something that I've only heard about until today- something I had to see to truly believe that it existed.

                                                                     Yes, it's a Carl's Jr.
Maybe someday, some business-savvy person will explain to me why this restaurant and Hardee's exist in tandem.  I've also gotten a taste of In-n-Out Burger, which was more of a dream come true than the Hardee's doppelganger.

And now I'm in Costa Mesa for my first 2-week stay.  This will be the longest I'll ever be in one city, matched only by my stays in Detroit and Toronto in Feb./Mar.  I'm in for trouble if I get sick of Costa Mesa after only a few days!