Wabash, Morgantown, Scranton, or, a looooong week

I'm not sure why this week seemed so long.  Probably because it was our first split week since we've been back and included a lot of traveling.  Fortunately, we a have a few week sit-downs ahead of us.

On Tuesday, we traveled to Wabash, Indiana for a one-nighter.  I was surprised to learn that Wabash was the first city in the world to be electrically-lit.  Or in the country.  I don't know- I can't remember.  Despite this fact, the parking lot to our hotel didn't seem lit at all.  We stayed overnight at the Knights Inn, which, at first sight, looks like the set of a horror movie.  All of the fixtures in the room looked as if they'd been there since the 80's.  I'm sooo glad we were only there for a night.  The theater, on the other hand, was very nice.  It was located in the quaint downtown area.

Honeywell Center, Wabash, Indiana

The next day, we headed for Morgantown, West Virginia.  We played the theater on campus at West Virginia University- our second campus visit on tour (the first being Indiana University in November).  The greatest thing about many college towns is that there are plenty of things available within walking distance.  The most exciting this about this visit, however, was our first big snowfall.  Winter finally seems to be catching up with us.

Creative Arts Center, WVU, Morgantown, West Virginia

SNOW!

On Friday, we left WV for Scranton, Pennsylvania.  For those of you that don't watch The Office on NBC, Scranton is the setting for the show.  The show is actually filmed in California, but they make references to a lot of real-life places in Scranton, such as Lackawana Steel and Poor Richard's Bar.  I didn't actually go to these places, but it was fun to think about, being a big fan of the show.  The town itself was full of historical buildings, including the theater.

Cultural Center, Scranton. Pennsylvania

Backstage cables!  Aaahhh!

I actually don't mind all of the traveling.  One of my Christmas gifts to myself was a Nook Tablet and I've slowly been falling in love with it.  The traveling just allows us time to get closer.  I plan on reading a ton during this leg of the tour.  Watch out- I'm gonna come back so much more smarter.

This week: Schenectady, New York.

Providence/Columbus, Open For Business

I'm getting a little behind here- so I'll try and fit the past 2 weeks into this hour before bus call.  Ready, go.

Two weeks ago we were in Providence, Rhode Island.  It quickly became one of my favorite places on tour so far strictly because of its location.  We stayed in a hotel in the cute downtown area about 8 blocks or so from the theater.  Across the street from our hotel was an ice skating rink, and caddy-corner to our hotel was a pretty big mall which housed a movie theater and a comic book shop.  Most astonishing, though, was that it seemed Providence had the most Dunkin' Donuts' per square mile than any city I've seen.  There were at least 3 on the way to the theater.

Providence Performing Arts Center, Providence, RI

This half of the tour, there are many occasions where we'll travel a large distance, but instead of flying on a travel day (Monday), we'll drive Monday, stop over in some random city for the night, and drive into a show on Tuesday.  Leaving Providence for Columbus was the first instance of this.  We stopped over in Somerset, PA.  Our hotel was a bit scary, but luckily we were there for all of 12 hours or so.

In Columbus, we also stayed downtown.  However, this downtown area had huge, newer buildings, unlike Providence.  We stayed in a Doubletree (Hilton), and I discovered that they'll give you a cookie every time you visit the front desk.  Luckily for me, they also had a really nice gym.  We also got our first "big" snowfall of tour.  It didn't accumulate much and got washed away with the rain a few days later, but it was nice seeing some white.

Ohio Theatre, Columbus, OH

A pretty park out behind the theater....

All of our shows in these cities went well, and everybody's been enjoying themselves.  The biggest news, though, is this:  I've begun giving piano lessons to our 2 young girls in the cast.  Some of you may already be aware that I don't really give lessons.  In fact, in my entire life I've given less than 5 piano lessons.  But, these girls want to learn, and I'm tired of meeting singers who can't play the notes they sing on the piano.  Therefore, the Danny White Piano Studio is now open for business.

We have three cities this week: Wabash, IN, Morgantown, WV, and Scranton, PA.  Busy, busy!!

On The Road Again- Hershey!

Let me start off by saying that my holiday lay-off was far too short.  Nine days to try to see and hang out with everyone?  Nonsense.  I'm grateful that we got the break we did, but another week would have been appreciated.

We just left Hershey, Pennsylvania.  It was a cute little place.  The street lights are Hershey kisses, and sometimes the entire town smells like chocolate.  It rained a lot and snowed very little, depriving me of even a wintry end-cap to the holidays.  At this point I'm skeptical as to whether or not we'll see the ground covered in snow at all.

Hershey Theatre, Hershey, PA

Just a cool pic I took one day during a show

It was an interesting week.  Before layoff, the longest we'd gone without doing the show is one day.  That being said, the first few shows of the new half of the tour provided some entertaining issues.  We also said goodbye to Alexa and Rachel, the two girls who alternate playing Young Fiona and Young Shrek/Grumpy.  They went back home to go to school and be with their families and we got two new girls to fill those roles.  They've done five shows so far and they rock.

While in Hershey, I visited Hershey's Chocolate World, where I took a virtual tour of the factory and made my own chocolate bar.  The tour was similar to a Disneyland ride, where you hop into a moving car on a track and look at all these fake machines of real machines and listen to how chocolate is made.  Making my own chocolate bar was a little less interactive than I'd hoped, but was still fun and delicious.  And for your information, that was pretty much the only chocolate I ate during the week- you know, new year's diet and all....

Overall, it was a slow start to this half of the tour (which will undoubtedly pick up speed soon), but I'm back on the job and ready to see parts of the continent that I've never seen before.  This week: Providence, Rhode Island.