After about three weeks of split weeks, I speak for the entire cast when I say that we were thrilled to be staying in one spot for two weeks. And more than that, we were staying in an awesome hotel. It was a Hilton Doubletree Suites. Our room had a living room, bathroom, and bedroom. The rooms were quite inexpensive due to Networks’ good standing with Hilton. We were in a good downtown location. The front desk was always stocked with amazing fresh cookies for guests. The fitness center, business center, elevators, etc. were all in great shape. This may end up being my favorite hotel on tour.
Fisher Theatre, Detroit, MI
On our first Thursday in Detroit, the cast of another Networks touring show, South Pacific, came to see our show. As you may have guessed, they made for an outstanding audience. And in the words of many of our cast members, they ruined the rest of Detroit for us. After the show, we had a little mixer at our hotel bar. As this is my first tour, it was interesting getting to see and talk to the cast of another touring production.
I had a friend come and meet me in Detroit. His name is Flat Stanley, and he’s the project of Harper, the daughter of my friend Melissa. I took pictures of our adventures in Detroit and sent a letter back to her second grade class. Good times.
The best thing about Detroit was that my sister lives about 25 miles away. She came to the show on the first Sunday night with my niece and nephew, and I went home with them afterward. We spent the next day together going to the mall and Dave and Buster’s, where I didn’t even get caught cheating at the games this time. I had an awesome time with them, and only wish that I could have spent a few days with them.
The big cabaret, titled “What Makes Us Special Makes Us Strong” (lyrics from the show) finally happened. As music director and accompanist, I had been stressing out a little bit over it and putting many hours into rehearsing. But after we got to the venue, I was considerably less stressed. We performed in a pretty spacious bar. There were silent auctions going on, raffles, free Shrek ice cream, and many other AIDS charities. I was more tired after the show than I’d ever been in my life. I slept like a rock.
Since the cabaret was over, I figured I owed it to myself to go get a massage. I went to a massage therapist about six blocks away from the hotel for 60 minutes of awesomeness.
Our last weekend in Detroit, we said goodbye to our guitar player Austin and welcomed Mike. Mike had play guitar in Hairspray with a few of our company members before, so he had no trouble integrating into the group. Even I get pretty good vibes from him. We’re happy to have him.
And on to Canada for 3.5 weeks….
