Let's Make This Snappy

It is 10:30pm on Tuesday evening, and I'm on my couch watching Conan and wishing I was already asleep, but of course, I did promise to keep up with this blog this time, so here we go!

Yesterday was the travel day I've been dreading ever since I started touring. Nothing, just nothing was going our way. I finally headed to bed about 4am with Father of the Bride Part II in the background. I laid down just as it was starting, and it was a daunting thought that by the end of the movie, I would need to be at the airport! After about an hour of sleep, I woke up, showered, grabbed my bags, and headed outside to catch a cab. You know what I found out there? SNOW. WTF New York. Ugh, I'm so over it.

The airport was packed, which was super annoying see how it was 6:15am. Where are these people going? By the hoards of ski bags that were blocking everyone's way to the ticket counter, it appeared to be a very big ski weekend. In any case, after finally checking my bags and getting through security, I hopped on my plane that was scheduled to leave right on time.

I settled into my super squished in window seat on our packed plane, and the pilot said it would just be a quick 10-15 min while they de-iced the plane. Great. Well, flash forward to a quick 1.5 hours later, and we are still. at. the. gate. Miserable. But, finally, we took off and arrived uneventfully in Chicago.

I ran to my connecting gate to watch my plane pull away. Awesome. Thankfully, I had thought this might happen, so I had booked another seat on a later flight while we were lining up to get off the first plane. Just for fun, I walked over to the flight between the one I missed and the one I was booked on, only to be told there were 88 people ahead of me. Apparently, most people would like to travel to Minneapolis in a gigantic blizzard.

No matter, there was a Chili's right in the terminal, and you know I love my chain restaurants, so I had some lunch and spent some quality time with my brand new amazing Kindle.

Finally, it was time to board my second flight, which also, was leaving right on time. After a quick de-icing. SERIOUSLY??? A "quick" 2 hours later, we were a full plane of hot, miserable, overly-tired passengers (or at least I was. Also the baby in the back row of the plane). About this time, I started receiving emails and phone calls from 4 other company members who had all been stranded in Chicago upon their arrivals as well.

What happened next? Did we arrive in Minneapolis? Am I still stranded in Chicago? Stay tuned!

Stage Manager Update

My stage manager has now landed in Minneapolis, shockingly, right on time. I mean on time for her flight we had to rebook last night when Expedia switched her itinerary from New York > Milwaukee > Minneapolis to Milwaukee > Minneapolis > next day > New York > Milwaukee. I mean, seriously, how did that happen? It took three of us almost an hour and a half of being on the phone with various entities involved in this flight booking to correct that situation.

I love being back on the road!!

On the other hand, here on Crescent Street - complete chaos!!

I promise it's all CLEAN laundry. Note: how yellow does my room look here? Insanity.

I'm currently remedying this situation with the help of my friends Pandora and Merlot. Thanks good buddies. My flight is at 7am tomorrow. Wish me luck that I don't miss my 4 alarms + car pickup at 5:30. Whew. It's going to be a long night.

Konnichiwa Tokyo

Hey Blog Fans - anyone? anyone? Doubtful, since it's been, oh, I don't know, a YEAR since I updated this blog. No matter, I'm back and ready to blog my latest adventure which has me and a traveling company of 54 headed to Tokyo next Sunday. Then, once we arrive, or company will take on a Japanese children's chorus of 42, making this almost 100 person company about 4 times larger than any company I've ever managed before. Rock on! Thankfully, I have my trusty ACM Katie to make sure I don't screw up too much.

My quick 2011 recap has Rock of Ages closing on January 9th. Rest assured rock fans, it will reopen at the Helen Hayes in March, but Tracy and I are both off to new company management adventures. She has moved over to the very fancy, very Broadway company of the Addams Family, and I am heading to the Ordway Theatre in St. Paul tomorrow morning where my gigantic company of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat will be starting rehearsal on Tuesday.

Oh, if we can all get through this mess...

thanks weather.com for the image - and the logistical nightmare

Um, yes, that bright purple spot on the map is directly where nine of my company members are headed at various times over the next 24 hours. Including me, with all their contracts and passports. So, say a travel prayer for all of us. It looks like it could get a little messy. Also is making packing a nightmare. Thanks nature.

In any case, our advance choreographer is already gearing up for the first children's rehearsal tomorrow, and my stage manager, is at least at the start of her trip. She's been delayed for about 2 hours, and I'm just praying that's as bad as it gets. 

So, stay tuned, where I promise, at least for the next 3 weeks to stay current with my blog, including many pictures of how I will be the tallest person in Tokyo.