Venue #1 - Janesville

I guess it's time to actually post something about this past week; the trials and tribulations and fun times that were had! Where to begin?

Bill, Craig and I were scheduled to arrive in Janesville on Wednesday, a day before Kathi and the actors, to load in the set, costumes, props, etc., and to focus lights. Our traditional schedule is to do a 4-hour load in, with the three of us, as well as a local TD, 4 stagehands, an audio guy, a lighting guy, and a costume guy. Or gal.

Before we went to Janesville, we had to pack the truck at The Rep, of course. So, at 9am that morning, bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, I wandered over to the theater to meet Bill and Craig. They, likewise, were bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, and ready to hit the road!

Our truck, a rental from Ryder, is a 26-foot truck, which does not require the driver to have a CDL license. It does, however, have to be stopped at any weigh station we pass on our journeys. The truck was waiting for us down in the basement, which, incidentally, was a part of the building I never knew existed before! I also didn't realize how much loading a truck requires; there's all sorts of loading bars and fun tethery thing to hold everything together. Luckily Bill, having been on tour before, is well versed in how this all works. In the truck, we all get to sit nice and cozily together in the front. I, of course, get to sit "bitch" between Bill and Craig. I was surprised at how much leg room I actually ended up having, and that I wasn't as squished as I thought I would be!

Once the truck was loaded, we set out for Ryder, to drop off Bill's vehicle and make a pit stop at Ace Hardware. At this point it became evident that it was too early in the morning for people's brains to function... Bill and I had WAY too much fun in the hardware store together (if you need a Little Mermaid design on your housekeys, this is where you should go!), and then Bill realized he had left his cell phone in his truck.... which was back at Ryder. So, back to Ryder we went. Good start, eh?

40 minutes on the road, Craig is driving. Now, I'm not sure exactly what town we were in at that moment, but it was pretty unexciting, and I think the cops were a bit bored. So, who do they pull over to enterain themselves? US, of course! We were going 9 mph over the speed limit (not much compared to the cars in front of and behind us!), but iwas pretty darn embarrasing. 9! Now, I truly wish I had taken pictures of this event, because it took at least 30 minutes, once our lovely cop, who had a nice trcuk inspection badge, led us through a FULL INSPECTION. Oh, the pictures of him doing air-traffic signals to make Craig turn the steering wheel and test the air brakes would have been brilliant. Alas.

We made it to the hotel in one piece after that, checked in, and went to the theater to meet our load-in crew and begin. Sadly, this was all done without having eaten anything.

Load-in went smoothly and was pretty unexciting, although we had the lovely and talented Monica with us for the day, which was MUCH appreciated!

The next day, the actors and Kathi arrived, we did a performance, we went karaokeing. On the following day, we checked out of the hotel, we checked back IN (decided to stay the extra night), we did another performance, Monica left us, and we loaded out. 57 minutes total on the load-out, by the way.

In no particular order, here are some things we learned the hard way in Janesville:

-We have to bring the beer with us from the Rep if we expect to use it as a prop in the show

-Sometimes, when you rent a light board, it liked to crash and freeze halfway through the show. This may cause all the stage light to slowly fade, so that you're left with a nice dark stage.

-There is nothing to do in Janesville aside from eat and sit in hotel rooms. If all you desire is to eat Olive Garden, you're all set. If you'd like to shop at a mall or go to the movies though, too bad!

-Toaster ovens are harder to use than toasters and may result in burnt waffles. These burnt waffles may produce a choking hazard to the actor eating it onstage.

-When I say that I will sing at karaoke, I am telling a big fat lie!

-Orange audience seats DO still exist!

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