Highlights from Middleton

...pictures will follow our SECOND trip here in a week...!

So, some important highlights from today:

Today I woke up to find that not only was my cell phone dead, but it would no longer hold a charge! A tour manager without a cell phone hitting the road again is a VERY SAD tour manager. Luckily, Craig and Bill and I arrived in the Madison area with enough time to hit up a Verizon wireless kiosk at a nearby mall and get me a new battery! This new battery is now happily charging away in my hotel rool.

For the first time today, our cast members were asked if they could do autographs after the show. Only a few audience members were able to catch them, but I'm sure that they could be persuaded to do some more on Friday when we're back in town.

We've got a new fancy load-in schedule, which consists of 4.5 hours rather than the previously schedule 4. This makes us feel much more human and less pressed for time, and I think it's safe to say that 4.5 hours are a GOOD thing. On Friday, when we come back, we won't need to re-focus the lights, so really, load-in should take about an hour and a half. Won't that be nice?

Kathi will say funny things over headset when the system gets unplugged JUST before she's about to call a cue. Funny to me, not so much to her ;) Craig also often has the potential to send everyone on headset into 5-minute laughing fits during the show.

Finally, Joe Bu was here at the show tonight and that was a personal highlight for me. It's great to see familiar Rep faces out on the cold roads of Wisconsin!

Speaking of which... today we did loaded everything back onto the truck in balmy -2 degree weather. I really love my gloves.

More on Middleton in a few days.