Stoughton

Ah, Stoughton... what a beautiful theater! This was the first stop all week that we actually got to stay at for more than a day, so load-in and out were for once NOT on the same day. It's about time, as that schedule becomes very exhausting after a while.

The Stoughton Opera House was quite the unique little setting for our skit though. Built in 1898, it's a gorgeous, very cute space... that unfortunately is in the second floor of city hall... in a building in which there is no freight elevator. Our roadboxes and shanty walls just BARELY fit onto the elevator, one at a time, of course. Meanwhile, our show deck did NOT fit, and was definitely too heavy to be carried, so we did without it in Stoughton. And, as you can see, this meant that we did without our ice holes, as well.

Once the roadboxes were unpacked, they had to go back onto the truck, which had to be parked several blocks away. Normally we can just leave them backstage, but here, not only was there no space for them backstage, but there wasn't even a way to get them TO stage. We unloaded them from the back of the house... it wasn't the most efficient of load-ins, but I think we did great given what we were up against!

Because the theater is so old, it had a lot of charming characteristics. Many of the walls backstage and leading to the dressing rooms were graffitied with signatures from previous shows, many of them dating back to the beginning of the 20th century! The seats, although they certainly don't look as comfortable as many other seats, have the added bonus of top-hat holders, as you can see on the bottom of this seat. I thought perhaps I should be weary of backstage ghosts, but was instead told that I should be more worried about bats... the building literally has bats in the belfry!

On Monday, we had plenty of time to kill before Hotel check-out and show call, so Kathi, Bill, Craig and I drove down to New Glarus for the afternoon, wanting to hit up the Brewery Tour there (they make Spotted Cow, one of my favorites). The town itself is a wonderful little Swiss town; I felt like I had stepped into Europe. There were certainly plenty of cowbells hanging around, and all of the shops on the main street were a great diversion.

We had a smooth second show that night, followed by load-out. This took a bit longer than

usual as you may be able to imagine, seeing as

how we had to bring all the road boxes back from the truck to the second floor, pack them, then send them back down again!

Meanwhile, back at the hotel, we were impressed by both the security system and fitness center. I'm not sure that my picture captures just how sad this little camera was (doesn't it look shy and a bit timid?)... and please note, there WAS NO exercise equipment!

Finally, just so you know, if your laundry detergent ever freezes, a hair dryer will do the trick!

A few more pictures of the week can be found here.