Foot to Foot

Nice!

Overheard Backstage

Before the show:

"It's funny how all those kids out there are waiting for us to make them happy... and none of us want to."

Here He Comes Now

I'm not going to name names, but we all know which artist I'm talking about...

Next...

I mentioned how a week into the tour we already had an artist miss a show due to injury. Well, one week later we were another man down. Only this time it was the trumpet player and band leader. He was hospitalized for bleeding in the stomach. The saxophone player stepped in as interim band leader and, I dare say, did a great job. The band very much held it together, adapted the music well, and played a great show.

The only problem now is, as the French say, il n'y a jamais deux sans trois*...






* There's never two without three.

As Old As You Feel

You're only as old as you feel! Age is only a number! How old would you be if you didn't know how old you are?

I've heard all these things before, and I'm sure you have as well. And I try to keep them in mind, I really do. But there are some days were I really do feel old. Okay, maybe not old. But definitely older. Or perhaps just not as young as my fellow artists.

While most of my counterparts on stage are in their early twenties, I'll be turning thirty in the fall. With my last company I was easily one of the youngest and with most of my colleagues there was an age difference of ten to twenty years. But I never really felt the difference. Here a mere six years feels like a full generation.

I know I'm a very different person now than when I was 23. And I certainly have different wants and needs. But holy crap, sometimes it feels like I'm in kindergarten. During one rehearsal before the premiere, one of the artists literally bent over, turned his butt to us, started smacking it and yelled out "I need attention!"

I don't know if he was serious or not, but you would think someone would have sense enough to know that if it was a joke, it was neither the time or the place.

As time goes by, I find myself spending more and more time with the workers, and less and less with the artists. Funny how it always tends to work out that way.

Smooth Move

It was the worst build up yet. We were in a field masquerading as a mud pit, it was pouring rain, there was snow on the ground, and it was freezing cold. This circus puts down sawdust when it's wet, and I think we may be responsible for some serious deforestation considering the amount that was put down on this build. For reasons that I do not understand, the build up took five hours instead of the hour and a half I hear it should take (we've never even come close to this).

When it was finally time to break for lunch, we were all pretty miserable. But that's when this circus showed us just how classy they are.

The circus director missed the beginning of the morning's build up. You know know why? He went to a local bakery and bought everyone beautiful and delicious pastries.

Delicious cake may not be the way to your heart, but it sure as hell is to mine. Well played, circus. Well played!

Blood, Sweat, and Tears?

More like mud, snow, and sawdust... Come on, Switzerland. Get it together!