Behind The Scenes

Performing on stages across the country as part of a national tour is exhausting in all the great ways; and sometimes some of the not so great.

But being an actor, whether you're in a show at your local theater or bouncing around on a tour, is SOOOOO much more about the things behind the scenes rather than being on stage. You probably can guess that it's obvious more time and energy is spent on the rehearsal process, the costume fittings, memorizing lines, and traveling to and from the theater(s) than the time you spend on stage in any given show.

Which is why I've decided to post TONS of pictures (some may have been posted in other blogs, but most haven't) from various behind the scenes elements; specifically of being on tour. I went through every picture from the last 4 years of tour and put this together.

Enjoy!

TRAVELING in a bus or plane and seeing things--mostly in passing--

 FOUND IN A MALL--

 BLIZZARD--

 THAT'S ST. LOUIS DOWN THERE--

 APPROACHING SAN FRANCISCO--

 NIAGARA FALLS--

 ALCATRAZ IN THE BACKGROUND--

 CHICAGO SKYLINE--

 SEARS TOWER FROM MY PLANE WINDOW--

 NOT MINE--

 SEEN IN PITTSBURGH--

 BRIDGE IN PITTSBURGH--

 VIEW OF MANHATTAN AND LONG ISLAND--

 NASHVILLE--

 JACKSONVILLE, FL--

  WEST PALM BEACH, FL--

 NYC SKYLINE--

 LIBERTY TOWER--

 ROCKEFELLER CENTER, DEC 25, 2014--

 EMPIRE STATE BUILDING LIT RED/GREEN FOR CHRISTMAS--

 GALVESTON, TX--

 SOMEWHERE IN LOUISIANA--

 YORKTOWN MUSEUM--

 THAT PICTURE IS US--CAST AND CREW IN THE CHECK-IN LINE AT THE AIRPORT--

 VIEW FROM MY HOTEL ROOM IN DENVER--

So that was a lot of random stuff from the road. NOW I'll show you pictures from backstage at various theaters--you'll see pipes, tv monitors, posters, signage (how do we know where to go when we enter a new place? Before we even arrive, the crew has set up all our dressing rooms and put up all the signs throughout the entire building to help us navigate), dressing rooms, costume racks, set pieces, puppets, etc. randomly scattered about.

 

 Hallway of dressing rooms--

 If we have multiple shows in a day, we get fed in between the shows--

 I made the paper! In Schenectady--

 My dressing room spot--

Every venue is different in some way; specifically when it comes to spacing and how much room there is on stage--so we often have a short rehearsal of a few key moments in the show just to make sure we're ready. USUALLY we get to have that short rehearsal on stage, but below you'll see we rehearsed in the theater lobby--

 View from the soundboard in the back of the audience--

 

 Wait...a vomitory????

On either side of the stage sits our prop boxes--they hold all our props for the show. My only prop is this red hat with two white gloves. But there are LOTS of props used by other folks--

Though my character number is 1, my mic number is 5. There's a table where our mics get set up before every show--

WHEW. That was over 100 pictures from 4 years.

Now here are some of my favorite signatures or posters from the celebrities who have graced the stages where we've been able to play.

Michael Crawford (the original Phantom)--

Judy Garland--

 John Williams--

 Mary Tyler Moore--

We got to make our own mural and sign it!

 Tony Bennett--

 Bobby McFerrin--

I signed near Lewis Black (a comedian)--

Cloris Leachman--

Found the other tour cast who'd been there the year before--

Then you find your director's name on one of the posters from when she toured with CATS -- her signature is right under the word "Musical" -- Dana Solimando

Bob Hope--

Tommy Tune--

Tim Conway, Rich Little, and Rosemary Clooney--

 Among MANY others, Frank Sinatra--

Near Stevie Wonder is Jeff Daniels--

Another Frank Sinatra--

Comedy geniuses Jay Leno, Red Skelton, Martin Short (to the left), Bill Cosby, Chris Rock--

Tim Conway and Tom Poston in "The Odd Couple"--

And lastly--a few pics of the friends and family that I've seen along the tour routes.

My sister and me in Nashville--

 Actor friend Michael (from Idyllwild) in Boston--

Actress friend (from Korea) Candy in Detroit--

 Friend Shaun and his daughter Charlie in Los Angeles--

Friend and casting director Lindsay in Boston--

 Meeting sweet kids!

More sweet kids!

Meeting two of the original voice actors from the 1964 Rudolph movie--

Actor friend Alex (from Idyllwild) and I in Michigan--

Family friend Julie in Pennsylvania-- 

My brother with 3 of the 4 kids--

 My folks in College Station, TX--

 More kids--

I really get a special kick out of meeting kids. These kids are relatives of Ben, who plays our Yukon (pictured in the blue outfit)--they were so excited to meet Santa.

Hope you enjoyed reading/viewing. We're currently stuck in NYC pending weather issues. Our next scheduled performance is in Indiana, Pennsylvania on Tuesday (Dec 3). Hopefully we'll make it!

Until next time!