"Wait, Jason, on your last post, didn't you say Brooklyn was next? What is this Wilkes-Barre nonsense?"
It's pronounced 'Wilkes-Barry'; and here's the story.
I previously told you that we'd heard our second show in Brooklyn was canceled because of low ticket sales. But that left the 1pm show on Sunday, December 1. Well, before we even left New Haven we found out that the 1pm show was also canceled--low ticket sales again. YIKES. We've never had to cancel a show before (other than because of the weather).
BUT, we had hotel reservations in Brooklyn, and the company allowed us to keep those reservations. The alternative would have been driving nearly all the way back through Pennsylvania to Indiana, PA, which is east of Pittsburgh. That was scheduled to be our next stop after Brooklyn.
Which city do you think we'd rather spend a few free days in? Indiana, Pennsylvania whose claim to fame is that it's the birthplace of Jimmy Stewart OR New York City, the most famous city in America????
We were thankful to spend a few days in Brooklyn.
Well, technically, we were excited to spend one day in Brooklyn. The schedule was supposed to be December 1 in Brooklyn, December 2 travel to Indiana, PA, December 3 perform in Indiana, PA, December 4 travel to and perform in Wilkes-Barre, PA, December 5 travel to and perform in Binghamton, NY.
Well, a big storm was on its way and we left New Haven early on Sunday the 1st, even though we knew we weren't performing in Brooklyn, we wanted to get to our hotel before the storm hit.
And the storm did hit. Our bus driver was not going to be allowed by his company to travel through Pennsylvania in the weather. The roads weren't cleared, and so we were stuck. December 1 was fine. December 2 was also fine--though we were on hold; because it was possible we were going to be leaving on December 3 at 3am to drive from Brooklyn to Indiana, PA. Our tour manager (traveling with us) and our general manager (back in California) were going back and forth about what was to happen. I know the idea was floated that we might get on a flight at 9:45pm on the 2nd. A flight to Pittsburgh. Another idea that was floated was that the cast and crew would rent cars/vans and drive ourselves to Indiana, PA. That idea was thankfully shot down. If the bus driver isn't able to drive us, why would it be better for the cast and crew to put their lives in the hands of other members of the tour?
So Monday the 2nd was spent in Brooklyn. I was able to get tickets to a Broadway show called The Phantom of the Opera. I'd only seen it about 18 times before, so this was special. Actually, what made it extra special was that I got Candice (Mrs. Claus) and Molly (our stage manager) to come along with me--both of whom had never seen the show! That was awesome. We had an excellent time. I got to answer lots of questions, which I'm all too happy to do.
We also spent the entire day of Tuesday the 3rd in Brooklyn. I did my laundry at a local laundromat--as the snow continued to fall. It wasn't sticking, but it was constantly coming down in big flakes. It was beautiful.
Video taken while at the laundromat--
Our show in Indiana, PA, originally scheduled for Tuesday, December 3rd, was rescheduled for December 16.
On Wednesday morning, December 4, we headed out from Brooklyn and directly to Wilkes-Barre, PA.
Was any of that stressful, you think? Not for me, you might say. And that's true. I was along for the ride.
It was stressful for our tour manager, though. Stressful enough that she quit! We left NYC without her, and would have a new tour manager meeting us in Wilkes-Barre.
Add all that to the list of crazy stuff from this tour...and it isn't even half over. We're only on stop 9 out of 20.
Binghamton, NY is next. Surprisingly, it was great!
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