From Reno, NV to Klamath Falls, OR and back again

Beautiful landscape in California on the way to Oregon

I thought I’d be able to put in a little update everyday on this trip. Ha! I’m on the plane to MN via Dallas, so it’s a long day of flying, and trying to sleep is not going as smoothly as I had envisioned, so it gives me time to catch up.

Here’s what happened on days 8 – 11.

First, Brett and I have passed the first week of being apart and after my one meltdown in NV, I’m doing okay for now. Facetime on our new iPhones is still a tremendous blessing! I’m proud of Brett for supporting me so well, even though he wishes I were there.

Friday, Oct 29 (day 8):  We left our beautiful condos in the mountains in NV at 11 am, and drove the 7 hours to Klamath Falls, OR (it was supposed to be 5 hours but 11 people sometimes require numerous bathroom breaks, not to mention the desire to stop and take pictures, and the road work we encountered in the last hour!).  While our 2 vehicles have had constantly changing amalgams of the 11 of us throughout the trip, the same folks stayed in each of the two cars for this entire trip out to OR and back again; six of us in my Yukon, and five in Bill’s Suburban. 

It’s funny; Bill had all the all-American white males, while we had the diverse vehicle, which included not only the only three females in the cast, but also the two African-Americans, the two Jews, and the two gay men. When we learned that Klamath Falls is actually the headquarters of the KKK (not kidding!), we joked that it was all an evil plan of Bill’s to get rid of the women, gays, blacks, and Jews, while he and the four sturdy white, straight guys sailed off into the sunset (you just have to joke about these things, or you might get a little scared).

Kevin, looking over the scenery

The drive, though long, was extremely beautiful. tI was gorgeous and sunny. I wish I could have taken more pictures, but had my co-pilot Kevin take a few for me. There were long stretches between towns where we barely saw another vehicle; gives you a sense of how vast the stretches from settled place to settled place are. The curvy roads had really skinny lanes at times, and took a lot of my concentration, but I feel so blessed and grateful to be doing this driving: It is allowing (forcing) me to notice everything around me.  It is such a blessing, and – truth - driving that big vehicle fast on curvy roads is a rush!

Damian, striking a pose

Castmates, also taking loads of pictures.

Let me tell you about my riding in a car with my castmates (eventually I will introduce you to each one of them, but this is a nutshell of the trip to and from Oregon):  These vehicles had ports into which you could plug a USB, and everyone has iPods or iPhones with huge music libraries on them (strangely – since I’m a musician and singer - I don’t have even one note of music on my iPhone since it’s so new, so couldn’t offer anything). The amount of music I’m being introduced to is astounding. For the bulk of the trip, until the last couple hours of the drive home, I recognized only a handful of band names.  I can not believe that there is so much music I’ve never heard of, or in many cases, just never listened to.  Hip-Hop and Rap is a genre I’ve never listened to much at all, and I also don’t really listen to much of the more popular dance music (Rihanna, Gaga, Black Eyed Peas – all of whom I do know, but simply don’t buy their music or listen to the stations that play it).  But to me this trip is about being open to all the new experiences, and I am open to receiving it all. I am listening to lyrics and – as a songwriter and one who is often surrounded by songwriters who are discussing songwriting – I am being blown away by the poetry, the insight, the skill and craftsmanship at turning a phrase; I am loving the diversity. I do wish I had some of my stuff to add in, because the singer/songwriter, pop-folk, 80’s, 90’s alternative, and classic rock genres are not really being very represented in the mix; but I am enjoying the experience of hearing so much new stuff.

Can't. Stop. Taking. Pictures.

On the way out to OR we listened to a long playlist put together by Ellie & Nick, and on the trip back, we had three playlists from three different people (Kevin, Sean, & Lucy) – we started out with country for about two hours – that was really fun not only because I don’t listen to it much, but because everyone (all of these pop and hip-hop/rap aficionados) was so into it; it was an unexpected group “like.” Everyone agreed that it was absolutely the perfect music for the beginning of the trip, as we were going through farmlands. We then moved to a great mix of rap, hip-hop, Motown, and old-school dance stuff from the 80’s/90’s – when “Purple Rain” came on, I was back in college, remembering all the new and diverse music I was listening to at that time.  We ended with a little more rap (JayZ, OutKast, TuPac – the display listed every song and artist, so I got educated with each song, and felt my head swelling with all the information). What can I say? It’s all just fun and I feel full up with all the joy of those I’m with, and the broadened horizons.

The sunset in Klamath Falls, OR, upon our arrival

Back to point (sorry, this looks like a long one!): We arrived in OR later than we thought, checked into our hotel (the rooms have all been nice – spacious and clean with comfy beds), and felt lucky that food and entertainment were right across the parking lot, at the "Epicenter." It had a bowling alley, full bar/restaurant, and dance area. We ate while the World Series final game played (Congrats, Cards! Most of my castmates are rabid anti-Cardinals fans, btw!), then I stayed in while everyone else bowled and apparently caused quite the stir in wee little Klamath Falls, dancing like crazy while a DJ spun. I’m sorry I can’t do it all, I hate missing out; but it’s a delicate balancing act for me, to make sure I’m getting enough rest; that driving really takes it out of me.

Saturday, Oct 29 (Day 9): We had the whole morning free, and while I intended to work, I merely caught up on emails. Here’s a cool piece of news: I’ve been invited by Lookingglass Theatre to perform in January at a private fundraiser (75 – 100 cool peeps) at the LA home of David Schwimmer! I’ll be flown out and housed, and get to once again sing a bit of my beloved “Ilse,” which I played in April for the reading of the new work, “Eastland.” While I wasn’t cast in that part in the full production this coming summer (extremely sad face L ), I was given another part, and am honored to be asked to represent the role for this swanky fundraiser.

Our name in lights!

Anyhow, we went to the historic Ross Ragland Theatre in the afternoon to tech the show (cool Marquee, eh?!), then performed in the old, beautiful, historic theatre in the evening; it was a small (couple hundred), appreciative crowd, with a lively discussion afterwards (it’s a pretty conservative area politically, so when folks identified themselves as conservative or liberal, it got pretty interesting!).

Ross Ragland stage and audience (look at the box seats!) from stage left

Here’s some information on how tech works: We arrive, get taken in through the stage door usually (feels kind of special!), get taken to our (very nice, usually) his/her dressing rooms, and are shown a green room full of drinks and snacks. We get our costumes out of the luggage and hang them (I ironed mine too, since they had just been washed in NV, and the new fold lines needed ironing). Then while the stage is being measured and marked (we have specific spots to be in for the top and end of the show, and specific light spots for each monologue), most everyone is in the auditorium,
helping with marking the spots, or walking on the stage in their designated spots, or going over lines throughout the auditorium and on the stage. It’s pretty cool.

View of Ross Ragland stage from the upper seats

Ryan and Kevin marking the stage

Once the stage is all marked, we get our body mics on and do the soundcheck; everyone does a piece of a monologue, and any soundcues (fighter jets, music, other background sounds) are layered over the monologue. Once sound is set, we do “tops and bottoms”: This is to get us flowing through the entire show, from one monologue to the next with light cues: We each do the top line and the last line of each monologue, moving into the right spot when it’s time. It’s like “cue to cue” in theatre-speak.  It’s become a really smooth machine by this point; this tech was the smoothest yet.

The tech guys at these houses are amazing in how quick they can put this show together with the tech info Bill gives them. Bill “runs” the show, calling all the cues from backstage or in a booth, but the sound & light guys are fast and highly professional. It’s so great to be surrounded by such a high level of professionalism.

After tech we had some time to go back to the hotel and chill for about an hour or so; we returned to the theatre at 5:45 pm for an amazing home-cooked meal of baked chicken with some sort of really crispy (corn flake?) coating, mac-n-cheese (oh-lord-it-was-good), corn, salad, and Halloween-decorated cookies.  It was a bit of a heavy meal too close to the show for me, but did I NOT eat? Nope.  We finished make-up, did a final sound check, all gathered on stage for our group warm-up, then with a half an hour left, we did final preparations (I’m going to write about our warm-ups and pre-show preparation in the next entry b/c this is way too long, isn’t it? ;-).

The show went well; it didn’t feel as powerful for me as the previous show in AR, but each show is different and you can never recreate a previous show.  Just because I am not experiencing it in the way I envision, does not mean it is not effective for the audience.  So I was still satisfied with the show.

Afterwards, we went back to the hotel and went across the parking lot again to the Epicenter and bowled – it was fun! I haven’t bowled in so long, and surprisingly, I did not totally suck! We had two lanes, and somehow divided up by our “cars”: Clearly the higher-level of testosterone is in the other car, as they ended four frames ahead of us, with great scores compared to ours! They played an additional game while six of us left for the hotel; I had to go to bed knowing I had that long drive the next day; the others watched “Halloween” in someone’s room, while the remaining guys closed out the night in the bar again.

Sunday, October 30 (Day 10): We didn’t leave OR until noon, so a number of us went to work out in the gym which the hotel contracts with (given all the good – but rich! - and plentiful food we’re eating, it’s pretty essential to get some exercise in).  Throughout my time at the hotel, I had a number of conversations with the man working reception, Gary, after I found out he was a retired (though probably a few years younger than I) Marine. He was really pleasant and friendly, and talked about the legacy of Marines in his family (his dad and his granddad; and very probably, his teenaged son). He was going to see the show with his son, but ended up giving his ticket to his son’s girlfriend, so they could see it together. Needless to say, both his son and his son’s girlfriend had some strong, emotional reactions to it. Can you imagine being a young teenaged girl, anticipating your boyfriend’s probable enlistment in the Marines, and then seeing a show including real letters from young men just a few years older – some of whom did not end up making it home? I’m sure that sparked some conversation after the show. Gary said he really wants his son to enlist, to carry on the family tradition. When I asked how his wife feels, he said she does not want him to go; I can imagine this is a common but painful part of marrying into a family with a military tradition. Gary was so nice to share his time and conversation with me.

Amazing clouds surrounding the mountains.

We made it back to NV in only five hours (again, a beautiful, sunny drive), rested a bit after checking into the hotel, then hit the casino! Bill’s car played blackjack for over two hours and ALL of them lost everything (they didn’t know when to quit), while the rest of us got a little dressed up and had a nice Asian meal and fancy martini’s just a stone’s throw away from their blackjack table. We were back at the hotel by 9:30 pm and I was asleep by 10:30, due to the early morning the next day.

A Perfect Cluster of Clouds over the mountain

Ryan and Damian, choosing to eat cold soup from a can,
to save money on their per-diems. Crazies!

Monday, October 31 (Day 11): We got up at 4:30 am and checked out, got to the airport for our 7 am flight, and have been traveling since. Once we get to Minneapolis, we drive our rental cars two hours to Winona, have dinner, then tech the show at 8 pm. We have two shows tomorrow on Tues, 11/1, then a short overnight back in Minneapolis prior to leaving for New Jersey on Weds, 11/2.  More to come when I have a moment!

Ellie and Kevin at our fancy dinner at the casino

Me and Sean at our fancy dinner at the casino

Lucy and Nick at our fancy dinner at the casino