2 More Days in Myrtle Beach...

Hola, once again from Myrtle Beach! We have been Christmasing for 12 days now. Today was our first day with the full company in rehearsals together (rockettes and ensemble). We did a run-thru of the show this afternoon. Rehearsals are going well! We have been let out early almost every night, which is always a good sign. We travel by bus to Atlanta this coming Thursday and have a day off on Friday before we begin tech rehearsals. The first day at the theatre is always a long one, but it's exciting to finally be on stage. Because our cast is "Atlanta/Dallas" we've been given the name "Atlas" for short:

Along with our first run-thru was an afternoon of trying on and learning to dance in our bear costumes. I am a polar bear again :)

All of the other casts have already traveled to their first city, and as of tomorrow we are the only ones left at the Waccamaw Mall! Though we haven't really had a chance to enjoy it, the weather has been beautiful the last few days. Yesterday was our day off, which was spent doing a whole lot of nothing, and it was great!
Tanner is doing well! Very busy working. Company management is already working on booking everyone's flights home for the end of the tour. The next few days for them will be spent wrapping everything up and getting ready to set up shop in Atlanta. We will be performing at the Fox Theatre in Atlanta, which is supposed to be beautiful.
Hope everyone is doing well! Lots of love!

Myrtle Beach 2009

We are sending out the first post of the Radio City 2009 season! I have been down here in Myrtle Beach for a while now getting ready for rehearsals to start. Tanner has been working long days at the abandoned Waccamaw Mall where rehearsal spaces, management offices and wardrobe have been set up. The weather has been so-so down here this year, but I did get a chance to walk on the beach a bit.



The rest of the Atlanta/Dallas cast arrives this afternoon and rehearsals start tomorrow! More updates coming soon!

Rosemont, IL

As quickly as it was off to Myrtle Beach, it was back to Illinois.  We arrived and had the afternoon to get ourselves settled and ready for tech rehearsals the following day.  Teching is always a LONG process.  Lots of sitting around waiting to be called on stage.  Once you are on stage, it takes about an hour, sometimes more, to light and tech one number.  Our call time for tech was 1:00pm to 11:00pm.  Though it may be a long process, and at times a bit boring, it's always so exciting once we move from the rehearsal space to the theatre.  And even though there may not be an audience yet, those first few days on stage get us geared up to perform for thousands of people a day.  We love it :)  There's no greater feeling to me than being on stage, doing what I love, and feeling the accomplishment of my dream.  

Opening Day, November 20, 2008:  2:00pm was our opening show, and around 10:00am rumors started flying that 13 people had called in sick with a stomach flu.  When we arrived at the theatre, the stories were true and more than 13 cast members, half of wardrobe and crew were all sick.  1 hour before the opening day show, the ensemble was called to the stage and we had to re-block the entire show, because 2 of our boys were out sick.  The swing went in for one of the guys, but there was no one to fill the other spot.  For each number we went through, people changed places, ran on and off at different times, and filled in the holes where people were missing.  It was frantic and definitely kept us on our toes for the first show with an audience.  When we arrived at the theatre it looked like a scene right out of a movie.  All of stage management, wardrobe and crew were wearing doctors masks and some with rubber gloves.  Over the next 3 days, probably a total of about 40 people got hit with the stomach flu.  We didn't do a complete show with the proper number of people until 7 shows into the run.  Viruses are scary...eek.

I already called out for 2 days (6 shows) because of a bad sinus infection that started on Thanksgiving.  I am currently still recovering.  I tried to fight my way through 2 shows yesterday, but I didn't make it.  After the act one of the first show, I had to go out.  That show takes so much out of you and I was so weak.  It was frustrating.  However, today and tomorrow are days off for me to sit around and recover.  

I hope all of you are doing well and had a great Thanksgiving!  Lots of love!

Slacker!

So, I've been slacking big-time on the writing.  I apologize.  Let me give you a quick synopsis of what's been going on around here.  First of all here are some more pictures from Myrtle Beach:

This is the small rehearsal studio for Chi/Louis (please note the green doors in the back, those are fitting rooms, since this was previously a clothing store):

Rest of the small rehearsal studio:

Here are some picture of the floor in the main rehearsal studio (a.k.a. Famous Footwear)  In this picture AJ (one of our stage managers) is said to be "right foot on 17 at the upstage numbers"

More floor craziness:

Stage Left lettered.  I am standing upstage:

We always run through Nutcracker in costume so we can get used to jumping around with an extra 30lbs of weight.  Oh, right, and not being able to see!  This is me and Haley:

The three Russian Bears, Connor(he loves being a bear, can't you tell?), Victor, and Dominic:

Adam, one of the little people in the show:

Ballerina Bears rehearsing with Brad, out dance captain:

More bears, including Sugar Plum and Rebecca who is our Mrs. Claus (bottom corner, left)

Interracial bear??:

Kingston Plantation where we stayed:

These were the condos we were in:

Ok, so there are the rest of the Myrtle pictures!  2 show day today and then I'll catch you up on what's been going on over here in Rosemont, IL.  And there is MUCH to tell, so be prepared!  Love you and miss you all!