Oh Canada! Oliver is officially an international tour :)

Oliver is now officially an international tour. We headed to Kingston Ontario after Ogdensburg. Colin and I rode on the bus to make things easier and Steve followed behind the bus. Everything went well at the border until the border patrol came on the bus and asked if anyone had any mace or pepper spray. Melissa admitted that she had some pepper spray in her purse and when she pulled it out we all cracked up. It was in a pretty bedazzled bottle, lol! The patrol agent made Melissa come off the bus and come into the building. We were all laughing thinking about what they all thought about her bedazzled pepper spray. After quite a while Melissa was released and came back on the bus. Check out the photo I posted of her coming out, I had to rag on her a bit, lol!
Once we got over the border we headed to Kingston. We were so happy to still have Steve with us! Once we got to theatre we discovered that the show was sold out. I didn't bother ordering tickets because we planned on using our backstage passes as usual and just sit in an empty seat. Well when I went to the house manager to ask for seats she told me that there were none available. OK, so for the first time on tour I turned into a stage mom lol! I said, my son is in the show and my husband came all the way from Rochester to see him. We need to get a seat for at least him!So as luck would have it a woman in the balcony was scarred of heights and took the last house seats, but her seats were available. So Steve and I were able to sit together and watch the show :)
Steve left early the next morning and we boarded the bus and headed for Edmondston New Brunswick for a stopover. I discovered during our lunch break that I really should have paid more attention during French class, lol! It took forever to order our lunch. I discovered that corndogs are known as pogos in Canada. It was so neat to see all the buildings and billboard signs in french. When we finally got to the hotel I grabbed a newspaper and discovered it was no good to me because it was all in french lol! Jenn and John enjoyed that they were finally able to use their french. They both came in handy when we all needed a little translation.
We ordered food from the hotel restaurant and ate in our room. We were now in Atlantic time which is one hour ahead of eastern time. For some reason my phone never switched over so when I set my phone alarm for the next morning I set it for an hour earlier thinking that would workout so I was up at the right time. Well, my stupid phone decided to change over to atlantic time sometime during the night and my alarm went off an hour earlier than we needed it to. Of course I didn't look at any of the clocks and Colin and I dragged ourselves out of bed to make sure we made bus call. When we got downstairs the bus was waiting but there was no one else around. We loaded our luggage and went to the hotel restaurant where I spotted Ashley and Michelle having breakfast. After talking with them I realized that we were an hour ahead of schedule! Colin and I were both awake til 2:30am so we really could have used that extra hour of sleep! I really decided that I didn't like Canada when I tried to get money out of the atm. Canada has two seperate cards for debit and credit. When I put my card into the machine it only recognizes it as a creditcard and therefore will not give me any cash!
After another day on the bus we arrived at our hotel in St John New Brunswick. I had a huge bag of laundry so i decided to stay back from the show and get my laundry done. Of course, laundry was more expensive than usual so I used my last $14 in cash to get $1 canadian coins for the laundry. So here I am in Canada with exactly 7 cents to my name until Monday! Thank God my card works for credit at restaurants!
Even I was amazed by all of the snow here. I'm used to snow, but this place is covered! It's very pretty as long as you're inside :)
Tomorrow Colin and I are looking forward to sleeping in. We don't have to head to the show until 7pm and it's a weekend so no school :) Sunday is a Golden Day which means we have a whole day off and can enjoy the SuperBowl. Colin's rooting for the Steeler's and I myself prefer the commercials!
We hit the one month mark until we go home and have mixed emotions. We're so excited to get home and be with the rest of our family and friends, but at the same time are going to miss our wonderful tour family and this whole experience.

Springfield to Ogdensburg

The last few days have flown by, but not without incidences! After Kalamazoo we headed to Springfield OH. This is Erin's hometown and her parents were wonderful enough to throw a reception for everyone back at the hotel. They had food and drinks for all and even a picture of the whole cast on the cake! That was very generous of them and we all truly appreciated it. Well after that is where things started to fall apart! The crew bus broke down when they were about to leave for Williamsport, so Clare had to arrange last minute flights for all of the crew so they could make it there in time. Then the truck carrying all of the sets and costumes was in an accident and a new truck had to come and get everything. Luckily the truckdriver wasn't hurt! Then Chris(Our Bill Sykes) came down with the stomach bug that a couple other castmembers had a couple of days before. The poor guy had to ride the whole day on the bus feeling incredibly sick :(
When we finally made it to Williamsport, the crew had done a great job getting everything set. Unfortunately they had no sleep what so ever. Chris was too sick to go on as Bill Sykes, so Will went on for him and did an amazing job!! There was rumor that Davy Jones(the original Artful Dodger) was going to come to that show, but as far as we know he was a noshow :( Colin was disappointed because he was looking forward to meeting him.
Today we were on the bus all day and got to Ogdensburg on time. Steve met us at the hotel and we went out to dinner with Sue, Mikey, John, and Quentin. From there we drove to the theatre. We were a little surprised that the theatre was actually located in a school and was extremely small, but it all worked out. We met up with Cici(Steve's sister), Jimmy(our nephew), and Aunt Carol and later Cindy and Emily Tyler made it. Emily has been in a few plays in Rochester with Colin. We really appreciated them coming all the way from Rochester, especially on a school night! It was so wonderful for Colin to have family and friends in the audience!
Tomorrow Steve is following us to Kingston Ontario and will watch the show there. We'll be sad when he has to leave on Thursday, but it will help knowing that we will be heading back home in a month :)

Kalamazoo billboard

Today while riding to the theatre in Kalamazoo Michigan we were so excited to see a billboard with Colin and Quentin's photos on it! So of course I had to ask Larry(our busdriver) to slow down so I could take a photo of it like a true stage mom would! lol!!!

This week has been quite a whirlwind! After St Louis we headed to Columbia MO, then Burlington IA, on to Muncie IN, and finally here we are in Kalamazoo MI. Last night the kids last tutor's(Kevin)parents came to see the show in Muncie. They stayed to meet the boys and we really enjoyed talking with them. They called Kevin from the theatre and each of the boys were excited to speak with him. Kevin is a great tutor and the boys really miss him. Colin was adament about going out to the bus to find the game Rumis that Kevin left behind in California. Unfortunately it was put under the bus and got a little tossed around, but after searching on hands and knees Colin finally found all of the missing pieces. He felt so much better knowing that Kevin would finally get Rumis back :)
I honestly don't know how the cast pulls off all of these shows! After spending the majority of the day on the bus we get to the hotel, grab a bite to eat and head to the show. On top of that, most of the cast has been fighting off colds and a couple had a stomach bug. It's tough not picking up germs when we're all on a bus together for so long. The boys have it even worse because they have to fit school and homework in. I'm so proud of how seriously Colin has been taking his school work. He got all A's on his report card! I know how exhausted I am by the show and all I have to do is sit and watch it. I have to admit though that I have been taking a few nights off here and there. Tonight Sue and I stayed back and did laundry and rested while John went to the theatre with the boys. Tomorrow is John's turn to stay back and relax.
I'm getting excited because Steve is going to meet us Tuesday in Ogdensburg and then travel to Kingson on Wednesday with us :) Colin and I are really looking forward to spending a couple of days with him. Unfortunately Morgan can't come along because she has midterms scheduled on those days :( We are also thrilled that Cici, Jimmy, and Aunt Carole are coming to the show in Ogdensburg. It's so wonderful for Colin to have family in the audience! Steve's old neighbors from Massena are also coming to that show. It will be nice to see them, we haven't seen them in years.
One of the best parts of this tour is the time that Colin and I spend alone in our room. We will just talk for hours about things. We each sympathize with whatever the other is going through and open up about all of our feelings. It's great therapy! I wish I would've had that much time alone with both of my girls without all of the daily activities and things butting in. One thing that I'm dreading about going back home is when he turns into the typical middle schooler! He opens up with me so much now, I truly hope that will continue.

St Louis

After passing the St Louis arch several times on tour, we were finally able to stop there. John, Q, Sue, Mikey, Colin, and I took advantage of the stop and went up in the arch. We got into the tram which looked a lot like a space pod. It was pretty neat watching as we made our way up the arch. Luckily we didn't have to walk up to the top(We'd have to go up over 1,000 steps!) At the top we were able to look out over the Mississippi River on one side and saw the St Louis Cardinals stadium out the other. We were so happy to be able to see another amazing landmark.
We headed to Columbia MO where we enjoyed a night off. We had dinner at the sports bar and just went back to our room and relaxed. We were able to sleep in the next morning, check out some of the presidential inauguration and then went across the street to the mall for some shopping and dinner. The cast performed at the University of Missouri tonight before an amazing audience. The seemed to absolutely love the show.
Tomorrow we head to Burlington IA for another one nighter.

Middle School Dance Party

When some of the girls in the cast heard that Colin had to miss his middle school dance they decided to have a middle school dance for him! They decorated one of their hotel rooms with crepe paper and put up a poster. Everyone came dressed as middle schoolers, they served punch and cookies, had music playing and the best part was that they all acted as middle schoolers! It was hysterical watching their take on things and Colin and Mikey had a blast! A few of their skits were like something out of Saturday Night Live! Check out the pictures and videos they tell the story much better than me!

Waukegan IL and Lima OH

We're all getting a little tired out from these one nighters! Our days have been consisting of waking up, packing our suitcases, loading the bus, 300+ mile trip, check in to the hotel, head to the theatre for sound check and then the show, go back to the hotel, shower, sleep, wake up and do it all over again in a different city. At least the adults get to sleep on the bus, I feel so bad for the kids who have to have school and then homework.

After St Charles we headed to Waukegan IL. Colin and I were excited to see my brother at the show. Mark has been working about an hour away and was able to drive up to see the show for a second time(He also saw the show in Binghamton) It was so nice having family there. Colin and I both really appreciated that Mark drove in snowy and extremely cold weather to come see us! I also appreciated that Mark had a glass of wine waiting for me in the lounge ;)

This morning we loaded the bus and headed to Lima OH. I was planning on relaxing in our hotel room once we got there, but changed my mind when I learned that a few of the understudies were going on. It's always a lot of fun to watch the understudies have their turn in the limelight. Tonight Erin wowed us as Nancy! She did an amazing job and we were all very proud of her! Michelle also did a fantastic job as Mrs Sowerberry. She looked so confident on stage even though she only had one rehearsal to learn the part! Ashley was hilarious as Old Sally and sounded beautiful as the strawberry seller. That girl is so talented! She can jump in any role and do it amazingly!

I had a chance to chat with the house manager at the theatre before the show. He told me that he was in a community theatre that is also putting on Oliver and he is playing Fagin. He said that many castmates were coming to watch the show. After the show the boys were delighted to find that the other Oliver cast was waiting outside the dressing rooms to meet them. Colin got to meet the boy who is playing Dodger in the other show along with their Oliver, Nancy, Mr&Mrs Sowerberry, Widow Corney, Fagin's gang members and their director. They were wonderful people and we really enjoyed answering all of their questions. By the end of our chat we were wishing that we could have the chance to watch their production.

Tomorrow we are heading to Evansville IN for another one nighter and then head to Paducah KY for two nights!!!

Memphis TN and St Charles MO

We were all very excited to leave our hotel in Galveston and head to the double tree in Memphis(No cockroaches and no criminals!) The beginning of our bus ride was pretty amazing. We got on a ferry and all got off of the bus and enjoyed being out on the water. Alaggio even brought his flute out and played the themes from Titanic and Little Mermaid while some of our group went upstairs on the ferry and struck a "I'm on top of the world" pose! We were all so excited when we looked out on the gulf and saw dolphins swimming along side of us! After we got off of the ferry we rode by some of the worst destruction from Hurricane Ike. It was so unbelievable seeing how debris spread everywhere. There were beach homes that were completely destroyed except for the stilts that they were built on. There were businesses that were demolished and random cars tipped on their side. I can't even imagine what these people went through. Within a half hour we went from the joy of seeing dolphins to sadness of seeing all of the destruction.

After a 12 hour bus ride we made it to Memphis and were thrilled to see Matt David as soon as we got off of the bus. Matt used to play Mr Brownlow on our tour, but left and is now touring with the Drowsy Chaperone. It just so happened that both the Drowsy and Oliver cast were staying at the same hotel on the same night :) Most of the cast and crew went to BB Kings to have dinner with Matt. We had an amazing time, we enjoyed the best ribs again and also a fantastic band. We all soon forgot about our long bus ride and got happy rocking to the music! It was really a lot of fun!

This morning we got back on the bus. We weren't exactly excited to be on the another long busride, so of few of the girls decided to make it a little more memorable! Erin helped Jenn squeeze into the upper luggage rack which is probably only about 1 foot in height! Then Erin decided that she wanted to try it, lol! The pictures explain this all alot better, it was so funny! I also was able to get a curtain rod and suction cup hooks to hang my valance that Erin and Jenn got me for my birthday. My seat looks so homey now!!! I love it!

Tomorrow we head out to Waukegan IL where the wind chill is supposed to be between
-20 and -40 degrees!! I made sure to pull out all of our warmest clothes for this trip! My brother is in Illinois for work so Colin and I are really looking forward to seeing him at the show :)

Back on Tour

I have to admit, this time it was extremely hard for me to come back on tour. Colin and I loved being home and I especially loved spending time with Steve, Brittany, and Morgan. We had to leave on the day of Morgan's first cheer competition for the year, so I was especially down having to miss that.
We headed for the airport at 5:30am and got on our flight to Atlanta where we had a layover. At the airport we met up with Stacie, Alaggio, Will, and Jeremiah who were on our flight to Houston. Once we all met up at the Houston airport the bus came to pick us up and bring us to Galveston. It was so sad seeing all of the damage that the hurricane caused in September. Homes and businesses were damaged and some totally destroyed. It was amazing to see all of the damage. We remember reading about this in the newspaper and seeing it on tv, but to be here and see the extent of the damage was unbelievable.
After checking in at the hotel we rested up a bit and then headed to the theatre for the show. We walked around a bit downtown and saw some places that were in business and looked like nothing happened and others that were completely boarded up or partially torn down. We went into a small grocery store and met the owner who told us about the hurricane and the damaged it caused to his store. He even showed us pictures of what it looked like after the hurricane. There was stuff everywhere, the streets were full of debris. He said that his store had 9 feet of water in it! He and his family had to get rid of everything and powerwash the whole building. Then they needed to order all new supplies. Miraculously it only took them 7 weeks to reopen although there still is a lot of work to be done. We were truly touched when we saw a woman come in to buy cleaning supplies for her apartment upstairs and Bob told her that there was no charge for the cleaning supplies. He had been through so much, but is still trying to help others get through their difficult times.
The shows went well but our time in our hotel was less than pleasant. The hotel was pretty run down. We have a nice view of the Gulf, but unfortunately so do the cockroaches and sketchy people who are staying in the hotel. Both nights we were treated to police cars combing the area. Tonight was especially exciting while we witnessed a footchase ending with the police coming up empty handed. Then they got back in their cars and headed to our hotel for a while! Sue and Stacie were fortunate enough to have some visitors in their rooms when they returned(not criminals but cockroaches!) There were several shady people walking around the hotel at night obviously doing some drug deals. So I'm sure you can understand why we are getting very little sleep and are really looking forward to bus call at 6:30am.
Things will get better from there. We're heading to Memphis again and staying in a very nice hotel. The best part is that Matt David is going to be in Memphis too with his tour (The Drowsy Chaperone)We're all so excited to see him!!