Home Stretch, Home Slices!

As quickly as January took us on the road, so came April to take us home. It was a bittersweet half-month filled with more breakdowns than we care to remember but the good thing is we hardly remember them! We had more memories to make before tour was over! So after North Disappointmentkota we went to Joliet, Illinois, only about an hour away from Chicago. It was an incredibly beautiful theatre, as so many of them were, and we loved playing there! On the way to Joliet however we got to stop in Madison, Wisconsin for the night. While on the road to Madison we suffered a severed tire, and a 20 minute break turned into a 3 hour lunch. Hawt.

So we were supposed to have some time to explore Wisconsin but fate had other plans I guess. I was determined however and there are incredible college houses in downtown so the morning before we left for Joliet I took myself on a sweet little home tour. By little I mean 7 1/2 minutes because I was almost late for bus call. Check out the finds!

That last shot is the view from our hotel room! I couldn't believe it when I got up in the morning. When we arrived the night before I couldn't see much past my rage so I didn't think that the ol' title of the hotel being THE EDGEWATER might mean something.

PS- this is also the hotel in which my lovely roommate Angelica and I had a screaming fit into our pillows for approximately 10 minutes. Now, whoever said that the act of maiming your pillow is a stress reliever is a bold-faced liar. It did, however, exhaust me so I was able to calmly put on non-bus clothes and go out to a bar for some good eats. When I found a hair in my hummus I thought my night was ruined but they gave me cash back for the entire value of the meal. So thank you, Madison, for paying me $15 to eat baked brie with apples! I'll be coming back and definitely staying at the Edgewater, it is beautiful.

Now, back to Joliet, IL!

I've included the above picture to show the Rialto way back when. It looks virtually the same now!

Good going, Joliet! Other highlights of Joliet? A great liquor store across from our hotel and a Boston Market. :-D

After Joliet we headed to Hamlet, NC. I don't remember much from this venue other than the fact that I attempted to get everyone to speak in heightened language because of the Shakespearean tendencies of the town's name. It was a brief attempt...but a good thought! Here's the theatre...

After Hamlet we went to the lovely, lovely Macon, GA for a gorgeous 4-day sit down which included our (drum roll please) one and ONLY golden day on all of tour!

Golden Day: n; a 24-hour period during which there is no travel and no show, thus bringing happiness to all. Ie: I love Golden Days.

Granted it was Easter so I guess they kind of had to give it to us but I took advantage of it nonetheless! I spent the day shopping, eating Panera, and jumping in the pool with all of my clothes on. So much fun, so little time! Macon was an odd venue though, our dressing rooms were literally on stage, when we opened the door we could see audience members. It was a little tough getting used to turning off the light every time we entered or exited our dressing room. But it was one of the only times my friend Kelsey and I were not late to places! Check it out...

After our luxurious 4-day sit down we went to Owensboro, Kentucky for 2 shows.

One of these lovely shows was what my dear friends referred to as a Brat Mat...a 10am student matinee...now, I've done lots of children's shows between Peter Pan, Narnia, and Black Pearl Sings, perhaps more than I care to count. But I've never experienced so much clap-happiness during an overture as I did with these kids. Sure they didn't laugh at any of the well-thought out jokes, 1950s humor, political references, or sexist undertones but dang did they clap 4 times during the overture. Win for the orchestra, y'all know how to speak to kids. After that show we got some great boxed lunches and headed to West Virginia for the night before traveling to Reading, PA the next day for our last...show...ever! (Cue Charlie Brown theme song)

One last post'll do it, kids, I've gotta get to bed but I'll catch y'all up tomorrow!