A Five Week Vacation

Albany, NY
Hello Friends,

The past five weeks has been good. Almost too good. From the blustery lands of Canada we spent two weeks off in Ohio and Pennsylvania. Then a week in Connecticut, two days of workshops in DC followed by pretty much two weeks off again spent with our respective families in Ohio and Pennsylvania again. And now we are in the heart of downtown in Albany, NY.

The sheer amount of off time has been overwhelming. It has been great to spend so much time with family and friends but it also wears on you to know that you are doing a whole lot of hurrying up and waiting. Thankfully, we are back on the road with two weeks (New York and New Jersey) and then ANOTHER week off followed by our last week in Maryland the week before Christmas.

Since there has been a gap on the blog (that happens when one is on vacation) lets recap some highlights of that break:

- Water park fun with family at Kalahari in Sandusky, OH.
- Great food and wine and even better company in Cincinnati, OH.
- Making my niece up like a zombie for Halloween.
- Delicious food at Corky and Lenny's (There is nothing daring about it, just go).
- Meeting Mama Lerew.
- Having a doll filled and enjoyable week in Old Saybrook, CT at The Kate.
- Doing 4 workshops in urban DC for the United States Forestry Service.
- Eating Ethiopian food (that is daring).
- Enjoying home cooked meals in York and Stewartsville, PA
- Celebrating Thanksgiving with my family which, in actuality, is a very rare thing as my family is never near each other on Thanksgiving.

It's been a lot of traveling and in retrospect a lot of eating but it has been worth and the end of tour is looming in the horizon (only three more weeks left!). It's going to be a great time.

The Adventure Continues - ML

Monticello & Niagara Falls

Mississauga, ON (That's Ontario y'all!)

Hello Friends!

Fall tour has been whizzing by in a blur of singing children and long drives. I write from land of our northern brethren of Canada, but more on that later. In the past few weeks Calida and I have gone from Central Virginia to Northern New York with out nary a moments reprise and it has taken a small toll on our health as we are both battling chest colds but we shall overcome!

Two weeks ago we were in Lovingston, VA, located pretty much in the middle of nowhere. It was a gorgeous place surrounded by rolling hills of trees. Not far from where we were was Thomas Jefferson's home of Monticello. The icon home of our 3rd President can be found on the back of the nickel and was a wonderful stop.

First you are greeted by the new visitors center which was quite impressive and full of interactive exhibits showing how Jefferson ideas of independence have since spread across the globe. From there it was a short shuttle trip to the house itself. Though the building is not very large on the outside, the surrounding grounds more then make up for it. We had a couple of minutes to kill before our tour and took in Mr. Jefferson's gardens. Quite an impressive assortment of vegetables. Supposedly he was very interested in seeing what types of plants could or could not survive in America so he planted many different types and documented their growth.

The tour of the house was awesome. We went through all of the rooms on the main floor and our tour guide was very good. It was impressive to see how Jefferson remodeled the house three times and continual thrived to make improvements to not waste not any space in his home.

Sadly our time was a bit limited as we had to skedaddle back to rehearsal. We could have easily spent the whole day on the grounds as many other guided tours were available. If you are close by you should check it out.

After Virgina we spent a long weekend at Calida's home in York, PA with friends and family and I even got to experience a Teepee bonfire hosted by here brother. It. Was. Awesome.

From there we arrived in northern New York in the town of Lockport, none too far from Buffalo. The week was a lot of fun especially since my Nieces, Sister, Bro-in-law, and Gammy were able to come up and see the show. The following day we went to the always impressive Niagara Falls where hopped on the world famous Maid of the Mist. This was great. You put on a poncho, get on a boat, ride pretty much into the middle of the falls, get soaking wet, and then go to a gift shop. It was quite an experience to see my 2 year old niece and my Gammy both holding on for dear life while enjoying the falls.

Now we are in Canada in Mississauga. It is a nice burb of Toronto and everyone here has made us feel very welcome. Next up is some time off where family and fun await.

The Adventure Continues - ML

Soggy Sayre

Sayre, PA

Hello Friends!

We had a wonderful show in Keene, NH and were a bit sad to leave our host Judith, but the road calls and we packed up and headed west once again.

Our week in Sayre, PA is going along fine. Sadly this town was devastated a few weeks ago when Tropical Storm Lee came through and created what the locals are calling a "500 Year" flood. Half the town has been flooded out and we often hear people talk of how they do not have a home to go home to or they wonder if their basements are dry enough to re-sheet rock. Thankfully we have arrived at the right time and are giving this community a much needed boost through the joys of theatre. We just wish it would quit raining!

For the past two weeks in Troy and Keene we have had wonderful home stays,

however they were each accompanied by 20 minute commutes to the theatre and back. Not so this week. We are staying at the Virginia Buchmann Guest House which is literally a stone throw away from the Sayre Theater (that is the guest house and theatre and truck all in the same picture). The cast is doing a great job. In fact for the first time in about two months we had to sadly turn kids away - 94 auditioned!

We also had a nice small article in the local paper. It can be found here.

Hope you are staying dry!

The Adventure Continues - ML

Lovely Keene

Nelson, NH

Hello Friends!

Things are wonderful in New Hampshire. The leaves are changing and the country side is gorgeous with a smattering of reds, oranges, and browns. Even though we have been rain logged all week with very muggy and un-fall like weather we are still having a great time.

Our week started well as we arrived at our home this week. Located pretty much in the middle of no where, we are staying with a board member from the Colonial Theatre. She has this huge modern house in the middle of the woods. We were greeted by here two wonderful Golden Retrivers and full internet. Yes, this would make for a good week.

Zack and Zoey - LOVE THEM!

Those are our bedrooms above the garage.

A realitive small turnout came to auditions, only 39- they were expecting around 60. Thankfully quality won out over quantity and the kids are on track for a great show tomorrow in the amazingly old and renovated Colonial Theatre. (Better be on my best acting as it is a $19 ticket!).

The stage is perfect for the MCT set and the seats have great accustics in the house!

The always posing Calida Davis

It seats 500 folks!

The restored theatre is gorgeous!

We even got to do workshops in surronding towns. One was a good 45 minute drive away. The drive was very pretty and the kids were extremely excited for us to come since they don't have a lot of arts exposure out in the country of New Hampshire. We offer a make-up workshop and I have to admit I am getting pretty good at the old "quater in hand wound"

Not pictured - 40 children screaming "EWWW!!!"

Next up - we travel back to exactly the same county we were last week - Sayre, PA.

The Adventure Continues - ML

Picturesque Pennsylvania

Nelson, NH

Hello Friends!

Our first week of fall has come to an end. The kids did well and the small town of Troy, PA has treated us well. We stayed with a wonderful family who lives atop of Alba Mountain (think Walton's but with natural gas wells). They own a lot of the property on the hill and Calida and I went trekking around and about. Fall was in the air and the ground was still soaked from Lee. The pictures speak for themselves.

That's our little truck there in the distance next to our home.

This tree was massive!

This picture really doesn't do this vista justice. It was very impressive.

Calida Von Trapp

We are enjoying our time here in Keene, NH. We are working with the Colonial Theatre this week. It is a gorgeous old place (pictures to come). and this whole college town has made us feel quite welcome. There is a good chance for some great daring dinning this week!

The Adventure Continues - ML

The Wrath of Lee

Alba, PA

Hello Everyone!

Fall tour is underway and things are going grand!

After spending a great three and a half week on "working vacation" aka getting our truck from Missoula to Pennslyvian, we have begun our week in Troy, PA. We are staying with a nice couple on their farm property the next town over - Alba, PA.

We have a tiny cast this week of 28 and the kids are doing well. Really good singers and very respectful. The town was hit pretty hard last week as Tropical Storm Lee dumped tons of rain on the town. Their is even a huge chunk of road missing from one of the main drags leading into town.

Speaking of Lee... During his trek up north our truck was parked at Calida's Dad's home in Stewartstown, PA (about 10 miles south of York, PA). It was parked aways from a creek however Lee made the creek flood to biblical proportions. What ensued was very stressful for our truck and Calida. An account with lots of pictures can be found on Calida's Blog.

It is good to be on the road again!

The Adventure Continues - ML

Fall '11 Tour Schedule

Cortland, OH

Hello Friends!

Where has time gone!? After many weeks of no internet and lots of travel it is time (actually very over due) to give a heads up to our whereabouts this fall. Here we go!

9/12 - Troy, PA

9/19 - Keene, NH

9/26 - Sayre, PA

10/3 - Lovingston, VA

10/10 - Lockport, NY

10/17 - Mississauga, ON (That would be Ontario, Canada!)

10/24 - Unbooked

10/31 - Unbooked

11/7 - Old Saybrook, CT

11/14 - Unbooked (Possibly a residency week in Washington D.C.)

11/21 - Thanksgiving Week

11/28 - Menands, NY

12/5 - Sergeantsville, NJ

Then off for the holidays. We are staying on with Secret Garden and are glad about it. The show has really grown on us. We will get our marching orders for the Winter/Spring in November sometime and I can tell you now we will still be on the East Coast as we are not slotted to return to Missoula until the end of this tour in May 2012.

As always if live near by and/or know of places to see and or unique places to eat please leave a message so we can experience it all!

The Adventure Continues - ML