The days before tour: The last week before I flew from NYC to Texas to start rehearsals for Buddy was a week of running around Manhattan like a chicken with my head cut off. I spent my time teaching a lot of private voice and piano lessons (which I LOVE), checking my memory on my lines as Vi, reviewing my piano solos, memorizing Maria Elena's lines as well (surprise, I'm the understudy lol), and practicing piano like a madwoman because I understudy Keys 1 for the Clearlake concert. AND on the Friday before we flew, I went with some of my best friends Heather (maid of honor), JaLeesa, and Monica to a very special bridal appointment (I'm keeping the location super secret so my sweet fiance, Nick, will continue to have NO IDEA). Even my Mom and Dad FaceTimed in and got to see the whole process. AND I FOUND THE DRESS OF MY DREAMS!! It was a magical day. Saturday, Oct. 28 So, packing is not exactly my gift. I even had a note on my phone of what to pack that I found from my first tour ever (2016) and some additional items I thought of while braving the temperamental MTA. Some of these items saved my life last tour - laundry bag, exercise bands, a coloring book, sleep mask, vitamins, etc. Nevertheless, though my list was type A, my tendency to procrastinate certainly led me to pack for tour THE NIGHT BEFORE. Bless my sweet roommates Heather and JaLeesa for keeping me company, making me remove any unnecessary items, and just being incredible sister-friends. I definitely got TWO hours of sleep before trekking to LGA for my early morning flight to San Angelo, TX on Sunday, Oct. 29. Monday, Oct. 30 We started rehearsals bright and early (10 AM). I almost couldn't sleep the night before because I was so excited! We drove in rental cars to get the the San Angelo Performing Arts Center. Monday morning we got to have a meet and greet with the cast, crew, production team, producers, and the artistic directors of the San Angelo PAC. It absolutely felt like the first day of school! Our production team is mostly British, and so we had the most wonderful breaks for tea time where we could grab snacks, tea, coffee, cookies, and recharge before delving back into rehearsals. This day was mostly a music day working with our brilliant MD, Jockey. I also learned towards the end of our evening that I was going to have to learn to play the upright bass for the first song in the show. I have learned it on guitar and ukulele for past productions. But fun fact: before this tour, I have NEVER played the upright bass! So, I worked with our music director for a half hour or so that night and shocked myself and learned the song! I can't wait to learn a lot more about the bass from other cast members who rock this instrument. Tuesday, Oct. 31 This was HALLOWEEN! We rehearsed all day and had an early morning the next day, but a lot of our cast was excited to go out and do something fun for Halloween. We decided to go to karaoke right down the street from our hotel. I contemplated packing a costume for this very occasion, however I reluctantly decided against it since whatever I brought with me on tour would be with me until April 2018 when I return to NYC. Dollar Store for the win! My costume was "Confused Party Goer" (and also a nod to my character in the show, Vi because she wears glasses). (The restaurant we went to, The Twisted Root, assigned us cards. I got to be Katy Perry until my order was called.) Alternate fact: We went all out for our Halloween costumes. Pictured here are Hailey (Mets fan) and Kyle (super cool disguise also from the $ store). Wednesday, Nov. 1 The San Angelo Performing Arts Center had recently been renovated and Buddy was the first Broadway musical to perform there EVER since renovations. The first group of any kind ever to perform there was the Vienna Boys Choir. The lovely people at San Angelo PAC got tickets for our Buddy cast! We had a very long day of rehearsals, but most everyone decided to go. MY CHILDHOOD DREAM CAME TRUE!! My choir loving, music ed major self was in heaven for this whole concert. Especially the encore of an entire Sister Act medley. Thursday, Nov. 2 After much crazy rehearsing I finally made it to H.E.B., the most amazing grocery store where we stocked up for the week! Turns out, I am now highly addicted to dried green beans. Friday, Nov. 3 I started this day bright eyed and bushy tailed and pumped! (Also known as COFFEE). As the day progressed I think the week was catching up with me and I got soooooo sleepy. Our amazing dressing rooms had full couches, so naturally, I crawled into one and took the most glorious nap in between choreo and staging rehearsals. In between other rehearsals Hailey and I amused ourselves by taking necessary photos. Here was sleep deprivation at its finest: This night I got to check out the hotel's hot tub for the first time and it felt like heaven after working so hard all week. Hailey also stopped by the pool for a moment and so we nerdishly practiced our choreo in our swimsuits using the windows at the pool as our mirrors. Sunday, Nov. 5 This was our first day off since flying to TX to start rehearsals. We decided to take the couple of rental cars from San Angelo to Lubbock, TX to go visit the Buddy Holly Center. This was such a special day. In the museum we saw Buddy's actual glasses retrieved from the plane crash site, his guitars, motorcycle, clothing, photos, childhood memorabilia, etc. I particularly loved seeing some recording equipment used by Norman Petty in Clovis, New Mexico (Norman Petty is my husband in the show). Our cast went CRAZY in the gift shop! We were just heading to leave the museum to grab some BBQ, and our music director, Jockey arrived with Eddie, Buddy's nephew. Jockey has been friends with the Holly family for years through working on the show, and he offered to introduce us. I don't think any of us could believe we were meeting Buddy's relative. It made it even more real to us how recent and truly tragic Buddy's death was. Eddie told us incredible stories about how he used to try to play Buddy's guitar when he wasn't looking, how they used to fight over who got to sleep in Buddy's bedroom set (which we had just seen at the museum), and how he knocked the "Rock N' Roll" into Buddy when he hit him with a croquet mallet as a young boy when Buddy and his friends wouldn't let Eddie come to the movies with them. Eddie had a huge personality, and it felt like an honor to meet him. He was kind enough to let us take a picture with him. Monday, Nov. 6 We had another long and wonderful day of rehearsals. At night I got to video chat with my Mom and Dad because my wedding dress had arrived and they were showing it to me. I can't believe Nick and I have a whole year to wait until our wedding day! We're ready to get married now!!! Tuesday, Nov. 7 The producers gifted us with Buddy 2017-2018 sweatshirts and our whole cast was SO excited! This night I decided to go do something active and I swam laps in the hotel swimming pool. It felt so refreshing and I was glad I packed my swimsuit. It was my parents' wedding anniversary so I got to call and chat with them a long while after swimming. Wednesday, Nov. 8 As fate would have it, perhaps the swimming pool was NOT the best idea. Or should I say - EYE-dea. When I woke up, I realized my right eye was swollen SHUT. We hadn't even started doing runs of the show in make up, so I'm pretty sure I had a very cute (disgusting) reaction to the pool. Luckily, we had a later call time for rehearsal this day. Our wonderful and perfect company manager, Lacy, took me to a pharmacist and he said I DEFINITELY had an allergic reaction and needed to take some Allegra and eye drops. I felt like Quasimodo/Shrek. Thursday, Nov. 9 We had two dress rehearsals this day. (This was scary because we opened the NEXT DAY!!!!) During our first run in the morning, during a VERY fast quick change, Hailey and I accidentally SWITCHED COSTUMES and were struggling to fit into each other's dresses. It was terrifying and hilarious and we were both trying SO HARD not to break character after finally switching into the correct costumes seconds before we had to walk on stage and sing again. I will never forget this moment. Friday, Nov. 10 We had a notes session with our director Matt in the morning, and during notes, Stage Management asked me to go visit Jockey for a moment to help make a backing vocal track for a moment in the show. I felt honored to get to do this, but it was also SO MUCH FUN!!! I am glad I have sight reading experience because we had maybe 2 takes on each vocal line because we were pressed for time. It makes me smile when I hear this small moment in the show because I feel like I was really let in behind the scenes. We rehearsed all day, had a catered dinner in our break, and then it was time for OPENING NIGHT!!!!!! The crowd was incredible, and it was SO WONDERFUL to get the show up and running and test it out in front of an audience! After the show, our producers threw us a cast party at the hotel, and it was nice to get to mix and mingle with the cast, crew, creative team, patrons, etc. Saturday, Nov. 11 Today was our first double show day. There will be plenty more of those to come on this tour. In between shows we had a company meeting about our brand new TOUR BUS! Until this point, we had been going from our hotel to rehearsals/the theatre in rental cars, but the next morning we were going to leave San Angelo and get the show on the road (literally). We talked about some house rules, got to tour the bus, & claim our bunks (because we have a sleeper bus with 12 bunks). It felt surreal. I also called Nick's dad to wish him a happy birthday. Much to my surprise and delight, his mom was also in the car so I got to speak with them both before getting ready for the evening show. Shout out to Sandy and Neal! Sunday, Nov. 12 We woke up early and loaded the bus to start traveling to San Antonio for our matinee performance. We were at the Majestic Theatre and it was BEAUTIFUL!!! I felt like we were at Disney World! There were GORGEOUS paintings on the theatre walls backstage of every tour that has ever come through this theatre. We found an old Buddy Holly mural and our whole cast got to add our names to the wall! Because of bus regulation rules, we HAD to stay in San Antonio for an extra hour or so and we freaked out with excitement! We got to see the Riverwalk and the Alamo! Monday, Nov. 13 We had a day off, but really this means it was a travel day. We made a stop for lunch in Breaux Bridge, LA. Well, be still my little southern girl heart!!! I had red beans and rice and friend shrimp for lunch. Dreams do come true. We drove straight through BATON ROUGE, LA and I couldn't contain my excitement! It felt unreal to have our entire cast and tour bus drive through my hometown! We drove over the Mississippi river and I pointed out where we will be performing Dec. 7 at the Raising Cane's Center downtown (It was called the Centroplex when I was growing up). When we passed the exit I would normally take to get to my childhood home, the cast and our director waved and said, "Hi Mom and Dad"! They were so cute. Tuesday, Nov. 14 We made it to Macon, GA. I was backstage for soundcheck when I got a phone call from the newspaper in Baton Rouge, The Advocate, wanting to do a phone interview about the Buddy Holly Story and asking if I could send in pics. I don't believe I've ever done an interview for a paper and I'm really looking forward to it. I think even if ONE person I knew growing up saw it and wanted to come see the show, that would be incredible. And I'm just so proud of my hometown and still can't believe we will be performing there. I'm already jumping out of my skin that my Mom, Dad, and Grandma Hilda can come! Because we had some extra time between sound check and the show, our amazing costumer, Keith, helped me get into a few costumes/wigs for promotional shots for the paper. We had a blast! During this evening's performance, something happened that has NEVER happened in my entire career - we had to stop the show and close the curtains!! Act 1 was ALMOST over, and the fire alarm went off through the entire theatre! It was loud and lights were flashing and we weren't sure if there was actually a fire or not. (There was no fire). But our hazer machines set the alarms off. When we got the "all clear", the actors on stage decided to pick up in the exact same spot in the exact same song (same word and everything) and finish Act 2. I was impressed! We weren't able to use the hazers for the rest of the show which was super unusual. Thursday, Nov. 16 We got to perform in Patchogue, NY. This theatre was really adorable! For this venue, the 2 gals in the cast and our SM Hayley and ASM Kelsey were all sharing a dressing room/workspace. Kelsey delighted us with a DISCO BALL!!!! I made a video when I was very full of energy (coffee) in my fakey-bad singing voice. After the show, I went out into the lobby to meet Hailey's family and friends, many of whom I had even facetimed with. (Hailey is from Long Island). I have friend and audition buddy from NYC, Ashley, who came out to see the show because she had just performed in a production of Avenue Q with James, our Big Bopper. We were very excited to see each other! Friday, Nov. 17 This was definitely my favorite day of tour so far! My best friend in the world and maid of honor, Heather, my Boojie Bear, trekked from our apartment in NYC all the way to New Haven via train to come and see our performance! I was beyond grateful and just plain GIDDY. I was bouncing around the theatre knowing I would get to see her on our dinner break! Before she got there Hailey and I decided to check out New Haven even just for a little while to grab some coffee and pretend we were Rory Gilmore and take a few pictures of Yale. The Schubert Theatre in New Haven was historic and really beautiful! Heather (Boojie) showed up right at the end of our sound check. We hugged and had the most comforting dinner at Panera and spent a few hours catching up and having gal pal chit chat. My heart was actually bursting. After the show, she even got special permission to ride on the bus back to the hotel with us. She was so excited to meet everyone in the cast and they were very excited to meet her as well. That evening, Boojie, Hailey, and I got to hang out, order pizza, have popcorn, watch some HGTV, joke around, and it felt like a slumber party. I was SO sad to have to tell Boojie goodbye because I won't see her until June 2018 or so. She's famous and is about to perform in the European tour of HAIR! Saturday, Nov. 18 This was our second double show day of the tour. 'Twas a long but great day. One of the best parts of the day was taking advantage of the amazing wifi in the lobby and having a facetime call with Nick for a good long while. I felt like we were on a cute little date! I did NOT want to hang up the phone :) (We also knew we wouldn't be able to talk that evening because of our travel schedule). After our second show, I took the fastest shower of my life at the theatre because we were gearing up to take our very first overnight drive (no hotel)! It felt like one huge sleepover on the bus. I stayed up WAY too late playing the You Don't Know Jack group games that Mike & Lacy brought. I haven't laughed that hard in a WHILE! Sunday, Nov. 19 I woke up around noon and we were parked outside of the hotel in Danville, VA. Apparently, the bus arrived about 9am but we were all passed out! We had time to take our luggage into the hotel, unpack, and unwind for a little bit before our bus call to head over to the theatre for sound check. Our view from the hotel was so beautiful! Now, I'm not sure how this happened exactly, but that evening's performance was in a high school auditorium. They had a full size stage and everything we needed, but this felt like a very different show! The audience was fantastic! My favorite part of the day was having our cast meeting/notes/warm ups in the choir room and getting ready in classrooms.
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I am so excited to be on the 2017-2018 national tour of Buddy the Musical playing the sassy Vi Petty. I toured with this show in 2016 and loved every second. My only regret was not documenting more. Tonight I got the bright idea to start a blog to keep my friends and family up to date on life on and off the stage. I am looking forward to posting pictures and blurbs about venues, cities, life on the tour bus, hotels, our brilliant cast, mishaps, successes, and some of the shenanigans that might occur along the way. I hope you enjoy looking into my world for the next few months!
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AuthorI'm currently playing Vi Petty in the 2017-2018 National Tour of Buddy the Musical. ArchivesCategories |