Haiku #43 - Real American: Luis

we were running late
we would have starved but for the 
kindness of strangers


Some hotels are surrounded by walkable food options, or at least have a restaurant of some kind on site.  Other hotels, not so much.  Alex and Benjamin and I were running late one morning about a week ago when we were looking for breakfast.  Of course the hotel restaurant was closed, and the hotel itself was surrounded by a pedestrian-unfriendly moat of concrete and asphalt.  Luis, one of the managers, very kindly gave us a lift to a diner about a half-mile away, and waited while we got our food to go.  


"Are you Boricua?" Benjamin asked on the way back, seeing the Puerto Rican flag hanging from Luis' rearview mirror.  Oh yes, Boricua through and through.  We told him about our show, and how we hoped he could make it that night, since it's all about Latin culture, and full of music he could really get into.  Unfortunately, Luis had to work all day at the hotel, and then go to his second job at a club in the evening.  Kind of like seeing the story of In the Heights in real life - the guy this show most personifies couldn't come see us because he was working two jobs.  Hopefully he at least got to check out the music!

Haiku #39 - Weekend!

you are exhausted: 
first five-show weekend, complete.
get thee to the bar!


Getting a lot of love from the audiences, and I think we (the band) have a higher-than-average retention rate during the bows and exit music.  You know how at musicals there are normally about a half dozen people - mostly musicians - who stay til the band finishes playing?  We have an enthusiastic crowd after almost every show.  The music in this show is awesome, and we are starting to sound kind of badass, if I do say so myself.  


Day off tomorrow!  The theater in Binghamton fed us like kings between shows this afternoon, and we're at a nice hotel where the bar is staying open for us.  Robert, who plays Sonny, is having a birthday today.  Lots of reasons to celebrate!

Haiku #32 - Sold Out Show!

We were completely sold out tonight!  It was pretty exciting to drive into the parking lot and see the "sold out" sign next to In the Heights on the marquee, and even more exciting to play to a packed house.  According to people who saw the show out in the house, it went really well - looked great and sounded great...


...which was a huge relief since we were dealing with some technical issues backstage.   Obviously, the goal is that the audience doesn't know about those issues, and hopefully the actors are blissfully ignorant of them too.  Tonight's haiku was inspired by heroic effort on the part of everyone who works back(or-below)stage.  


Kurt's afflicted by 
post-traumatic show syndrome - 
pass the tequila.  

Haiku #31 - Hot Music on a Cold Day

Lady from front row:
"If that music doesn't melt
the snow, nothing will."


First two-show day - tiny theater, terrible weather, great audiences.  That quote was from someone who attended the matinee.  The band cooked even more at the evening performance - it was that first show where we all agreed that we'd played the hell out of the show.  Yeah!  I love that feeling.  


On to Brookville, NY tomorrow... 

Haiku #30 - Canada

Two days, many miles
Border crossings, now traffic -
GET ME OFF THIS BUS!


Sorry to disappoint those who expected a quintessentially Canadian haiku; nothing particularly Canadian happened to me in the 21 hours I spent there.  The main event today was a long bus ride to New London, CT. (Better luck with Canadian haiku in Toronto in February - we'll be there for two weeks in February - I'm predicting at least one haiku about the cold.)  This time, we crossed into Canada about 1 pm yesterday, did the show in Kingston, Ontario last night, and crossed back to the US around 10 this morning.  I hurriedly ate an apple I took from the hotel breakfast before the US agri-inspector came onto the bus. I'm a rebel like that.

Kingston was cool. My main criteria for a town are: pedestrian friendliness, tea, and food that didn't come out of a deep fat fryer, and Kingston more than met them. Wish we could've stayed longer. Kurt & I went to a really cool tea shop before the show (inventively called Tea Store).  The walls were lined with jars of loose leaf tea, and you just pick the kind you want and take it to the barista to prepare.  Ah, Canada, where the streets are lined with tea shops, bookstores, and red mail drop boxes...

Haiku #28 - Real American: Ruth

let's all sing Gershwin
with Ruth on the eighty-eights
'til they kick us out
Kurt, Kat, & Ruth
Photo by Cherie B. Tay
Real American: Ruth
The Stanley Theater threw us a party last night after the show - a real party, complete with local brews, a chef preparing pasta (delicious - not helping me in my quest to be skinny on the road!), and a cocktail pianist named Ruth playing a square Sohmer piano.  

Ruth doesn't remember what year she was born (or so she said, when someone asked her if she was around when a particular 1920s song was popular).  She was playing stuff that always makes me feel like I was born 75 years too late.  Kurt and I made our way over to her to say hello at the beginning of the party, and at some point, he started requesting songs to sing.  We were joined by Christina, Nathaly, Benny, Gabe, Perry and a few other cast members, and in the end they finally turned the lights out so the cast (and keyboardists) of In the Heights would stop singing standards and let them go home.  

I hope, when I am of a certain age, that 20-somethings will sing Queen and Journey when I'm playing for their cast party. And Gershwin, eternal.  

Haiku #27 - Laundry Logistics

join the laundry queue
for the washer-dryer - or
washer-"less-wetter"

Let me explain the logistics of one-nighters on the road:
*get up (sometimes offensively early, after having finished work around 10 or 11 pm) to get on the bus to the next city
*sleep/read/listen to music, etc. on the bus.  
*barring delays caused by traffic, mechanical problems, etc., arrive and check into the hotel in time to have a couple hours or so free before 
heading...
*to the theater for soundcheck, company meeting, prep/warm up for the show
*there's a dinner break in here somewhere
*do the show
*back to the hotel (or out, for the young and restless among us)
*sleep (or not)

So, now that we're in one place for a few nights, you can imagine the rush to do laundry.  30 people, give or take, who care about their appearance, more or less, one washer-dryer that sort of works (but it's cheap!).

Haiku #25 - Mistakes

ok, guys, "Atencion"
oh, where's the guitar player?
cue accordion


This one's a guest haiku from Kurt, about a really obvious patch change mishap I had at today's performance.  If you are familiar with the show, you will know that "Atención" starts with soft, lovely guitar (as played by the beautiful and talented second keyboardist, me), as it introduces a reflective part of the second act.  Well... today it started with accordion (as played by the beautiful and... well... second keyboardist, er, me).  Wah-wah.  Day off tomorrow, just in time!