Life On The Road With Augustus: MEET THE CREW: Emily, Todd, Chris and Torg

So we're 3 1/2 weeks into tour, and I figured it was time for all of you to get a chance to meet the BACKBONE of our little traveling show! We travel with 7 actors, 1 stage manager (profile to follow) and then our 4 member tech crew! And here they are now: Emily Steger on Wardrobe, Todd Hendricks on Sound, Chris Schardin on Puppets and Aaron Torgerson (just call him Torg) on Lights!
Emily Steger comes to us from the beautiful state of Wyoming - GO COWBOYS! - and is the Queen of props and costumes! And in all the shows I've done, she is the most on-the-ball person - as far as knowing where everything is and keeping track of things - that I have ever seen. She puts up with all of us and our lost, ripped or dirty costume pieces and props...and has even been known to chase small children down to reclaim stolen golden tickets! (She had to play 'The Bad Guy' on the day all the kids rushed the stage....she did a great job!) Emily loves a good game of poker, the band Green Day, calling her hotel room her 'house', and doesn't like having her picture taken that much - so the couple that I have, I consider myself lucky for getting. Oh - and Emily LOVES Boise! Which is one MORE reason I think she's so cool - AND why she got profiled first!
Todd Hendricks is the Texan of the group - and a genius when it comes to making us sound WAY better than any of us really are. This is his third Kennedy Center tour in a row - just coming off the Tom Sawyer tour from last year...but OF COURSE he likes this tour/cast the best. He plans on taking a trip to Europe during our 3 weeks off, and I THINK he promised to bring all of us some amazing gifts. Tara makes a special note that Todd is an amazingly resourceful person and is the connection WIZARD! He helped us get my portable DVD player hooked up in Indy, when the rest of us thought it just couldn't be done. Todd to the rescue - movie was watched - all were satisfied. His favorite part of the show is the puppets - specifically the grandparents and the Oompa Loompas. And he loves it when I call him Tood.
Chris Schardin hails from the great, but small, state of Massachusetts. And when you hear his title of 'Puppetmaster', I'm sure you all wonder just WHAT that means. Well, it means that not only does he make sure the puppets stay together for each of our shows - but it also means that he spent the time we were rehearsing figuring out how to make the puppets travel the safest way possible. He came up with a storage system that has allows each puppet it's own travel space and keeps them intact. Actor Chris affectionately calls Tech Chris C2...and says that he is just an awesome guy. He always seems to be the first from the tech side who is willing to go out with us exploring or celebrating or experiencing the towns we're in. Like so many in our cast, Chris is an avid beer-drinker. He also is very reliable - I can always count on him getting my Oompa to the places they need to be.
Aaron "Torg" Torgerson is a native of BIG SKY COUNTRY - and for those of you asking, WHERE? - he's from Montana. Torg's claim to fame is that he owns 15 pairs of the same outfit - his standard green cargo shorts and army-issue brown t-shirts and then his socks and shoes.
And he'll tell you it's his 'uniform' 365 days a year - come hell or highwater. He packs them in individual Ziplock bags...one for each day. Now THAT is organized! He is a Corona drinker and when it comes to Karaoke, he put a cast of MUSICAL THEATRE performers to SHAME! He built a fan base of locals who were at the bar the night he shook the rafters. When Torg isn't doing the light thing or the karaoke thing, he is an avid fan of the HBO series, OZ - and for the kids reading this, it isn't a series about Munchkins and wicked witches.
We are VERY lucky to have these 4 with us - and appreciate their patience with all of us on the road! They each MAKE this show what it is - and make SURE it runs smoothly and flawlessly.
THANKS TECH STAFF FRIENDS!
Gussy and Co.