'Two Is Enough' refers to our number of shows in Tahlequah

Well - today was SHOW DAY here in the Cherokee Capital! We had one school performance this morning at 10am - and then a public peformance tonight at 7:30pm. The school performance was PACKED. I am pretty sure they even sold seats for children to sit in the actual rafters of the building. I think the theater probably sat....going out on a guess-limb here...1100 people - and all the seats were full. The evening show probably had about 800+ - and it's always fun to perform to an audience that is atleast HALF adults. It keeps you on your toes. They were both good audiences - but the shows today were actually weird for a couple of reasons.
Let's start by talking about the HEAT in the theater and on stage. Now, for those of you who know me and have seen me on stage, I will freely admit that I have a bit of a sweating problem - and in this show, it's intensified by like 100 times, because of how much we do. I'm always running around, changing costumes, moving set pieces, rolling things, lifting things....just whatever it takes to make the show go. Well today, in like the first 5 minutes of the show, I had sweat as much in that 5 minutes as I normally do in an entire show. And it wasn't just me - before you start thinking that is the case. Everyone was glistening a little more than usual.
ALSO - we did the show without the big Golden Tickets that hang over the stage and light up or go out - as the tickets are found and the kids disappear in the factory. Well - the space didn't have the light rails to hang them...so we just did the show without them. It wasn't a huge thing - but it just throws a strange little kink into the works - because you get so used to certain things. And since the show orchestration is all on a CD, we couldn't just cut those music-cues out or EVERYONE would've been confused.
The BIGGEST weird part of today was the venue itself. I'm not going to say it was old - but it DID have some serious problems with the stage. The front half of the stage was relatively smooth and normal - but the back half of it was so full of cracks and spaces that there was a SERIOUS concern that our puppets or Oompa stools might catch the cracks and tip over. So - being the DEAR STAGE MANAGER that she is, Elisa put gaff tape over all the LARGE cracks in the stage...so there would be no accidents. (I have to be honest - even with the assurance of gaff tape, I still had a brief panic attack everytime I rolled out on the Oompas - because my luck is that I would've been the one to catch a crack and sprawl across the stage.)
Oh yeah - and we also had a WEIRD Tara-Toss today. It was for the kids, though, and they seemed to find it exciting...so no big deal. I guess it could be that they found it exciting that she almost landed on her head instead of her feet. Silly kids. Speaking of silly kids - today after our school show, we were sitting in the green room, and right outside the windows, the kids who had just seen our show were standing in line waiting to get on their busses. There were these 2 little girls (3rd or 4th grade, I"m guessing) who I caught them looking in at us, so I smiled and waved at them. One of the little girls wrinkled her nose and then put her fingers up to her ears and stuck her tongue out at me! I was like - wow...ok...someone didn't listen to the Veruca part of the show. So then Tara/Veruca walks by, and the little girls all smile and wave at her. Grrrr.
So then, everyone decides it's a game...so now Chris/Mike Teavee walks by - AND THEY SMILE AND WAVE AT HIM! Not wanting to be left out, Jackie/Violet comes to the window, and they smile and wave her, too! So I look back at them, and the dang little girl STICKS HER TONGUE OUT AT ME AGAIN! So I opened the window and punched her in the face. OK not really...but seriously...why was she hating on Augustus? This is an answer I will never have.
That's about it from Tahlequah. I wish there was something MORE exciting to report -but there really isn't! OH! But between shows today, we went to a restaurant just here behind our hotel called Katfish Kitchen. And it was good! For those of you excited to hear more - please see my pictures of my lunch platter - AND of course, of the cheesecake (complete with review.)
Tomorrow we head to Tulsa - and I am excited! Oklahoma has been good to us - and the folks out West promise that Tulsa will be even better!

Catch you there....
G


So Tara decided she needed a haircut on tour....and Chris just bought new clippers....soooooooo......during Monday Night Football (GO BRONCOS! Sorry, Chris...) Chris shaved her a new do.....


JUST KIDDING! It was actually Elisa who gave Tara her new cut...and it turned out beautiful. (Chris didn't have time to do a cut - he was too busy watching his Kansas City Chief self-destruct on National Television. Ooops. Sorry, again, Chris....)


So here is the theater in Tahlequah - on the campus of Northeastern State University. And here is the stage - with the gaff tape over the cracks. There actually is a LOT more to the right - but our set was on it and the crew was taking it down so we could leave and I didn't want to bother them.


I like to call this, affectionately, my dressing nook. All the comforts of home.....in a 3-foot-square box. And here are all 4 guys in the cast peeking their heads out for a brief photo-op. Aren't we fun?


How nice! Another town advertising our show around town...WITH PICTURES OF THE OLD CAST! Makes a guy feel all warm and fuzzy inside. The program also had pictures of last years cast in it - and I'm sure everyone was confused when Charlie came out and he wasn't Filipino.


So....here is the 'Kitchen Platter' from Katfish Kitchen. This is the Catfish, fried ocre, hush puppy and tater tot plate. And for those of you thinking, 'But Matt doesn't like fish!' please know that I became a fan of catfish as a Mormon missionary when I was in Kentucky - and it is the only fish (besides Van de Kaamp's frozen fish sticks) that I enjoy eating. It doesn't taste fishy. ANYWAY - I digress. To the right, THE CHEESECAKE. Pretty average...kind of tasted like maybe a frozen cheesecake from somewhere with caramel ice cream topping drizzled on top. I am going to have to give it a high 4 - or even a low 5. Yes. A low 5. It lacks flavor and creativity. I mean - selling it as a 'Caramel Cheesecake'? I'm bored already.....But the lunch itself...a high, high 8. Very enjoyable.


Here I am forcing Andrew to eat the last few bites of the Just OK Cheesecake. (WAIT! That is how they should sell it! Just OK Caramel Cheesecake. BRILLIANT!) Please Note: Andrew was NOT harmed in the taking of this picture. After the flash, he happily ate the food on his fork.


And just to pass the time, Tara and Eric discover the Merry-Go-Round while we were shopping. I doubted at first, but it's true - that Wal-Mart really was SUPER! Look how much fun they're having!