A Wacky Thursday

So we've had some crazy shows on the road. We've had our share of flops, flubs and blunders in the course of the 2 months we've been doing the Wonka. And yet...I'm going out on a limb here to say that our first show today in Thousand Oaks was one of the hottest messes I've seen...on most all levels. And there was so much CRAZY going on up in that show, I don't even know how to tell you all of it. It started TECHNICALLY. For those of you who don't know...our show is performed with a recorded orchestra track. (It's a GREAT orchestration....Katie McManus thought it was a real orchestra last year. Good work, Katie.) And the way our staging is set up, we have a pair of monitors that face US on stage so we can hear the music while the house speakers pump the same thing out to you in the house. But today, for some reason, the monitors on stage were about as LOW as you could get them...and they were not able to be turned up from the sound booth. So we knew from the get-go that things were going to be a struggle.
The first major hiccup in the sound came during the scene right before we sing 'Candyman'. Myself, Eric and Rachel are on stage as just random kids on the street and there is a musical riff playing underneath...and our lines and the music are timed together. When the lines and music riff END, I jump right into a little song thingy. But today, the background music didn't start. So as Rachel and I are doing our little bit on stage, calmly acting out the children parts we act...we are BOTH looking at each other with FEAR, DREAD and PANIC in our eyes. "WHAT THE CRAP ARE WE GOING TO DO?" Rachel's eyes said to me. "I DON'T KNOW...BUT I'M PRETTY SURE IT'S GOING TO INVOLVE ME CRYING." My eyes said back.
So we got to close to the end of the part with the lines and the music....and MAGICALLY, the music comes on (quietly, as previously discussed)...so I speed up to finish the lines with the music....thinking that is where we are. WRONG! The music that started (very lightly in the monitors, keep in mind) was the background music for the whole scene...and it started playing from the beginning of the music. SO....a few more seconds of panic while I realize we are done with lines but have about a minute or so of music left to play...and next thing we know, my child (his name is James...) breaks out into a Shakesperean monologue of epic proportions...including my musings on sucker flavors, admittance of candy-eating-addiction AND a Tourettes-type outbreak to Eric and Rachel that went something like this: "DON'T TOUCH MY SUCKER!" Yeah...where did that come from? And don't think for a SECOND that that whole episode didn't set the giggles off with everyone. It was a mess.
The rest of the show went along the same CRAZY lines...all complete with music we could barely hear to sing along with. And wouldn't you KNOW that this was the audience of kids (God bless them!) that were so into the show that they were hell-bent on clapping along with EVERY SINGLE SONG! We're talking upbeat AND ballads they were trying to clap. Add that up real quick - 1500 kids CLAPPING to the music we couldn't hear when it was silent...let alone when they were all clapping. A mess. Factor in a slight stabbing on stage (a pin was left in Jeffrey's pants...and it jabbed into his knee....so while we're all at the Factory Gates...I turn and see Jeffrey run off stage to take care of it. But Augustus was quick to point out we were now the 4 luckiest children in the world), a mix-up between the chocolate bin (that I fall into) and the smaller nut bin (that Roe falls into) which made about 2/3 of my body hang out of the bin AND caused for a much more cramped space than in the other one, and a handful of other mishaps and instances, ALL WITH MUSIC WE CAN'T HEAR, and you have a pretty accurate picture of how truly wacky our day was! And it was only 11am!
Our 2nd show was a LOT better, show wise. But I think we all would've loved to have had the kids from the first show back for our audience. They got it. Completely. But the second show, my good friend, David Kopp was in the audience. Dave lives in Pasadena and has been a friend of mine since our junior year of high school. It was fun to see him after the show and catch up for a few. It was also comforting to know that he saw the LESS crazy show of the day.

Here is Dave and I right after the show. The light of Wonka shines in BOTH our faces.

I decided an old friend like Dave needed his chance to be color accented. And what FINE shots, eh!?

Rachel, Tara and I pose with some of our fans in Thousand Oaks!

After our shows and load out, we packed everything up and headed North on the 101 for San Luis Obispo. We have a couple of days off here, and I think everyone is ready to sleep off the crazy and recharge.
Once I checked into my room and dropped my life off, I headed out to catch the Trolley that took me downtown SLO to the Farmers Market that they have here in town - and is ONLY on Thursday nights. They close down one of the main streets down town, and there are produce booths, and then 2 or 3 blocks of other booths...ranging from BBQ ribs to a booth where you can test your Bible IQ and win prizes. I scoped out downtown and walked the Market, and then met up with Roe, Jodi and Craig for dinner at Mothers Tavern. It's a local joint that turned out to have REALLY tasty food, great service and a fun environment right in the heart of the Farmers Market and historic downtown.

Mothers Tavern.

Inside said Tavern.

Craig catches a shot of our carrot cake before it's gone...AND a shot of me about the time I realize there are RAISINS in the carrot cake. Blech. And YES....I asked first and they said NO RAISINS. Lying whores.

The troops begging and bartering for pomegranites and cider.

The ONE booth I didn't get a chance to visit, but wanted to. (Notice the lady with the animal print top? Funny signs AND a case of the unfortunates? And it wasn't even PLANNED that way...the booth just tickled me. The prints were an added bonus!)

But Mothers is ALSO the spot that my WACKY day got even more wacky. As we're sitting eating and chatting, I notice a woman walk past us heading to the back of the restaurant towards the bathrooms. And as she passes, I recognize her...and I can't figure out how at the moment....but I turn to the other 3 and say, 'You guys. I know that lady, I think.' They all laugh, as they find it very amusing that I know someone everywhere...and had only moments before been telling them that I don't actually know anyone in SLO. I sit stewing over how I know the Mysterious Bathroom Lady. And as I think about it, bits and pieces start coming back. I think she's from Boise....maybe? I think her name might be Deb....maybe? And perhaps I worked with her at DirecTV? Possible.
As MBL leaves the facilities, I stop her and say, 'Excuse me...but I think I might know you.' To which, she looks frightened. I say, 'Is your name Deb, by chance?' To which she quickly looks at my tablemates to see if I am part of a big joke, and looks back to me and says, 'Yes?' So I say, 'Do you work for DirecTV?' Again....a look of shock and uneasiness sets in...as she looks to my table AGAIN...and then back to me and says, 'Who are you?' So I introduce myself - Matt Anderson - and I explain that I thought I knew her and that I think she might have worked with me at DirecTV in Boise....blah blah blah. And it really was her! And we talk for a second, as I try to jog her memory of who I worked for at DirecTV and as I tell her what I am doing now, and her eyes light up and she says, 'MATT ANDERSON! I do remember you. I remember talking to you and you saying you wanted to be an actor!' (Which, at this point, in my mind, I'm skeptical that she really knows who I am...because any yahoo could put my name and the fact that I just told them that I am, indeed at this point, an actor and feign recognition. But I decide that I'll take it.) So we wrap up things...she says she will say hello to my DirecTV folks in Boise and she heads out. (Important detail: she was SLO for a work-type retreat with some other DirecTV folks from around the country. AND - she didn't even eat at Mothers. She just stopped in to use the bathroom...at which point she walked past my table and I recognized her. WHAT are the chances?!)
TEN minutes later, we're sitting chatting again, Roe, Jodi, Craig and I, and as we're talking, I kind of get sidetracked from the conversation as I say, 'Umm....I think I know that woman, too!'
And sure enough, coming straight towards our table, looking STRAIGHT at me, is Kirsten Rosholt...who I used to work with at DirecTV in Boise. Turns out, FIRST DirecTV lady went back with her group and as they were walking, was telling Kirsten about the strange man in Mothers Tavern...and she said, "MATT ANDERSON!" And they spent the next 10 minutes trying to find the restaurant Mysterious Bathroom Lady was in! It was all just TOO crazy for me...and at the end of a day that was FULL of crazy!
Tomorrow...a day off of exploring and movies in SLO! And a massive sleep in...to get over the effects of this day!
Happy FRIDAY! Sorry for all the reading.
G


Here I am with old DirecTV friend, Kirsten Rosholt.