Dayton Day 1- Autumn-time and the Living is Easy

It may have taken our first Dayton audience awhile to warm up to the show, but we ultimately got that standing O in the end. WHOOHOO. After a fantastic first show in Dayton, the cast enjoyed a lovely post-show party complete with an awesome jazz band who's lead singer gave us smokey "summertime" vocals. The party really picked up when the cast decided to dance to the band's mashup of "Superstitious" and "Brick House", complete with seventh grade booty dancing and chants like "How low can you go?" (For the record.. not very low. Lexie is in dire need of laundry and therefore lacked the undergarments to make grinding to the ground possible; and Chris is in a deep plie the whole show and thus relishes every opportunity to stand up straight).


 Afterwards, after briefly talking to some local ladies who told us which clubs in the area to steer clear of to avoid being murdered, we found a photo OP! Much to A.J.'s dismay, we stopped to take some cheeky photos at one of those put-your-face-in-this-hole posters in the lobby of the theatre. That's Lexie and Rory on the left and A.J. and Chris on the right. We are looking foxy.

It's Only Just Begun...

Hello, world! We are officially open. After a crazy week of tech in Utica, NY, and a wonderful opening weekend in Worcester, MA, we've arrived in Dayton, OH for the week. (A mere hour away from where we met at THE CCM where we were excited and scared...and READY).

Where to begin? Well... The first bus day, we almost accidentally spent 90 dollars on green tea. We thought the earthy lady at Teavana had said "nineteen" when ringing us up at the register. Say the two numbers out loud...it is easy to see why we were confused. And to be specific the earthy young lady said, "Today your total is NINETY dollars towards your health and happiness." I mean, we are all for health and happiness, but at that point we were still on rehearsal pay and certainly did not have an extra Benjamin lying around for some plants that go well with hot water.


Alas, we made it to Utica. Utica was about three things: 1. Dunkin' Donuts 2. Chris' nose injuries 3. Lexie's trots.


We started every morning with a sensible walk to Dunkin' Donuts, only to overwhelm the staff with orders of egg and cheese on multi grain bagels..and a gaggle of gays. I think it is fair to say they were highly underprepared for us and our creative orders. For the record, the multi grain bagels tasted like birdseed. Lexie does not recommend.


Chris, in pure Chris fashion, seemed to have several nose injuries during tech. The first being when our director instructed our Dr. Frankenstein to "really slam the peep hole" in Chris's face. We swear it's not as dirty as it sounds. Anyhow, Dr. Frankenstein did as he was told and Chris's nose took the first of severe beatings. The second nose injury was self-inflicted as Chris ran offstage while battling with an enlarged net (one of Chris's many props) wrapped around his head. And the third injury didn't happen until Worcester. Lexie hurled a shoe offstage during a scene (she's supposed to..she hasn't gone crazy yet) and hit Chris smack in the nose. Chris was trying to help Lexie by desperately grabbing for a costume basket to catch said shoe. However, with Lexie's lesbian softball days far behind her, the shoe bounced off the top of the basket and straight into Chris's nose. Sorry, Chris. Love you. Mean it.


In other news, Lexie really left her mark in Utica. During the longest tech night she experienced frequent trips to the bathroom while the battle of eggplant parm from dinner and Lexie's girdle raged on. We won't go into too much detail, but let's just say those locals will never forget her. It is hard to forget the 5'10' girl in a foot tall Bride of Frankenstein wig screaming for help to get her costumes off before she "shat herself." Good times. A shout out to Carol, my dresser. Who was always there when I didn't need her and never there when I did. Love ya girl. 


Alas, we had a great tech and previewed in Utica to lovely packed houses complete with standing ovations.


Worcester opening weekend is sort of a foggy distant memory at this point. Exhausted from tech, the Young Frankenstein cast and crew pressed on and had a lovely opening Friday, September 30th followed by a sweet reception to be enjoyed in moderation with a two show Saturday on the horizon. Nice people, nice talks, and  nice frequent trips to the bar for water for our parched throats. We were lucky to have our best friends there to celebrate with us on this exciting start of our nine month adventure. Thanks for taking the long journey from NYC, lovahs. You guys are the best. 

Us with our amazing director, Jeff Whiting

Giving it in front of the theatre opening night. Chris is in a "Good News" bevel

Chris, Lexie's Dad(a.k.a Calves Dorsett), Lexie, Matt(Lexie's lovah), Beau Landry Jr. (bringing back corduroy), and Justin Bowen(hiding his small hands in his pocket) outside the stage door

That's all for now. We have a hot date with our pillows and complimentary earl grey tea here at the Dayton Grand hotel. Hoping to see some Cincy celebs this week at the show in Dayton!