taz_39 | Jul. 20th, 2021

Alright, so, in the interest of not sounding like an idiot every time I post from now until Stuff and Things actually happens, I'm going to basically say what I'm doing without saying exactly who I'm doing it with/for. You've all probably picked up on it anyway, you're not idiots.

I've been contracted to go on a national tour with a musical for nine months. There, I said it.

I won't say what show, or give any details, until the show has been announced. I think that should be contractually acceptable for me to do.
For those of you who've read the Friends Only post, apologies because some of the info below you'll have seen already.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Nine months is a long time to be away from your S.O.

That is the biggest struggle with this whole thing so far.

We've talked about it briefly, but this was something we truly discussed in-depth years ago when we first got into a relationship. It was necessary, since we're both professional musicians (or at least he is). There's always been a possiblity that some opportunity would take us away from each other. And we had to establish our perspectives on that, and where lines, if any, would be drawn.

It turns out that we draw our lines in a very similar place. Yes, it's going to hurt really really badly for both of us to be apart for a long time. And yet we are both very much in agreement that it would be even more awful and painful to turn down a rare music opportunity in order to be together. From that could spring regrets, and what-ifs, and resentment, and we both know why we became musicians and what we value most. So at the least, we can both agree on that. And we've built our relationship knowing that this could happen. Now it's time to put it to the test.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

This whole thing has been one of the biggest blindsides I've ever experienced.

I have not applied for anything musical since the pandemic started. What would be the point? All the shows were closed and there was no telling when or how things would start back up again. Disney laid off something like 95% of its live entertainment, and still hasn't hired them back. Not to mention that even before the pandemic hit, it wasn't like my phone was ringing off the hook for gigs, which is kind of why I ended up focusing on a career in court reporting instead. It never occurred to me that I'd be doing anything in music any time soon.

This opportunity came about because of a Letter of Inquiry email that I sent back in 2019. Some music coordinator found that email (how do you go about finding a two-year-old email? maybe she searched her inbox for "trombone"?) and reached out because they must REALLY need a trombonist. I got that email on my last night of visiting family in PA. I couldn't believe it...in fact I messaged the sender on facebook because we are acquaintances and I was concerned that her account had been hacked, because there was no way this was real. But no, she called right away on the actual phone and said, I'm serious, are you interested? Well...I guess I am!

After that it was a lot of resumes and references and audition materials back and forth, then a whole lot of suspense waiting to see if I'd be offered a contract. As it turns out, I have some really amazing references (thank you Brett, Jane, Jim) who probably clinched the deal for me. So I got the offer, and a few weeks later I got the contract.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

And so now here we are.

Assuming everything doesn't fall apart, I'd leave in a few months. So there are things I'm doing now to prepare, but I also need to keep working and taking steno classes and going about life as though nothing has changed. Which is so weird.

Now you're all caught up with the exception of what show + details, and hopefully some of my vaguejournaling makes a little more sense.
We can all enjoy details later once the show has been announced.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The first things I did when I realized that this was actually happening was to send my passport out for renewal, and also request a copy of my birth certificate. I don't technically need either for this tour, but having those things ready can really save your a$$ if they do become needed. Plus you need one or the other to get TSA PreCheck, which I'm told may also save my a$$.

Next I made All The Doctors Appointments, because trying to get one on the road is a pain. Better to be up to date before I leave.

I worked on getting my trombone parts, and once those were obtained, started practicing.
I've been doing a lot of research by trolling facebook groups for touring musicians, and have made a huge list of all the things I'll have to take care of. What will happen with my car? Will I be able to practice steno still? How much, and what, should I pack?

That last one is something I can work on at least, and so once I'd made a pretty extensive list I started to purchase a few things that could come in handy.

For one thing, I have never owned a neck pillow. With nine months of travel ahead of me, I think now is the time.

I was going to pack one set of dishes--plate, bowl, silverware, cup--out of what we already have in the cabinets. But the more I thought about it, the more I realized how much ceramic plates and coffee mugs and metal silverware weigh (I gotta stay below 50 pounds in my checked bag, remember). I considered plastic, but most of those dishes are surprisingly non-microwavable, and that is a must in this situation. I ended up deciding on a mess kit made from polyeurethane. It's super light and compact, the mug collapses, and the plate and bowl seal together to form a tupperware (so now I won't have to pack that either). When the container is empty on travel days I'll probably use it to store kitchen spices.

I bought two sets of travel cubes (not pictured, they're boring) so I'll have two large, two medium, and two small cubes to work with. I'd hesitated to buy them, but pretty much every touring musician has suggested them. If each large cube has a weeks' worth of stuff in it, and the mediums and smalls are used for toiletries or cooking supplies or dirty laundry or whatever, I can just pull out the cube(s) I need for one week and leave the rest in the suitcase undisturbed rather than having to dig around and repack constantly.

Two more items of interest: laundry detergent sheets, and an immersion heater.
I found the sheets on amazon by accident, and was thrilled. Even laundry pods weigh more than these and require some sort of container in case of leaks. These I can treat like paper. And there are 32 loads in there! Plus, there are lots of reviews on them from musicians who have loved them on tour so I know they must work!

The immersion heater I learned about on the cruise ship while I was trying to smuggle a hot water kettle into my quarters (technically we weren't supposed to have those). It's basically a metal rod that performs the same function as a heating coil on an oven stovetop. You stick it in your cup of coffee or water or whatever, and in a few minutes you've got boiling water. Far more compact than a water kettle, and far more versatile. I felt that this was a must-have.

Other things that I bought include a black fleece jacket (for easy layering while not looking frumpy), a luggage scale, a bathing suit, and a trombone cup mute. Bringing mutes is going to suck, they're the exact size and shape of an empty wine bottle and take up SO much space in luggage. I may ask the show admin if I can mail them to the rehearsal venue, along with my steno machine. Wastes of space!
There is more that I will inevitably have to buy, but I think it'll be mostly small supplemental things (ziploc bags, batteries, socks, stuff like that). I'm glad to have these components in my hands and checked off the list.

At some point this week my birth certificate copy arrived, so now I have an appointment to get the PreCheck sorted out. The passport check has also been processed so hopefully I'll get that back soon too. I've also started clearing out my garden, taking unneeded stuff to the thrift store, and looking into car storage options or possibly lending it to a friend (with a contract of course).

It's a lot of cautious prep while waiting for more paperwork and information. There's still a lot of time, and being patient is key. But I've been VERY excited, and it's been hard not to say anything! So I wanted to at least spit out what I'm actually doing, which hopefully does not generate problems for anybody.

Moving on...