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My Fair Lady - Houghton, MI and Kalamazoo, WI
I had a rather hectic morning of my own making. I hadn’t realized that the laundry here was FREE, and then also realized that both my sweaters were due to be washed in addition to regular laundry. So I did a rapid-fire load of laundry at 6:30am, finishing up around 8am, which only gave me a little time to fold it, pack, and scoot out the door for the bus call.
We rode through the somewhat-mountains and lakes of Northern Michigan. Houghton is on the peninsula...I've never been up here and it's very pretty, lots of lovely birch trees and quaint ski slopes and campsites. And the big Finger Lakes of course. It's a shame we won't get to see any of it, except what we see from the bus.
A quick rest stop at a random Walgreens (the only place that they could find for our large group) and we found out that one of our trucks had broken down, the one with the "house" set piece. The truck had been repaired or replaced and was moving again, but it would have to be a rush to get the set piece built in time for the show. We got to the hotel actually on time for once, giving us an hour or two to unpack, grab something for dinner, and get ready for the show. I walked to a Walmart next door not because I needed anything but to stretch my legs after five hours on a bus.
The theater was a 10-minute drive away. Sound check was fine; we could hear loud ratcheting sounds as the house set was assembled but it got done. The acoustics here (it was some hall on the campus of Michigan Tech?) were actually really nice. And the audience was good and appreciative. That alone makes coming out here to the middle of nowhere worthwhile! Not many tours come their way, I'm sure.
And just like that, we packed up and loaded out and will do it all again tomorrow in Green Bay.
I have to add that here in Houghton it is Eastern Time,
we came from Central Time in Wausau yesterday,
we go back to Central Time in Green Bay,
then to Eastern Time in Kalamazoo,
and back to Central Time in Chicago.
Plus, it's daylight savings on Sunday.
Not confusing at ALL, haha.
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What day are we on? Right, Friday. TGIF!
After hotel breakfast off we went again, stopping for lunch at a random Walmart. We were only there for a half hour so enough time to pee and stretch legs, really. We got to the hotel on time, but found out that our crew bus had broken down and load in had started about three hours late. Our show schedule did not change--we were told that crew was rushing to make up the time--but damn, what a rough journey we are having. Every day on a bus, shows every night, switching time zones constantly, and two breakdowns. I'm thankful that after Green Bay, we have one last long travel day to Kalamazoo, then the jump from there to Chicago should be just three hours.
We got to the hotel on time, so again a blessed hour or two to shower, pack a dinner, and get to the theatre. I had hoped to go for a short walk to stretch my legs but it was in the mid-30s and raining, so much for exercise. My view would be pretty nice, if there were time to enjoy it.
My dinner. I'm getting down to the last of the nonperishables that I bought for this week of bus travel (which means I didn't overbuy after all.) I will be VERY happy to eat real meals in Chicago. The tuna, green beans, and Chinese rice cake I brought myself; the peanut butter, half-bagel, and apple are stolen from free hotel breakfast.
The crew was able to get loaded in on time for the show despite the breakdown, mainly because the locals here are the same people we used in Houghton and they knew where everything goes already! We (as in everyone who's not crew) showed thanks by showering them with food-gifts, booze, candy, and thank you cards. I peeked into their dressing room and it was just packed with cookies, candy, alcohol, flowers, cards, you name it. We would not have done a show tonight if not for how hard these people worked to overcome an unplanned event. HUGE kudos to them!
During intermission we female musicians took a group photo to celebrate International Women's Day.
The My Fair Lady orchestra is unusual in that we have SIX women in the pit. That is unheard of for touring shows.
For comparison, a group photo of the Tootsie pit band and the circus band (at least with Tootsie we enjoyed the musicianship of POC as well.) One of these things is not like the others...
Anyway. The show was just fine.
We are all SO TIRED of being on a bus all day every day. But too bad, we've got to pack it all up and do it again tomorrow.
Only, we don't have a show tomorrow! It's just a travel day. Thank god, I think we could all use a break.
In closing, artwork in the hallway at the Weidner Center here in Green Bay. Next stop, Kalamazoo.
-----------------------------------------------------------
It doesn't feel like a Saturday. A Saturday without shows is outrageous! But here we are.
We left an hour later than scheduled, with no explanation given...but partway through our ride our assistant company manager got on the mic to apologize: she had tried to calculate for yet another time zone switch, had calculated backwards instead of forwards, had adjusted our departure time based on that, and as a result not only had we left an hour late we'd also be arriving to the hotel an hour late. Meaning two hours later than scheduled.
Sigh.
Everyone was very kind and patient about it--I mean good lord, we've changed time zones EVERY DAY, I definitely would have made the same mistake or a worse one--but you could still feel the disappointment in the air. We've had so much time on the bus all week, between 5-12 hours per day ever since Monday and it's now Saturday FFS. We were all looking forward to arriving with time to enjoy some daylight. The good news, though, is that we only have one show on Sunday and it's at 6pm (we still have load in and sound check but it'll be a chill morning and an opportunity to get to bed early too.) And then the ride to Chicago, please god please, let it be only three hours long. Pleeeeease.
Our lunch stop was at a mall, and I had eaten the last of my nonperishables before we got there so I could shoot straight to the Victoria's Secret. I don't know about you ladies but I HATE shopping for bras. So expensive and for a person like me with tiny bewbs, not very USEFUL. Blessedly, VC is still selling the same "model" of bra that I prefer, so I grabbed three of them. This batch needs to last at least two years!
When we got to the hotel it was almost 6:30pm. I threw my things in my room and immediately Ubered to CoreLife, a "healthy bowl" type of restaurant, and got their Korean BBQ pork bowl with forbidden rice, pulled lean pork, kimchi, bean sprouts, broccoli, carrots, cabbage, fried egg on top, and sauce on the side. Not pretty, but I was so happy to see it!
I ate it WAY too fast, rushing because the grocery would close soon.
Calculating for lunch and dinner tomorrow + lunch and snacks on Monday, I got a packet of Tofurky Thai Basil (has 3 servings), two Fage yogurts, one Koia protein shake (one half for each breakfast), blueberries, a green juice containing four servings of veggies/high nutrients/low sugar, some carrot and celery sticks, and two treats: a strawberry coconut Fillo's Walking Tamale, and a can of local coffee. I'll supplement all of this with the bagels, peanut butter, eggs, and fruit from the hotel's free breakfast.
Back to the hotel to unpack, chat with Jameson, and get the heck to sleep.
-------------------------------------------------------------
Had the best sleep I've had all week, very likely because we didn't have to get on a damn bus today for once.
Made myself get up at 8:30 (technically 7:30, yay daylight savings) to make a decent cup of coffee instead of hotel swill.
It had snowed a bit overnight and was very cold out, low 30's with a 15-degree windchill, so I had a slow morning. The thrift store that I wanted to visit was closed; in fact EVERYTHING interesting was closed, on a Sunday. Bummer. So I watched anime and shared my Chicago Foodie Finds with the group chat, drank tea and allowed my body to relax in a way it can't do on a moving vehicle.
The evening show was fine. It was a decent crowd. I think with these one-nighters, it gets to a point where it's like, why bother looking around, because we're only here for three hours. No point learning where stuff is. Especially in these school campus spaces that are rather bland-looking (no offense, they still serve their purpose.)
Here are two fun photos to remember Kalamazoo by, anyway:
Joel (trumpet) and Andrew (Clarinet) playing chess before sound check(mate)!
My view during the "Ascott Race" scene. I got yelled at by several cast for this photo being unflattering :p Too bad!
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Tomorrow (or today if you're reading this on Monday) we have a late departure because it's only three hours to Chicago.
I will be so excited to get away from this bus/driver.
Current plan is to immediately drop luggage in the hotel (if the rooms are ready, we'll be there quite early) and hoof it to Eataly, then regular groceries and a visit to the Amazon GO store if I feel up for it. With all the foodie plans I've made, plus sightseeing and St. Patrick's Day and shows, the next posts will be LONG with lots of PICTURES, you can be sure of that!
We rode through the somewhat-mountains and lakes of Northern Michigan. Houghton is on the peninsula...I've never been up here and it's very pretty, lots of lovely birch trees and quaint ski slopes and campsites. And the big Finger Lakes of course. It's a shame we won't get to see any of it, except what we see from the bus.
A quick rest stop at a random Walgreens (the only place that they could find for our large group) and we found out that one of our trucks had broken down, the one with the "house" set piece. The truck had been repaired or replaced and was moving again, but it would have to be a rush to get the set piece built in time for the show. We got to the hotel actually on time for once, giving us an hour or two to unpack, grab something for dinner, and get ready for the show. I walked to a Walmart next door not because I needed anything but to stretch my legs after five hours on a bus.
The theater was a 10-minute drive away. Sound check was fine; we could hear loud ratcheting sounds as the house set was assembled but it got done. The acoustics here (it was some hall on the campus of Michigan Tech?) were actually really nice. And the audience was good and appreciative. That alone makes coming out here to the middle of nowhere worthwhile! Not many tours come their way, I'm sure.
And just like that, we packed up and loaded out and will do it all again tomorrow in Green Bay.
I have to add that here in Houghton it is Eastern Time,
we came from Central Time in Wausau yesterday,
we go back to Central Time in Green Bay,
then to Eastern Time in Kalamazoo,
and back to Central Time in Chicago.
Plus, it's daylight savings on Sunday.
Not confusing at ALL, haha.
------------------------------------------------------------------
What day are we on? Right, Friday. TGIF!
After hotel breakfast off we went again, stopping for lunch at a random Walmart. We were only there for a half hour so enough time to pee and stretch legs, really. We got to the hotel on time, but found out that our crew bus had broken down and load in had started about three hours late. Our show schedule did not change--we were told that crew was rushing to make up the time--but damn, what a rough journey we are having. Every day on a bus, shows every night, switching time zones constantly, and two breakdowns. I'm thankful that after Green Bay, we have one last long travel day to Kalamazoo, then the jump from there to Chicago should be just three hours.
We got to the hotel on time, so again a blessed hour or two to shower, pack a dinner, and get to the theatre. I had hoped to go for a short walk to stretch my legs but it was in the mid-30s and raining, so much for exercise. My view would be pretty nice, if there were time to enjoy it.
My dinner. I'm getting down to the last of the nonperishables that I bought for this week of bus travel (which means I didn't overbuy after all.) I will be VERY happy to eat real meals in Chicago. The tuna, green beans, and Chinese rice cake I brought myself; the peanut butter, half-bagel, and apple are stolen from free hotel breakfast.
The crew was able to get loaded in on time for the show despite the breakdown, mainly because the locals here are the same people we used in Houghton and they knew where everything goes already! We (as in everyone who's not crew) showed thanks by showering them with food-gifts, booze, candy, and thank you cards. I peeked into their dressing room and it was just packed with cookies, candy, alcohol, flowers, cards, you name it. We would not have done a show tonight if not for how hard these people worked to overcome an unplanned event. HUGE kudos to them!
During intermission we female musicians took a group photo to celebrate International Women's Day.
The My Fair Lady orchestra is unusual in that we have SIX women in the pit. That is unheard of for touring shows.
For comparison, a group photo of the Tootsie pit band and the circus band (at least with Tootsie we enjoyed the musicianship of POC as well.) One of these things is not like the others...
Anyway. The show was just fine.
We are all SO TIRED of being on a bus all day every day. But too bad, we've got to pack it all up and do it again tomorrow.
Only, we don't have a show tomorrow! It's just a travel day. Thank god, I think we could all use a break.
In closing, artwork in the hallway at the Weidner Center here in Green Bay. Next stop, Kalamazoo.
-----------------------------------------------------------
It doesn't feel like a Saturday. A Saturday without shows is outrageous! But here we are.
We left an hour later than scheduled, with no explanation given...but partway through our ride our assistant company manager got on the mic to apologize: she had tried to calculate for yet another time zone switch, had calculated backwards instead of forwards, had adjusted our departure time based on that, and as a result not only had we left an hour late we'd also be arriving to the hotel an hour late. Meaning two hours later than scheduled.
Sigh.
Everyone was very kind and patient about it--I mean good lord, we've changed time zones EVERY DAY, I definitely would have made the same mistake or a worse one--but you could still feel the disappointment in the air. We've had so much time on the bus all week, between 5-12 hours per day ever since Monday and it's now Saturday FFS. We were all looking forward to arriving with time to enjoy some daylight. The good news, though, is that we only have one show on Sunday and it's at 6pm (we still have load in and sound check but it'll be a chill morning and an opportunity to get to bed early too.) And then the ride to Chicago, please god please, let it be only three hours long. Pleeeeease.
Our lunch stop was at a mall, and I had eaten the last of my nonperishables before we got there so I could shoot straight to the Victoria's Secret. I don't know about you ladies but I HATE shopping for bras. So expensive and for a person like me with tiny bewbs, not very USEFUL. Blessedly, VC is still selling the same "model" of bra that I prefer, so I grabbed three of them. This batch needs to last at least two years!
When we got to the hotel it was almost 6:30pm. I threw my things in my room and immediately Ubered to CoreLife, a "healthy bowl" type of restaurant, and got their Korean BBQ pork bowl with forbidden rice, pulled lean pork, kimchi, bean sprouts, broccoli, carrots, cabbage, fried egg on top, and sauce on the side. Not pretty, but I was so happy to see it!
I ate it WAY too fast, rushing because the grocery would close soon.
Calculating for lunch and dinner tomorrow + lunch and snacks on Monday, I got a packet of Tofurky Thai Basil (has 3 servings), two Fage yogurts, one Koia protein shake (one half for each breakfast), blueberries, a green juice containing four servings of veggies/high nutrients/low sugar, some carrot and celery sticks, and two treats: a strawberry coconut Fillo's Walking Tamale, and a can of local coffee. I'll supplement all of this with the bagels, peanut butter, eggs, and fruit from the hotel's free breakfast.
Back to the hotel to unpack, chat with Jameson, and get the heck to sleep.
-------------------------------------------------------------
Had the best sleep I've had all week, very likely because we didn't have to get on a damn bus today for once.
Made myself get up at 8:30 (technically 7:30, yay daylight savings) to make a decent cup of coffee instead of hotel swill.
It had snowed a bit overnight and was very cold out, low 30's with a 15-degree windchill, so I had a slow morning. The thrift store that I wanted to visit was closed; in fact EVERYTHING interesting was closed, on a Sunday. Bummer. So I watched anime and shared my Chicago Foodie Finds with the group chat, drank tea and allowed my body to relax in a way it can't do on a moving vehicle.
The evening show was fine. It was a decent crowd. I think with these one-nighters, it gets to a point where it's like, why bother looking around, because we're only here for three hours. No point learning where stuff is. Especially in these school campus spaces that are rather bland-looking (no offense, they still serve their purpose.)
Here are two fun photos to remember Kalamazoo by, anyway:
Joel (trumpet) and Andrew (Clarinet) playing chess before sound check(mate)!
My view during the "Ascott Race" scene. I got yelled at by several cast for this photo being unflattering :p Too bad!
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Tomorrow (or today if you're reading this on Monday) we have a late departure because it's only three hours to Chicago.
I will be so excited to get away from this bus/driver.
Current plan is to immediately drop luggage in the hotel (if the rooms are ready, we'll be there quite early) and hoof it to Eataly, then regular groceries and a visit to the Amazon GO store if I feel up for it. With all the foodie plans I've made, plus sightseeing and St. Patrick's Day and shows, the next posts will be LONG with lots of PICTURES, you can be sure of that!
no subject
You may have noticed that I refer to this food research as "Foodie Finds" in my blog posts. Also if you look back at this post right here, you'll see where I said that I "shared my Chicago Foodie Finds with the group chat."
That's because since 2022 (for two years now! and posting about it here almost daily for two years!) I have been running a WhatsApp group called Megan's Foodie Finds (first mention was via a Friends Only LJ so idk if you'd ever seen it: https://taz-39.livejournal.com/192290.html there were also quite a few public posts about starting the group tho: https://taz-39.livejournal.com/204274.html In fact I know you've seen this post because you commented on it to say, "I'm glad so many people have joined in your foodie fun." sooooo you already knew the answer to your own question lol)
Any time you see me say something like "I worked on Foodie Finds for the cast" or "I shared foodie finds for [city] with the group," that's me sharing all of my food research with the entire touring company, since they do not do this research themselves but they have expressed that they like it when someone provides this info for them :) I did this for Tootsie and am doing it for My Fair Lady.
Everyone is definitely NOT as OCD/organized about researching food in each city, which is why I put in a lot of work to research every city we visit and share a weekly (or per-city) info sheet with menus, maps, descriptions, etc. Here is our Megan's Foodie Finds sheet for Chicago, which I shared to our group last night in preparation for getting there today: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1ST96bG3reCcbCbiaeRJwZrKfvjRVOLyO4pP7VUPwJyM/edit?usp=sharing
Enjoying awesome food in each city is a personal hobby, and this started out as research that I did just for myself; when I did it just for me it wasn't nearly so detailed and organized. But on Tootsie, people expressed that they wanted to have these experiences too...so I built them a group. It's been a huge success on both tours! And makes me feel like I contribute something positive and fun to everyone's experience :) People are always coming up to tell me how much they appreciate the information. Anyway sorry to blab for so long about it, I do put a lot of work into it and am pretty proud of how useful it is to others.
no subject
I guess what I am really asking is if other people have devices to cook in their hotel rooms and plan their meals as carefully as you do?
One of the reasons I ask is my friend is a roadie (mostly for Suzanne Vega but for many others too) and has travelled extensively, mostly in Europe but in North America and Japan also. Not once has he ever mentioned shopping for food and never takes anything to cook with. He's mentioned the stress of trying to get laundry done (they are rarely anywhere for more than a night or two) but anytime he has mentioned food it has been eating in a restaurant, takeaway or snack foods. I think if I was on the go like you I would also want to be able to cook for myself but you also make the very best of the local cuisine and make sure others have that opportunity too. Maybe it is a male/female thing?
no subject
Yes, many other people here travel with electric skillets or mini crock pots or Instant Pots. If you have a mini fridge in your hotel room (which your friend may not get to enjoy in Europe or Japan) it is cheaper to buy, say, a package of chicken breast and some rice and veggies, cook them, and have them available for the entire stay.
The amount of time you get in each city is a big issue too. You say your friend is "rarely anywhere for more than a night or two." Imagine how hard it would be to unpack, buy groceries (without a car to go get them either, maybe having to walk in the rain or cold,) making sure you buy just enough food for one or two meals. Then spend at least an hour cooking for just a day or two-worth of food, washing all of those cooking dishes in a hotel sink that may or may not have hot water, and then having to get ready for your show and do your job...and then wash all of your empty food containers, pack all of that up and leave and do it all over again each city? It's really hard to do if you're not staying in a city for at least 3-4 days. I don't blame your friend for mostly eating out if they don't get to ever "sit" in a city for more than 48 hours.
Laundry is a MASSIVE stress, anyone on tour would agree. If the hotel does not have laundry (50% of them do not), you have to hope there's a laundromat nearby that is SAFE to get to and clean enough to actually use (often homeless people in the US use laundromats for shelter or to wash their own clothes, which I'm sorry to say can impact how MY clothing smells.) The other option is to pay for a laundry service, which is extremely expensive. But it's sometimes cheaper than Ubering to a laundromat, or saves time when you only have a 24-hour turnaround before you have to leave a city. Laundry is the worst. There is no laundry at the hotel in Chicago and I'm already stressed about it.
I am not sure what you're asking about the "male/female thing" but will try to give a good answer! Both men and women cook on this tour, and do laundry, and eat out. None of that seems to have anything to do with gender. We all have to eat and have clean clothing, and no one's mom is out here doing those things for us (lol!) so we are each on our own to source our own food and find laundry. Some people, male and female, hand-wash clothing in the hotel rooms (I prefer not to do this because I don't consider hotel bathtubs and sinks to be sanitary or the water typically hot enough to ensure cleanliness in a tub that strangers have used.) Some people use laundromats, some people use the laundry services. Some people cook ALL of their meals no matter how inconvenient it is to them; others eat out for EVERY meal no matter how expensive or unhealthy that can get. And most of us do a mix of those two options. With 60-some people on this tour, everyone has their own personal preferences :) It all depends on what you are willing to spend time on, how much time you realistically have, and how much you are willing to spend for which conveniences.
no subject
The male/female thing was just I wondered if the women were more likely to cook than the men. I know Mark, my friend, has never been a big cook even when not on tour but my husband is a keen cook and might be more likely to try to cook for himself.
I think the laundry issue would really stress me out. When I bought my first flat I didn't have a washing machine for the first couple of years and had to wash everything by hand. The appreciation of the ease of having a washing machine on hand has never really gone away.
Anyway, thanks for the insight and as always I'm impressed with how you manage it!
no subject
It doesn't seem to me like either women or men cook more here. Our assistant conductor and keyboardist Michael cooks 95% of his meals, he's always eating out of a big Tupperware that he brings with him to the theatre, usually with broccoli and chicken and some sort of noodle. Our French hornist is a bodybuilder so she actually eats an astounding amount of carbs, plus protein shakes. Our bassist and flautist are a couple and I don't think I've ever seen them eating anything but takeout or leftovers from restaurant outings. And I know that many of our cast rent Airbnbs together and do communal cooking, male and female. It's the same as in regular life I guess...you've got the coworker who always goes to the fast food spot around the corner for lunch, another who packs a lunch, another who cooks something in the microwave, etc.
Probably going to have to use a laundry service here; there are no laundromats within MILES of downtown. Sigh.
Thanks, and thanks for listening and asking insightful questions!
no subject