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taz_39 ([personal profile] taz_39) wrote2025-07-03 08:46 pm

Beauty and the Beast - Farewell Schenectady NY

**DISCLAIMER** The views and opinions expressed in this post are my own, and do not reflect the views or opinions of my employer.
DO NOT RESHARE ANY PART OF THIS POST WITHOUT EXPRESS PERMISSION. Thank you.**

This post covers Wednesday and Thursday.

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WEDNESDAY

Up at 6:30am to do laundry!
Because A) no one else is insane enough to get up that early so I got the ONE washer and dryer to myself, B) I want to put a packing cube of clothes in my trunk and today is our last day to load said trunk, and C) We leave for Chicago on Friday!!

Soon enough laundry and breakfast were done, and after sorting my clothes into take-and-not-take piles I loaded them up and took them to my trunk on the 2nd floor of the theater.

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Then down to the basement to practice. I only played for 30-40 minutes, then back upstairs to steal leftover bagels from the crew breakfast and back outside to pick up lunch from Simone's Kitchen, a Mediterranean place down the street. Chicken shwarma bowl, yum!
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Then I took a short nap, waking up when the front desk called to let me know a package had arrived. It was my cheap-o gold Amazon sandals for the opening night party. I tried them on and they ARE comfortable and DO fit, but they are quite higher and heavier than I'd thought. But wearing them means I won't have to get the pants hemmed so there's that.

A little more chilling out and then to the theater for the employees-only merch sale!!
I was there early...convenient, because they ended up opening early!
Intention was to get a collectible pin and a t-shirt, but the night before they had sent a list of all the stuff that would be available and I was also interested in a zip-front hoodie. They are leftover merch from Australia and will not be replenished once they are sold, therefore it's a limited availability item. It's pretty expensive, but the salesperson brought one for me to look at and the quality was impressive (a weird thing to say about a hoodie I guess.)

So the FOMO won out and I bought it. After getting it home and trying it on I was doubly impressed by the quality again; it's thicker than most hoodies I've owned, and all of the text on it is embroidered, not printed. That right there would explain the cost. And the zipper has an interesting claw-hook mechanism at the bottom, I think it's supposed to line up the teeth properly each time? I tried searching for it and haven't found anything like it yet. And ultimately, it's just PRETTY and I like it!

The hoodie in question:

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(I'm almost afraid to wear it tbh)

The collectible pin is just a miniature of the main graphic for the show. It's very heavy for it's size and is a real Disney collectible/trading pin, with the little Mickey head backing.

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I immediately added it to the collection that lives on my bag.
I have a pin for all of the touring shows I've been on, except Elf.

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After that, dinner and getting ready for the show and walking to the theater as usual. Here is me in my pit blacks and with my backstage ID in the hotel hallway (I was doing a DITL for Instagram which is why this photo exists.)
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The show went normally, and afterward the rest of the band wanted to take Ryu (violin) and I out for drinks since we are the only two getting laid off in Chicago. The rest of the band is Chicago-local so they are allowed to work. We each enjoyed a drink of our choice and chatted with everyone. Partway through the night we were offered "green tea shots" which funnily enough do not contain any green tea :p but are called that because of the resulting color, which is similar to that of green tea. I was a good sport for once and accepted the extra drink. Pretty tasty!

For the rest of the night I mostly geeked out with the ladies over anime (turns out we ALL watch it), helped our drummer try to book a hotel in Chicago because somehow he'd forgotten to take the buyout, and commiserated with Ryu about having to go a month unpaid. It was actually the best time I've had in a large group social setting in a long while :)

Finally at midnight we called it quits and went to bed. After all, tomorrow was our final matinee in Schenectady!

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THURSDAY


I slept poorly (common for me after drinking) but was up at 8 for breakfast, typing this blog up, and a little packing.

My new instrument insurance policy went through, so now I feel a bit better about all of those upcoming flights. Not great, but better.

Very soon it was time for the 1:30pm matinee. It was well attended and a good audience. I thought we played pretty well. Before we knew it it was time to pack up and say goodbye to Schenectady! Wow...it feels both like we've been here forever, but also like we just got here. I am happy to leave, but also sad to be laid off for the entire month of July (the Chicago run.)

It took me a long time to pack up, but that's not really surprising with such a small pit and twice the equipment I'm used to touring with. I got the tenor, mutes, and stands put away and took the bass with me to the hotel where I packed it carefully for flying. Packed some more stuff in my suitcase and was surprised to find it was overweight. I should have had the new shoes sent to Chicago...and perhaps should not have bought so much clothing this week! I had to choose some items to leave behind, but nothing important...I went with some heavier sweatpants, a roll of cling wrap (which is amazingly heavy), and some spice blend jars that had been gifted to me in the first place. That fixed it. 

Rehearsals are over. This tour has officially begun.


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Friday:
Flying to Chicago, probably just going to get groceries and crash at the hotel assuming everything goes smoothly.

Saturday & Sunday:
Lying low to save money. Practicing bass trombone (assuming it arrives intact.) Possibly visiting O'Malley Brass Instruments, but since it's a holiday weekend that may wait until Monday.

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