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taz_39**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 The weekend.
--- --- --- --- --- ---
FRIDAY
Intentionally up early because I'd pre-ordered a very fancy croissant from Diane's Place, a Hmong-influenced bakery across the river. It's a 2.5-mile walk, hence getting up at 7 for a 9am departure for a 10am pickup.
Want to see me get more exercise? Easy. Put a treat at the destination.
It was a pleasant and quiet walk, though very humid. Lots of people were out jogging or walking dogs or whatever. On the way I passed a lot of flower gardens in peoples' yards. This absolutely massive flower caught my eye. My hand is approx 6.5 inches (16.5 cm) long, for context.
Diane's Place was PACKED. It's very small and clearly you've got to make reservations to eat there. I was glad to have only ordered pickup as I was sweaty and gross from the walk. I would have walked back, however at that point it was about 80°F (26.6°C) and drizzling, and I thought making this croissant sit in the heat and wet for an hour might ruin it. Therefore I grudgingly Ubered back.
Here is my prize: house-made croissant with coconut pandan Chantilly cream filling.
Pandan is a tropical plant with dark green leaves. When you cook or boil the leaves they have a flavor that is sort of a subtle grassy vanilla-nut-spice. Like a more complex vanilla I guess you could say. It's very popular in Southeast Asian dishes and desserts. I love the flavor and any time I see it will jump at the chance to eat it. This croissant was just as good as it looks! Light perfectly laminated layers of pastry, filled to the brim with sweet, light, pale green pandan cream. Chantilly is just whipped cream with added sugar and vanilla, so although I have to eat Lactaid for this I know that 2 or 3 will be enough. Totally worth the walk for this amazing and unique treat (AND I got to burn some of the calories from it too yipee!)
That was pretty much the only adventure for today. Ate lunch later on, watched anime, practiced in the afternoon, rested before the show.
Evening show was good and normal. Our associate conductor led our show, so our swing keyboardist was on the Key 1 book (I think? Hope I got that right.) Everyone did a great job. No standing O in the middle this time, but that's ok, let's not expect those, or get complacent ;)
As the show went on I was dismayed to start feeling pain in my right jaw. I think it's some kinda TMJ, but I don't think I've ever felt it quite so bad before (even had trouble chewing my intermission granola bar.) This is not the way I wanted to go into a four-show weekend.
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SATURDAY
A massive thunderstorm rolled through between 4-5am, and while it was exciting and enjoyable to fall back asleep to, it also meant losing some sleep.
My jaw is still all messed up which is a shame. There's nothing to do about TMJ; typically you just have to ride it out. I wonder if this happened during the stress dreams I had a few nights ago. Partly because of my worry over the jaw pain and perhaps because of the dreary weather, I felt mopey all morning. Did get my act together to do a load of laundry though, which will save me having to do it on the upcoming Monday off.
The matinee went fine, our assistant MD conducted again and did a great job.
Ooh, ooh! And I finally got my first travel reimbursement check! Yipee!!
Perhaps because it's the weekend we were utterly BOMBARDED with food. Someone made bacon chocolate chip cookies and brought them in; someone's friend dropped off mountains of treats including Gatorade, protein bars, candy, fruit, nuts, and chips; and a local custard shoppe dropped off little single-serve containers of their house-made cookie dough custard!! If this keeps up I'm not sure how I'll still fit into my clothes next year! But truth be told, I'm really grateful for all of the free treats, some of which save me a bit on groceries. Ironically it reminds me a little of that Ben Folds song about being offered free coffee only when you can afford to buy coffee.
(About half of the treats. An equal quantity was upstairs in front of the call board.)
Between shows I went back to the hotel to rest and eat dinner. The audience was piling out, and there were GAGGLES of little girls dressed as Belle! Here were four who got together for a photo, faces emoji'd for privacy.
Intermission dinner-and-chill, then back to the theater for the night show.
We DID get a standing O again mid-show :)
I thought it went pretty well. I could've played some parts better, but rarely does a show go by where I think I gave perfection. I will do my best tomorrow.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
SUNDAY
Up way too early for no reason. Such troubles sleeping lately!
Downstairs to steal bagel, walnuts, Greek yogurt from free breakfast.
It was a boring morning, and in retrospect I should've enjoyed a walk or something. But I did nearly finish the last Eragon book at least.
The matinee featured a lovely audience who applauded even for smaller scenes, and gave a partial standing O after Be our Guest (some stood while others remained seated.)
Dinner was spent trying to source a new anime to watch, texting Jameson, and looking up hotels and Airbnbs in Greensboro. You see, I have made a promise to myself on this tour that I will NOT be doing ANY carpools!
Every once in a while (for financial reasons) the touring company books a hotel that is too far from the theater to be walkable. In those cases they'll either give us Uber credits or get us rental cars, which is generally just fine. I've experienced this across every tour I've been on, including the circus. But on this tour, at least for the first year, I have decided to give myself the gift of NOT having to deal with rideshare commutes. NOT having to get up extra early because the town we're in has limited Ubers; NOT getting home super late because the hotel is so far away from the theater; NOT stressing out because that one person in the carpool is perpetually late thereby making ME late. Oh and NOT fearing for my life because the coworker who is driving turns out to be a terrible/scary driver. Yes, I am So Done With That this year. I'd rather spend the extra $50 per night on a closer hotel in a small handful of cities, and not have to worry about any of it :)
BUT that does mean I need to book my own place any time the company books a far hotel, and Greensboro is one of those.
Honestly though? I'm looking forward to it!
Anyway. Evening show was also very good and featured another mid-show standing o, so after this post I'll probably stop mentioning them. For me it's a complete novelty still, and it makes me very proud of our show and all of the work and passion that everyone has poured into it, which is apparently coming across quite well to the audience each night.
One more blatant brag about this iteration of Beauty and the Beast: 6 of the 8 shows this week had standing ovations mid-show, and additionally, every single show has had a standing ovation at the end. This is, again, something that I've not experienced with any other show I've been on. I am SO HAPPY to be a part of this story that is loved by millions of people, here in Minneapolis and also around the world! :) :)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Monday: Day off. I hadn't planned to do anything but found out there's a light rail to Mall of America for only $2, so I guess that's the plan!
Tuesday: One show in the evening. Going to Vinai, a Hmong restaurant, for my final Minneapolis foodie find.
DO NOT RESHARE ANY PART OF THIS POST WITHOUT EXPRESS PERMISSION. Thank you.**
This post covers The weekend.
--- --- --- --- --- ---
FRIDAY
Intentionally up early because I'd pre-ordered a very fancy croissant from Diane's Place, a Hmong-influenced bakery across the river. It's a 2.5-mile walk, hence getting up at 7 for a 9am departure for a 10am pickup.
Want to see me get more exercise? Easy. Put a treat at the destination.
It was a pleasant and quiet walk, though very humid. Lots of people were out jogging or walking dogs or whatever. On the way I passed a lot of flower gardens in peoples' yards. This absolutely massive flower caught my eye. My hand is approx 6.5 inches (16.5 cm) long, for context.
Diane's Place was PACKED. It's very small and clearly you've got to make reservations to eat there. I was glad to have only ordered pickup as I was sweaty and gross from the walk. I would have walked back, however at that point it was about 80°F (26.6°C) and drizzling, and I thought making this croissant sit in the heat and wet for an hour might ruin it. Therefore I grudgingly Ubered back.
Here is my prize: house-made croissant with coconut pandan Chantilly cream filling.
Pandan is a tropical plant with dark green leaves. When you cook or boil the leaves they have a flavor that is sort of a subtle grassy vanilla-nut-spice. Like a more complex vanilla I guess you could say. It's very popular in Southeast Asian dishes and desserts. I love the flavor and any time I see it will jump at the chance to eat it. This croissant was just as good as it looks! Light perfectly laminated layers of pastry, filled to the brim with sweet, light, pale green pandan cream. Chantilly is just whipped cream with added sugar and vanilla, so although I have to eat Lactaid for this I know that 2 or 3 will be enough. Totally worth the walk for this amazing and unique treat (AND I got to burn some of the calories from it too yipee!)
That was pretty much the only adventure for today. Ate lunch later on, watched anime, practiced in the afternoon, rested before the show.
Evening show was good and normal. Our associate conductor led our show, so our swing keyboardist was on the Key 1 book (I think? Hope I got that right.) Everyone did a great job. No standing O in the middle this time, but that's ok, let's not expect those, or get complacent ;)
As the show went on I was dismayed to start feeling pain in my right jaw. I think it's some kinda TMJ, but I don't think I've ever felt it quite so bad before (even had trouble chewing my intermission granola bar.) This is not the way I wanted to go into a four-show weekend.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
SATURDAY
A massive thunderstorm rolled through between 4-5am, and while it was exciting and enjoyable to fall back asleep to, it also meant losing some sleep.
My jaw is still all messed up which is a shame. There's nothing to do about TMJ; typically you just have to ride it out. I wonder if this happened during the stress dreams I had a few nights ago. Partly because of my worry over the jaw pain and perhaps because of the dreary weather, I felt mopey all morning. Did get my act together to do a load of laundry though, which will save me having to do it on the upcoming Monday off.
The matinee went fine, our assistant MD conducted again and did a great job.
Ooh, ooh! And I finally got my first travel reimbursement check! Yipee!!
Perhaps because it's the weekend we were utterly BOMBARDED with food. Someone made bacon chocolate chip cookies and brought them in; someone's friend dropped off mountains of treats including Gatorade, protein bars, candy, fruit, nuts, and chips; and a local custard shoppe dropped off little single-serve containers of their house-made cookie dough custard!! If this keeps up I'm not sure how I'll still fit into my clothes next year! But truth be told, I'm really grateful for all of the free treats, some of which save me a bit on groceries. Ironically it reminds me a little of that Ben Folds song about being offered free coffee only when you can afford to buy coffee.
(About half of the treats. An equal quantity was upstairs in front of the call board.)
Between shows I went back to the hotel to rest and eat dinner. The audience was piling out, and there were GAGGLES of little girls dressed as Belle! Here were four who got together for a photo, faces emoji'd for privacy.
Intermission dinner-and-chill, then back to the theater for the night show.
We DID get a standing O again mid-show :)
I thought it went pretty well. I could've played some parts better, but rarely does a show go by where I think I gave perfection. I will do my best tomorrow.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
SUNDAY
Up way too early for no reason. Such troubles sleeping lately!
Downstairs to steal bagel, walnuts, Greek yogurt from free breakfast.
It was a boring morning, and in retrospect I should've enjoyed a walk or something. But I did nearly finish the last Eragon book at least.
The matinee featured a lovely audience who applauded even for smaller scenes, and gave a partial standing O after Be our Guest (some stood while others remained seated.)
Dinner was spent trying to source a new anime to watch, texting Jameson, and looking up hotels and Airbnbs in Greensboro. You see, I have made a promise to myself on this tour that I will NOT be doing ANY carpools!
Every once in a while (for financial reasons) the touring company books a hotel that is too far from the theater to be walkable. In those cases they'll either give us Uber credits or get us rental cars, which is generally just fine. I've experienced this across every tour I've been on, including the circus. But on this tour, at least for the first year, I have decided to give myself the gift of NOT having to deal with rideshare commutes. NOT having to get up extra early because the town we're in has limited Ubers; NOT getting home super late because the hotel is so far away from the theater; NOT stressing out because that one person in the carpool is perpetually late thereby making ME late. Oh and NOT fearing for my life because the coworker who is driving turns out to be a terrible/scary driver. Yes, I am So Done With That this year. I'd rather spend the extra $50 per night on a closer hotel in a small handful of cities, and not have to worry about any of it :)
BUT that does mean I need to book my own place any time the company books a far hotel, and Greensboro is one of those.
Honestly though? I'm looking forward to it!
Anyway. Evening show was also very good and featured another mid-show standing o, so after this post I'll probably stop mentioning them. For me it's a complete novelty still, and it makes me very proud of our show and all of the work and passion that everyone has poured into it, which is apparently coming across quite well to the audience each night.
One more blatant brag about this iteration of Beauty and the Beast: 6 of the 8 shows this week had standing ovations mid-show, and additionally, every single show has had a standing ovation at the end. This is, again, something that I've not experienced with any other show I've been on. I am SO HAPPY to be a part of this story that is loved by millions of people, here in Minneapolis and also around the world! :) :)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Monday: Day off. I hadn't planned to do anything but found out there's a light rail to Mall of America for only $2, so I guess that's the plan!
Tuesday: One show in the evening. Going to Vinai, a Hmong restaurant, for my final Minneapolis foodie find.
no subject
Date: 2025-08-11 03:45 pm (UTC)Your declaration about no ride-shares sounds so similar in vibes to when I declared NO MORE ROOMATES. Didn't matter if that meant I would be in the tiniest studio, I just wanted to not have to compromise for a bit of my life, lol.
no subject
Date: 2025-08-11 10:02 pm (UTC)Oooh yep I can totally understand "no roommates!" There comes a point in one's life where you really have to draw your own personal lines. And it doesn't even have to do with age I think (for I know many people of varying ages who like having roommates.) I think there are things where we just have to step back and say, "Know Thyself."
I don't mind Ubers for misc small trips. But sometimes you get one that's VERY stinky, or the driver is creepy, or they're a scary driver. And then having to depend on that morning and night (especially night) for a week or more, honestly it just accumulates stress for me. Same with carpools, I don't know my coworkers well or what kind of drivers they are, and of course it's 4 people to a car and I'm short so I'm ALWAYS in the back with the higher chance of experiencing poor ventilation and motion sickness. And then having to wait for that last person who is always 10 minutes late, and stressing about that...or having to wait for the last person in your carpool to pack up their gear or finish socializing so you can go home...honestly I'm just done with it. Having to commute like that only happens maybe 5x per tour year, and I'm willing to shell out the extra $100 a week or whatever to not deal with it.
no subject
Date: 2025-08-12 04:44 pm (UTC)Yeah to have to be committed to uber or with a scary driver to get to work would be the worst. I'd probably be the same as you - I'd want the freedom to leave/go when I need to get to work and not be dependent on others. Currently I'm dependent on getting two kids in the car to get to work, and that changes next week and I am excited to have some of that control back!
no subject
Date: 2025-08-12 04:56 pm (UTC)Yes to get to work and also back from work, so that's 14 Ubers in a week. Fourteen times per week of knowing at least one ride is GOING to involve a car that smells like weed or pet urine, or GOING to involve a bad driver, is stressful.
Or, getting out of a show at 11pm and the hotel is 20 minutes away, but one member of your carpool wants to stay and socialize so your choices are to buy your own Uber or get back to the hotel at midnight.
These and more scenarios happen often enough that I'll pay to avoid them this year.
Enjoy having your car to yourself next week!
no subject
Date: 2025-08-12 01:04 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2025-08-12 02:31 am (UTC)