Buffalo, NY 2025 part 2: Misc Treasures

[taz_39]

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This post covers Tuesday night, Wednesday, and Thursday.

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TUESDAY NIGHT - DINNER AT GRAYLYNN

 

Despite still being super-tired, I had reservations at Graylynn and it's so close to our hotel.

Cute smallish restaurant with a lot of floor space and patio seating. I sat at the bar since I was alone.

 

Originally I'd hoped to bring my friend Molly's parents...Molly is a drummer and she's out of town doing a show. But I ended up not being able to get in touch with them and/or there were miscommunications so it didn't work out. Anyway, Graylynn is a gin bar but they have all kinds of liquor too. There was a drink called "Cornography" that sounded nice and weird!

 

Smoky roasted corn-infused mezcal, elote liqueur, pineapple-cilantro puree, lime.

There was also toasted corn salt on the rim, and the little yellow balls are corn-flavored ice!!

 

It was REALLY good and fun. The corn flavor wasn't too strong, just a sweet and smoky sort of thing on top of the pineapple and lime (I couldn't taste the cilantro very well.)

 

They had a lot of exciting menu options but I wanted to have minimal leftovers and also leave room for dessert, so went with the pasties (3). They had steak, chicken, chickpea, and mushroom options. On the server's recommendation I went with the Musakhan Chicken: sumac-spiced grilled chicken, toasted pine nuts, caramelized onions, feta.

 

It came with some pickles and a fresh green herb dip which I think was mostly coriander and parsley? The flavor profile is based on the Palestinian dish called "musakhan" which I'm now very excited to try if I see it offered anywhere else. Each pasty was about the size of a pierogie. I ate two pasties and saved one for later.

 

Dessert was sticky toffee pudding, which was thankfully single-serving sized.

It was soooooo good.

Watch on YouTube

 

Still image:

 

The flavor was standard deliciousness, but the texture was pretty special. It was both shaped and textured like a French canele pastry, with a crispy thick caramelized crust and a soft creamy middle. GOSH it was good!

 

And I got one more drink because the first drink had been so wonderful (and let's be honest, I wanted to keep my buzz going!)

The "Dill Murray": St. George Valley Gin, Bitter Bianco, Grapefruit Shrub, Lime.

 

I learned that a "shrub" is a type of vinegar-based simple syrup infused with citrus rinds. Wild! It was quite good though my stomach will not be thanking me for this later. I liked Cornography better overall for creativity, but Dill Murray was more clean and refreshing.

 

Totally full and feeling really like I needed to sleep, I instead went for a walk.

 

I have memories from other tours here, and it was nice and cool out. I strolled up Prospect Avenue which is such a calm and beautiful street with lots of historic houses and big chestnut trees. Walked all the way to Tops Market where I decided to go in to cool off and found Ryu, Sarah, and David getting their groceries. It's the only grocery anywhere near us so it wasn't surprising to see them there :) We chatted briefly, mostly to ask each other, "Are you going?" to the band hang at Gabriel's Gate that night. I opted out, being completely full and buzzed and exhausted, but they ended up going and from photos it looked like they had a lovely time. All of the band was there except Dave (flute) and I...I felt guilty that I hadn't gone, but Graylynn is only open for dinner so I felt that tonight was my only chance for that experience.

 

Ah, well. Walked back to the hotel and dragged myself into the shower, then to bed.

 

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WEDNESDAY

 

I slept in until 9am, which is unusual for me these days but my body needed it. Spent the morning hydrating as hard as I could (I felt fine but safety first) and having a nice breakfast in my room.

 

Disney has released our Beauty and the Beast promo reel, the fully-American one, finally!

Both Broadway World and Playbill had picked it up and shared it this morning.

Which in my book is how you know your show is a "big deal" :p

 

 

We weren't allowed into the theater until around 3:30pm, and I felt a bit nervous about opening night as we've had two days of no playing. Walked over as early as possible to get set up for sound check. And upon seeing the theater, remembered suddenly that this is where I had opened with Tootsie, waaaaay back in 2021.

(stock image)

 

I went to the pit, remembering the way.

And found our wall tag.

 

I want you guys to understand that Tootsie was my very first tour. And THIS right here was my first-ever wall tag.

These are my initials; I signed this four years ago.

 

 

How to describe what I felt...standing here four years later--on tour with Beauty and the Beast--and looking at this time capsule.

 

Four years ago, I was just happy to have a job in music.

I was just trying to get by after the pandemic.

Jameson had just had his first major surgery.

And on that same day, my dad had passed away.

And we were in the middle of tech rehearsals.

 

There were so many emotions and so much going on, the last time I was here. I was elated to be on a tour, and terrified for Jameson's health, and angry and disgusted and devastated by my dad's unexpected death and all the aftermath of it.

 

And four years later, I am standing here again and looking at my signature.

Yeah...no words for it really. Just lots of feelings and another one of those surreal, indescribable life moments.

 

I stood there and processed what I was feeling for several minutes, ending with a feeling of pride and gratitude for being here again, and with such an incredible show. Then it was time to set up and get ready for sound check. It went just fine. I had packed dinner and ate it at the theater, and found my trunk and grabbed a bunch of stuff from it.

 

Before the show we had a special treat: a local organist! His name is Curtis Cook, and he's also the organist for the Buffalo Sabres (hockey.) He played for about 20 minutes and sounded fantastic! I snuck this video from my spot in the pit, where I got to enjoy seeing his fancy footwork :)

Watch on YouTube

 

The show seemed to be sold out and the crowd was great.

Afterward we were invited to a reception hosted by the theater. I didn't drink but ate some mini desserts and hung out with Ryu (violin) and Sarah (horn.)

 

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THURSDAY

 

I got up fairly early and had a normal morning. We had two shows today which is kinda unusual for a Thursday.

The 1pm went well, very enthusiastic crowd with lots of kids, and we got to hear the organist again before the show.

Between shows I took my tenor trombone back to the hotel and gave it a bath. We have a layoff next week and I've been bringing the bass home but the tenor hasn't been home and therefore is overdue for a cleaning.

 

Dinner and then the evening show, with Josh (keys and assistant MD) conducting. We had a musician from Book of Mormon in the house to see us as well which was nice. But most notable was this crowd....they were SO LOUD and enthusiastic!! They were pretty normal for most of the show, no special ovations or anything...but right during Finale as the curtain dropped, they all LEAPT to their feet and ROARED. I couldn't even hear myself play during bows! It was amazing! It felt like we were in a rock concert! Quite a rush.

 

Afterward a bunch of people went to the nearby Aloft hotel to celebrate Fergie (Beast) and Stephen (Gaston)'s birthdays. I didn't go because, again, didn't want to drink. But hopefully everyone has fun :)

 

One last little thing: I got my first "pit souvenir" today! A big pink rhinestone from the pink curtain used during Be Our Guest!

 

When you work in a hole in the ground right below the stage, lots of stuff tends to fall in including props and bits of costumes and whatnot. Today at the afternoon show I saw something flash to my right, out of the corner of my eye, but had been playing and didn't see what it was or where it went. Before the evening show I looked around on the ground and found it. I used to collect costume rhinestones in my circus days. I still have a whole jar of them at home. This was a fitting thing to come and find me.

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Friday: One show in the evening. I don't have plans for the day and hope to go for some sort of walk or (free) sightseeing.

Saturday and Sunday: Two shows each day. And then flying home to Orlando for a week. Glad that Hurricane Erin missed us!

Comments

[fbhjr]

That memory from 4 years ago sounds very intense.
This month was 25 since my father passed and I still have quite strong memories of it. I can only imagine adding the show then and now on top of that.

Cool gem to find. I never thought about how stuff must end up in the pit. Nice it's something cool!

[taz_39]

Yeah. My dad dying, my partner’s surgery, and 8 hours of tech rehearsal with Tootsie all on the same day is indeed an intense memory. And spending every waking moment where I wasn’t in rehearsal, for the next week, trying to pay my parents’ bills and handle the funeral arrangements.

I’m surprised that in 35 years of performing there’s something you might not have experienced.

Speaking of stuff falling in the pit we had a BIG prop fall in tonight…more on that in the next post. But I’ve been hit with all kinds of stuff over the years, or it’s fallen around me. Confetti and rhinestones and such of course, but also parts of costumes that fly off or props.

Off the top of my head I’ve had the following land on or near me: top hat, fake cash, metal tuppence, foam Etch-a-Sketch prop, flower bouquet prop, fake bumble bee, yoga ball, pyro fuse, a variety of buttons, variety of types of paper (pages from books, prop newspapers, streamers, etc)…that’s about all I can think of right now but there’s certainly more.

[fbhjr]

I've seen a lot happen. But, certainly not everything.

We do have stuff go flying, but being in a field there's nothing to concentrate it like in your case. Even way, way back when I was in an orchestra, we were up on the stage, so things spread out more.
Not sure it's an advantage to be in a funnel like you are...

[taz_39]

I'm sure there's a reason why theater shows all across the entire globe have pits. Although maybe you've got an idea for improvement that the theater community would trip over themselves to receive.

Being a union show, we always have a pit net, which saves us from people falling in (which does happen more often than we'd all like due to performing on different sizes and shapes of stage every week or so) and from larger props such as the one we had last night, which could have harmed someone had it fallen directly in. But for all of the other tours I've been on (non-equity/union), the net was only provided in union theaters, and everywhere else we didn't have one. That's how I got beaned with a foam Etch-A-Sketch on Elf, and our French hornist on My Fair Lady was hit on the head with a bouquet and had to file an incident report. But keep in mind this is across hundreds of shows each year; those singular instances happen very rarely. Stuff falls in, but it's rare to actually be hit by it.

The nets suck for visibility but I do think they are needed until an experienced, genius-level artisan steps forward to present his idea to revolutionize the pit orchestra.

[fbhjr]

I have seen folks fall off stages. More than once. So, the nets seem like a good idea to me.