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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.
and do not reflect the views or opinions of my employer.
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This post covers Wednesday and Thursday.
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WEDNESDAY
I did set an alarm so I could have breakfast and time to get ready, for the Peabody Duck March was at 11 and I wanted to get a good vantage point!
I have seen the ducks and the whole pomp/ceremony the last time I was in Memphis. But this time was different...because our very own COGSWORTH would be the honorary Duckmaster, leading the ducks to the central fountain!! From previous experience I knew that there would be too many people at ground level for good footage, so I went straight to the mezzanine. I also got there a solid 30 minutes early so I could scope out the best possible spot up there. I decided it was here. If I had moved a bit more to the right the flower arrangement wouldn't be in the way, but then I wouldn't have this clear shot to the elevator where the ducks come out.
As it got closer to 11, more and more people showed up. Even up on the mezz I found myself surrounded by 10+ people, including some cast members who had come out to watch. More cast members hung out at the bar or even tried to sit on the floor by the red carpet. Before Cogsworth (actor's name is Javier) came out, the official Duckmaster himself came out to hype the crowd and give a little history of this cute and silly Memphis tradition. The TL;DR is that a manager at the hotel one day decided it would be funny to put some of his live call ducks into the hotel pond. The guests loved it so much that the ducks were kept. Turns out a bellhop at the hotel was a former Ringling animal trainer, and he offered to take charge of the ducks and teach them to travel between the fountain and a rooftop "duck palace" every day at scheduled times (11am and 5pm.) He did this so successfully that he maintained the position of Duckmaster at the hotel for 51 years!
Now there is still an official Duckmaster, but there is also an honorary Duckmaster chosen from time to time. This can be a random person from the audience, a hotel guest, or a celebrity (Oprah Winfrey, Paula Deen, and Kevin Bacon have all been Duckmasters.)
Today it was Cogsworth! As the Duckmaster finished regaling the audience with the legend of the ducks, I caught sight of Cogsworth waiting near the bar with some handlers:
First, some children were chosen to be the official Red Carpet Rollers for the occasion. Next, Cogsworth made his entrance and a short ceremony was conducted to make him an official honorary Duckmaster. Then the Duckmaster and Cogsworth walked the red carpet to the elevator to go fetch the ducks. Finally, to the triumphal sound of a Sousa march, the five ducks appeared and walked the red carpet, Cogsworth herding them with high-steps and his official Duckmaster cane and his bright red megaphone. One by one the ducks plopped into the fountain, to everyone's delight. The whole thing was absolutely adorable (and of course, great PR.)
Here is my footage from the mezzanine (less than 5 minutes long):
There was an entire camera crew set up near the elevator and practically IN the fountain, so there'll be official footage too at some point. Once the ceremony was over people crowded the fountain to exclaim over the ducks (which are ordinary Mallards) then dispersed gradually to go about their day or buy duck-themed merch at the hotel's gift shop.
The hotel itself is gorgeous and almost a museum, with historical exhibits and memento displays all over the place, but I had Adulting Things to do today so skipped all that and made myself scarce. It was fun and adorable to see Cogsworth herding ducks today!!
The rest of my day was BORING compared to that. I typed up this post, worked on Tempe Foodie Finds (which I have to make a bit longer since we're there for two weeks), ate lunch, called Southwest to find out how one changes seats on flights now, and grudgingly practiced my Main Street Philharmonic music with a mute at the hotel. It got easier as I went along. I am always blown away to find that if I try to actively remember my music and think about it while playing, it is a struggle...but if I let my mind go blank and allow muscle memory to take over, everything just comes right back. The practice session made me feel a lot better about being ready for performing this summer.
And I took more pics of my IEM faceplates for a thank-you post for Ultimate Ears on the socials...
...and made a more clear video showing how to swap out the faceplates:
Walked back to the theater around 3pm to return my iPad, trombone, and in-ears. I could have waited until showtime but I like knowing that everything is ready to go beforehand, when possible. Dinner and the show, we had a really wonderful audience who got into it!
An unusual thing happened during the scene where Gaston proposes to Belle: after she turns him down, LeFou has a dramatic little breakdown and says, "What should I do with the ring now? Can I keep it?" Gaston shouts, "Give me that!" and snatches the ring from LeFou...only this time when he went to snatch it he must have accidentally knocked it out of LeFou's hand. I heard the sound of metal hitting the floor, then heard the ring rolling across the stage. I heard it hit the black drop cloth that partially covers the pit net, then heard it "ping" off of something (a road case?) somewhere behind me....then silence.
From listening to the sounds the ring had made as it fell, I concluded that it had not fallen through the cracks leading to UNDER the pit. If it had, we would have heard one final "CLANG" as it hit either metal or concrete down there. It must still be somewhere behind me at pit level. Possibly on something soft, as I hadn't heard it hit anything after bouncing off the road case. During intermission I turned my phone light on and went hunting for it. Climbed over several stacked road cases, looking between them, and did not see it...but when I climbed to the lip of the pit level and peered down into a gap between the drum booth and an audio cable box (red arrow)...
...something gold and round flashed back at me. The ring, resting on a clump of thick cables way down there.
(Artistic rendering of where the ring had been lol)
I squeezed into the crack and climbed down, got it, and brought it back to Props. But not before getting a picture!
Over the years I've gotten beaned by and/or found many props that have fallen into the pit, or have come my way. Examples include a fake bee from a clown's costume; a tuppence from a scene in My Fair Lady; an Etch-a-Sketch from a dance number in Elf; and many more. I love to see the props up close...and I also admittedly enjoy recovering them, returning them, and being praised for it :D Replacing lost props can be a lot of extra work for crew, so if we can find what was lost it saves them time and work :)
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THURSDAY
Did not set an alarm but was up at 7:30 anyway due to time zone changes. Breakfast and I started to work on Foodie Finds but instead decided to go for a walk before it got any hotter out. Went to a small local grocery for protein and back to Hive for two more bagels (rosemary sea salt, blueberry.) Round trip it was two miles. THEN I worked on Foodie Finds, ate lunch, and practiced my Main Street Phil music again. I have the Flag Ceremony Music and Parade Music definitely memorized, and additionally reviewed five Castle Set pieces (the easier ones first.) This is going well and I have high hopes that I won't have to spend time EVERY day for the next month practicing. I also need to start reviewing the Epic Universe stuff.
Before tonight's show we had a full company photo on stage to celebrate the one-year anniversary of Beauty and the Beast National Tour. It is hard to believe it's been one full year already. My PERSONAL one-year mark is A) not until June 17th or so because that's when band rehearsals started, and B) because I was entered into the employment system incorrectly, my on-paper one-year mark isn't until September!! It happened because they were trying to let me keep my amusement park PERNR, which I very much appreciate, so I'm not upset :)
The evening show went well. Afterward there was a talkback so we made ourselves scarce quickly.
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Friday: The company has arranged a tour of the Civil Rights Museum here in Memphis, and I am going! No other plans for the day. One evening show.
Saturday: Laundry early in the morning + two shows.
Sunday: Two shows, and between shows we have the Orpheum's traditional Usher Meal which I'm very much looking forward to. Packing for El Paso.