Monday wasn't a train run, but a much appreciated day off.
And then we had 16 shows in 6 days. (that's a lot.)
Congrats to everyone for making it through this CRAZY week!!!
The weekday shows were late splits: 2pm and 7pm start times.
This was great because the commute to Brooklyn was very long, sometimes up to 1 1/2 hours.
The later shows gave some of us time to rest up.
Even so, many people still had to work HARD, staying late and getting up early.
For some the best option was to sleep at the arena.
I didn't sleep over, but did do my dishes at work to save time :P
The break between the 2 and 7 shows was also longer than usual,
so on weekdays there was a little time to walk around near the arena.
The Atlantic Center Mall is the big draw, but there are lots of cute restaurants and houses around too.
Brooklyn brownstones:
On Thursday around noon we did the Yeshiva show.
THIS REVIEW does a great job of covering all the changes we made to accommodate the Yeshiva beliefs.
As a female, I can say it was a very interesting experience!
Our women were not allowed to perform, because Yeshiva women do not sing or dance. Women working on the floor and even backstage (I think there were four) had to wear full-body black jumpsuits and black hats.
The production women walked around in their normal black shirts and pants,
and I was allowed to wear the band costume as normal and keep my hair the same.
I was also moved to the inside of the portal (that's where I had been last year anyway).
No photos of the show or the audience were allowed. Sorry!
The music was changed too; female vocals were removed and some different songs were used.
Since only boys were allowed to perform, some of the acts (Cannon and Dog Acts) were cut,
and the rest were modified.
We did the first half of our show, then the Yeshiva Boys Choir did several numbers and traditional songs.
They did a great job, and they were very enthusiastic :)
Then we played the second half, and after that the show went on for another hour
while more singing groups performed and Uncle Moishy did a few numbers.
The arena was packed...about 14,000 seats filled!
As one of few women who was visible during the show, I was a little self-conscious
and nervous, but there was no need to be. Mostly I just had to be careful not to 'dance'
(nothing I do could be called dancing anyway, haha).
It was a fun and interesting change from our usual shows. I was glad to be a part of it!
On Saturday I got a little surprise at the 3pm show!
A young Circus Fan came up to me before the show (I was 'hiding' in the audience)
and said he enjoyed reading my blog! I should have asked his name, but by the time I'd
gotten over being surprised he had gone back to his seat.
That really made my day! Thank you for reading! :D
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