We were up very early this morning to head out of Fort Wayne to Greenville, OH. It was only about 90 miles away but there isn’t a major interstate so we knew it would take a bit longer – and it did. We arrived in plenty of time to meet up with Nolan (who was already at the hotel) and grab a bite to eat at a nearby McDonalds. Then, it was off to the venue – the Darke County Center for the Arts.
According to the weather forecast, there is a huge storm moving through the middle of the country – from Texas to Minnesota – that is going to bring rough weather our way. When we started load in, the weather was hanging in there. It was cold but no precipitation in the air!
We worked with a great crew of students and professionals today. They did some fast work when we arrived to clear some additional areas of the stage so there would be plenty of room for all the equipment. Once the stage was cleared, the equipment started moving in. We weren’t able to bring the truck right up to the loading dock because the trailer is too large and there was a really sharp turn that I just couldn’t make. So, David brought it down on the lift and then up on the ramp to the stage.
Once in, set up moved along quickly. Drops were up. Intelligent lights were hung. Focus was complete. And then came the task of writing cues on a Strand Board (an older Strand that I’m just not that familiar with). Thank goodness Keith and Nolan KNEW how to operate this board and get the cues in!
The weather started to turn bad around 6pm – just like weather.com said it would. Freezing rain started to fall but the audience still arrived. We were surprised at the HUGE crowd that came out in this weather. By showtime, there was significant icing outside. What was even more incredible was just how GREAT this audience was! This was such a fun show for me to do. The theatre is beautiful and the audience was responsive to everything we did – including laughing at the bad jokes! There’s no way to put into words how it feels to have an audience the “clicks” – it’s so much fun to perform when you have an audience like that.
One of the most meaningful parts of the day came just before the show. Keith Rawlins at the DCCA had arranged for me to do a brief pre-show talk with anyone who was interested in more information on the Healing of Magic program. I was shocked to see that there were so many people in attendance that they actually had to turn people away. I had the opportunity to share the concepts and applications of the program with a great group of people who then moved on into the main theatre for the show.
It was really cold on stage – especially stage right where Cindy and Kylie work. Keith, the director at the DCCA, brought over a couple of heaters so help knock of the chill. He was an outstanding host – and even brought in some hot food for us before the show…above and beyond our hospitality requests.
By the end of the show, there was so much ice and snow on the loading dock that there was no way we could load out safely. We packed everything down and got it all lined up. We’ll head back to the theatre tomorrow – Sunday afternoon – and load out. It’s supposed to be 40 degrees in the afternoon. With these heavy cases on ice, someone would have gotten hurt really bad.
We’re back at the hotel…ready to go to sleep…which is where I’m going now.