After a few days at home – literally 2 1/2 days – we were back on the road again. This leg of the tour is 6 weeks on the road covering lots of the U.S.
Our first two stops were in the South – Greeneville, TN and Cartersville, GA. The weather was still very cold in both places but at least it wasn’t snowing!
GREENEVILLE, TN – NISWONGER PERFORMING ARTS CENTER
This is a beautiful theatre. We played the sister venue in Ohio a couple of years ago (the benefactor was the same man). Both are located in small, rural areas. I love the fact that the Niswonger family was interested and willing to build venues in places that might never have the opportunity to experience the arts.
We arrived at the loading dock of of the NPAC to find the crew waiting for us. It was cold and there was a chance for rain in the early afternoon. I wanted to get loaded in as quickly as possible to avoid getting caught in that rain. Cindy has been suffering from the flu so she stayed at the hotel to get some much needed rest. Alan handled the load in and did a great job.
The technical director, Sarah Jane, was well prepared for us. The day moved along easily and the show went up in record time. Cindy arrived at the venue around 4pm to do the things that only she can do. We had dinner and the doors opened at 7pm for the 7:30pm show.
It was a great crowd! The audience was fantastic – great responses and reactions to the magic on stage! It was the perfect experience all around for us at NPAC. I’m already looking forward to coming back here!
THE GRAND THEATRE – CARTERSVILLE, GA
After the Greeneville show, we needed to get down the road a couple of hours. We finished up the trip into Cartersville the following morning, checked into a hotel and dropped Cindy off to get some rest (and to get better). The rest of us drove on over to the historic Grand Theatre.
The stage space was smaller than NPAC and Alan did an amazing job of getting everything to fit! He managed to fill every corner of the stage and still leave room to do a show! Ben, the technical director, was well prepared for us and extremely flexible when working with us.
Cindy arrived on stage around 4pm, made a few minor adjustments, and set up her remaining items. Doors opened at 6:30pm for the 7pm show. The audience rolled in to get their seats with audible enthusiasm! And that excitement continued through the entire performance – GREAT audience!
Now, we are making our way to Hartford, Wisconsin…it’s going to be COLD!