LEBANON & CENTRALIA, IL

THE HET – LEBANON, IL

We just wrapped up a great weekend in Illinois and now we’re heading home for a few days.  We arrived in the Lebanon area on Thursday night and checked into our hotel.  We left out on Friday morning to make the short drive to The Het Performing Arts Center – what a spectacular venue!

I pulled the rig around to the loading dock where the crew was waiting, ready to go to work and get this show in the air.  And what a fantastic crew it was!!  The load moved along very well – terrific teamwork on their end and with our guys.  I could not have asked for an easier or more smooth day.  I was already excited about this show because it’s been sold out for a few weeks and this crew just made it an even more enjoyable experience!

The Het is a beautiful theatre and our production worked perfectly on this stage.  Doors opened, audience came in and the show was “on.”  Everything ran perfectly, very smooth, with wonderful volunteers and fantastic audience reactions.  My time in the lobby afterwards was the perfect ending to a perfect day!

THANK YOU TO EVERYONE AT THE HET IN LEBANON, IL – thanks Peter and the entire team!

JANE KNIGHT AUDITORIUM – CENTRALIA, IL

Saturday morning, we were up early to make the drive to Centralia, IL.  These two towns are only about 60 miles apart so the routing is great.  We arrived right on time at the loading dock for the Jane Knight Auditorium.

We loaded the show in with the help of the crew but this was going to be one of those shows where we would “take over” the stage.  The auditorium is located on the campus of Kaskaskia College and there were lots of things going on during the day.  Our show would be the culmination of the events though none of them were associated with us.  It was much easier for me, Cindy, Keith, Ethan, and Alan to pull the show together.

After loading in the cases, Keith and I started hanging and patching the light plot while Cindy worked on all her details and the guys started putting illusions together.  After the lights were complete, Mike (the TD) and I got the cloud backdrop in the air.  And it was time for lunch!

We finished up all the details after lunch and were ready for the audience to come in by 5pm.  Dinner arrived just in time, provided by the Culinary Arts students of the college.  Wow – this food was amazing! The big pick of the day was the chocolate lava cake!!

Show time brought in a fantastic audience.  The show went very well and the audience gave us a standing ovation in the end.  It was a great way to wrap up the weekend.

We’re heading home now and should be there today!