We made it up to Jacksonville tonight. We’re all exhausted so we made this one an easy day. Tomorrow we’ll make better travel distance. Cindy and Keith are in the SUV (with Carter) while Nolan and I are in the truck. I can’t wait to get back into our rig next week! In the meantime, Carter is making himself comfortable along the way.
Now, the show last night! We pulled the truck around to the loading dock after passing the front of this beautiful place! Just pulling into a venue like this builds my excitement about the evening show!
Once at the loading dock, we walked around the building to find the Stage Door and entrance. It was clearly marked – something that makes it much easier for us to get in!
Working with Tate and his crew (Kerry, Fela, Jimmy, and Anthony) was a great experience. We arrived and they were prepared for us. Batons were marked in the fly rail, legs were in the right places, lighting was hung and patched – all the technical things that make our day much easier were taken care of. So, we had an uneventful day. We enjoyed very much working with all of these guys and will look forward to doing it again in the future!
The doors to the lobby opened at 7pm and there were hundreds of people already there. Once the theatre doors opened at 7:30pm, everyone was great about coming in and finding their seats. With 30 ushers moving people along, it was still a challenge to get everyone seated before the 8pm showtime. We were asked by the House Manager to hold until he could get everyone in – about 10 minutes later, we started the show.
The audience was incredibly excited and enthusiastic! From the moment we took the stage, they were clapping and giving us great energy. We moved from illusion to illusion to cheers and applause. Volunteers from the audience were playful (thank you Chase) and brought some wonderful spontaneity to the magic. The Walking Through A Wall contines to draw gasps and mumbles of astonishment from the crowd – and the Windshear is a powerful way to end the first half! I’ve been doing a new trick in the show the last couple of times – the Chinese Box Trick – and it’s been a baffling, entertaining, whimsical effect that generates some great audience reactions. Last night, I could heard dozens of people shout “No Way!” over the applause!
The second half of the show moved along just as well as the first. Cindy did an outstanding job (as always) of making this all work. And Nolan did a great job of getting in on and off the stage – working only off stage left!
A friend of ours drove in from Lakeland to see the show. It was quite a drive for Clarke, but we had the chance to visit briefly with him in the Green Room afterwards before having to head out to the lobby to meet the audience.
I could not have not have been more pleased with the day – the crew, the set up, the flow of the show, the audience reactions, the on-stage volunteers, the lobby meet-and-greet afterwards, etc. A great way to end our Florida tour!