After another long drive from Boston to York (Interstate 78 is not a smooth ride), we arrived in York last night and checked into the historic Yorktowne Hotel. Â It’s a grand hotel downtown and close to the Strand Capitol Performing Arts Center. Â We had a very early load in this morning for a 3pm show. Â All of us met at the truck and were at the theatre by 8am. Â The crew was at the loading door with smiling faces, great attitudes, and ready to get to work.
Cindy scoped the stage quickly, Ethan got every signed in and badged, and we opened the trailer door to start hauling in several tons of equipment. Â Things moved along well – scenery was up, lights were hung, and we were into focus within the first couple of hours. Â This crew is awesome – very organized, hard working, and always laughing or smiling. Â They made it a very fun day for all of us. Â Keith was busy working on patching the lighting, getting our intelligent lighting “tweaked,” and checking the sound. Â He always does a great job for us – makes us look and sound good!
The doors opened promptly at 2:30pm and the audience starting making their way into this beautitful theatre. Â The house filled quickly and by showtime, we had a near capacity audience of enthusiastic people of all ages. Â I love these audiences! Â Every volunteer who assisted on stage added so much to the show. And the York audience has never let us down – excited, exuberant, and responsive!
The show ran so smoothly. Â Every illusion seemed to just “click” and the audience definitely took the “magical” journey with us today. Â After saying good night, I made my way to the lobby to take a few minutes to talk with some of the patrons. Â There were also several area magicians in the crowd – something I greatly appreciate when the local guys come out to support the show. Â I didn’t get a chance to speak to many of them but, if you’re reading this, THANKS!
Some very good friends of ours were also in the audience tonight. Â We’ve known Starr and Kelly for many years and count them as some of our best friends. Â They are great people and Starr is an amazingly talented artistic designer. Â We have the pleasure of working together on many occasions.
After getting the show down and packed back into the trailer (Ethan did a great job on load out), we all got together and headed over to one of the local Quizno’s restaurants to grab some food. Â We ended up sitting in there for a good part of 2 1/2 hours talking, laughing, and relaxing.
It’s almost midnight and we have another early day tomorrow so I’m off to bed. Â At least we didn’t have to drive long tonight – only about 40 minutes (now, that’s nice).