After a brief time at home, we left on Thursday morning to make the 7 hour drive to Drexel Hill, just outside of Philadelphia. Our show on Friday night was held at the Upper Darby Performing Arts Center – a unique venue located on the campus of the Upper Darby High School. Tickets sold very well – extremely well – and as of the day before, there were less than 10 available. I knew this was going to be a fun show. Harry Dietzler, the executive director, and I had been talking for years about bringing the show to their audience. This would be it.
We arrived promptly at 11am to begin the load in…and hit my first challenge. Getting to the loading dock was “tricky” to say the least. There was no way to back up to the loading area because the angles were too sharp given the size of our truck/trailer. I eventually decided to pull in and attempt to turn the truck around once inside the gate. It took nearly an hour to get in, turn around, and get backed up. It required some creative thinking and Alan and Ethan came up with great “methods” of making it all happen.
Cindy took advantage of the hour that it took to get the truck into place to decide where to put all the cases and the logistics of making the show work in this very unusual theatre – a modified thrust stage with wrap around seating. But, by time I was ready, she was ready. Load in started and the rest of the day moved along in an organized, systematized way. She really is amazing when it comes to figuring out this stuff.
We had a great show – fantastic, enthusiastic audience. After the performance, I headed to the lobby to talk and autograph photos, programs, and magic sets. I love hearing their favorite moments in the show, especially form those 20-somethings who weren’t sure they would be fooled.
Once we were packed up and said our goodbyes, we decided to head back to the hotel. The Philly Diner is right next door and that’s where we wrapped the evening of bacon and eggs. Everyone did a great job tonight in a “challenging” situation – we had a great time. Thank you Harry, Matt, and the entire crew!
