Easton, PA - Home of Crayola

Last night we performed to a sold out crowd in Easton, PA, home of the Crayola Crayon Factory!  It was a beautiful, older theatre in the old downtown area of Easton.  The show went well and seems to be beginning to settle in.  I still feel a little "off" in my performance as I strive to incorporate all of the input from rehearsals into my character as well as figure out the relationships with the new cast members.

Today was a "Golden Day" which means we didn't have a show and didn't have to travel to a new city.  These are rare on the road, especially this early in the run of show.  I spent the day relaxing, doing laundry and catching up on personal business.  Most of the cast went into NYC to see friends, family and shows.  I thought of going to see Alayna but the expense wasn't worth the little time I would actually get to see her.  I would rather use that money to help her come home for Christmas.

Tomorrow we travel to Springfield, MA for one performance.  We will then travel pack to Pennsylvania for a performance in Bloomsburg on Saturday and then back to Massachusetts for a performance on Sunday in Lowell.  Seems like a lot of back forth but that is how this show biz stuff works.

Burlington, VT

Yesterday we had our official opening in Burlington, Vermont.  The city is beautiful and we had a great time visiting the downtown area and eating some rather unique biscuits and gravy at one of the local eating establishments.  Burlington is home one of our cast members (she plays Mrs. Pugh).  We had a great time meeting her family and they gave her a great reception at the show which was sold out!  Burlington is also the home of Ben and Jerry's ice cream.  We were in one of the Ben and Jeffy shops and in walks "Jerry" one of the founders.  It was pretty cool and some of us got a little silly meeting this famous man.

The show went really well.  The audience was great and really loved it.  Afterward, Madison (Annie), Mickey (Sandy) and I got to go to a meet-n-greet and see some of the kids who came to the show and sign autographs. This is always one of my favorite things to do.

Tonight we are in Easton, PA for one performance which is also sold out.  We had our first long bus ride today and it wasn't too bad.  It takes some time to get used to being on the bus, but once we got off the twisting Vermont roads all went well.

Well, time to catch the bus to the venue for the show.  Thanks for reading and keep in touch

Annie Goes to China

Today it became official.  Annie, The National Tour is going international and will be traveling to China this coming spring!  We found out today that we will be playing in four cities in China for five weeks beginning April 17 when we fly from NYC to Shanghai, China.  We will be in Shanghai for two weeks and then travel to Tianjin for a week followed by a week in a city I can't remember but it is home to the Terra Cotta Army, and finally a week in Beijing before heading home on May 24th.

The entire company is of course very excited to be given this tremendous opportunity.  As I find out more information I will let you all know what will be happening.  That is pretty much all I know at this time.  The show will be done in English with super titles projected to either side of the stage for translation into Chinese.  I also know that due to travel restrictions and regulations we will be using a dog from China that our dog handler and Annie will travel over to train with.

In the meantime, We have begun our 2009-2010 Nation Tour of ANNIE.  Tomorrow we will travel to Burlington, Vermont for opening night on Tuesday.  We will then embark on three weeks of mayhem as we travel to 16 cities in 20 days!  This will be the toughest part of the tour physically as travel is always a little difficult.  It may also be some of the most fun as I have found that the company really pulls together during these trying times.

We will be playing in 42 cities in the US this season!  That is 42 places that will be exciting to see and exciting to perform in.  If you happen to live in one of those cities we hope to see you at the theatre.  I would love to meet you after show so be sure to stop by the stage door after the show.  For those of you from my neck of the woods, we will be in Atlanta in January.  I hope you will all make the short drive down to see the show!  I promise you won't be disappointed.

If you need tickets or information about the show be sure to visit www.annieontour.com.  It is a great web page with lots of information including links to purchase tickets.

Time to go pack so we can fly out TOMORROW!