Goodbye Elves and the Shoemaker

 “Elves and the Shoemaker” made it to Fresno again. I had been told Fresno audiences are some of the best. I completely agree because, let's be honest, Fresno isn't exactly Disneyland. The laughter and applaud in the Tower Theater was some of the best we ever received. Last time I was there I didn't get a chance to take a picture of the house; I only got a picture of the tower outside. This is what the interior looks like. I think it has a similar tacky 70's charm Bimbo's in San Francisco has. If anyone has been there before, you'd see what I mean.

And oh yeah, here is a picture of the Crest in Sacramento. As beautiful of a space it is, performing there is rather challenging. There are no wings, there's an underground crossover, and you have to climb up stairs to walk on stage. This made entrances with props difficult. But, once again, the kids made it worth it. This was a 1000-seater house and both our shows were sold out! It warms my heart so much to know budget cuts haven't completely wiped out school field trips! I think its such a special event for young students to experience live theatre!  

 The week ended with a day at San Mateo's city college. Their space is fantastically unique to the other spaces we've been to so far this season! The dressing rooms and greenroom are all above the stage on the second floor. To get to them, actors have to climb a narrow, spiral staircase! Walking up it wasn't too bad … going down on the other hand was a tad bit, um, terrifying!

Below is a view of the house.

 

Our final destination was the theater at Santa Clara University. I liked the color scheme of this space a lot. It looked like my hair in a way—there were brown chairs, a fraction of the seats were this faded blondish color, and a good portion of them were purple. I thought it was oddly beautiful. Saucy Stefan was telling me someone shared with him the reason why they colored the chairs that way was so if the actors looked out into the audience during the performance, they'd be thrown off on which seats were full versus empty. No actor likes seeing empty seats during a performance! How clever of them....

Anyway, on the last day, 12/18/12, I gave the cast and our lovely stage manager Christmas goodies! I baked a pie for Sleeping Beauty's closing day, so I wanted to something equally sentimental, but with holiday flare for the Elves crew! I gave them decorated goodie bags with cranberry-coconut bars, apple cake pops, and a slice of cranberry-orange pound cake. YUM! :) I hope everyone enjoyed them!

My next show is going to open the second week of January. Its called “Just So Stories” based on the short stories of Kipling. He wrote the Jungle Book, and won the 1907 Nobel Literature Prize. The language is unique, odd, but beautiful in our play. This show won't tour nearly as much. In fact, I think we only do home performances in Sunnyvale and day tours around the bay. I'm actually thankful for that because, as much as I love being on the road, I miss seeing my dog every day! I also miss hanging out with my friends, of course! And best of all.... I am going to be the Director of CTC's Great Spring Musical, “Guys and Dolls JR!” I am so excited and ready to sit in the director's chair again! I will make sure to keep everyone posted on how that is going! I LOVE Guys and Dolls, so this is going to be fun to be apart of. I'm honored CTC is entrusting me with this responsibility so early into my first season with them. I hope I make them proud!

Merry Christmas, everyone! And have a blessed and prosperous New Year! Congratulations to the world for surviving the Apocalypse on Friday! Take that, Mayans!!!!