JWT Summmer Fun - Photos

Hey gang! I just wanted to share with all of you some pictures I took over the summer. I had such a great time, but I'll talk more about that at a later time. For now enjoy all the photos I have... at least the ones that were fit to print. ;)

http://community.webshots.com/user/skipthehero

More 'Tour' Like

So far the "Theatre On Wheels" Tour of "The Hobbit" has been going great. This past week we based ourselves out of Prestonsburg, KY, and toured to Eastern KY schools. We've been staying at the theatre's company housing. Well, starting tomorrow, we'll be basing ourselves out of Richmond, KY, and touring to Central KY schools in Anderson Co., Corbin Co., Danville, and Madison Co. We'll be staying for four nights at the Hampton Inn in Richmond.

Now, this is my third season working with JWT's end of season children's tour. But this is the first time I'm going to get the feeling of being on an actual tour. I guess it's really the hotel stay that's making it feel that way, but still, it's closer than I've been to being on a "real" tour. We got so many Central KY gigs this year from a single Madison Co. performance last year. Word spread.

"The Hobbit" has been well received so far in the Eastern KY venues. We've been bombarded with positive feedback from teachers, principals, and students. The managing director, Martin Childers, has been very pleased so far, I believe. I think relief hit him with the sounds of praises in his inbox.

One more week to go and I return to the "real" world - back to my friends and my church.

I've missed and am going to miss many more people this year than I have in the past. I made a lot of close friends this year. I don't regret it one bit, but it has made saying goodbye this year that much more difficult.

Congratulations, Stephanie!

I just want to send a big Congratulations out to one of my best and dearest friends, Stephanie. She spent the summer in England on an internship, and when she came back she had a big announcement. She's engaged!!! So once again, I say congratulations, Steph (and Chris)! I couldn't be happier for you two!

UPDATE: A big huge "OOPS" on my part. I was so excited that I let the cat out of the bag before Stephanie and Chris had a chance to talk to people personally. I jumped the gun a little... no, a LOT. My apologies to Stephanie and Chris and all the people they were going to tell - for spoiling the surprise. But again, congratulations!

The Last Days

Well, two shows have closed here at Jenny Wiley, and people are packing up their belongings. These are always my least favorite days of the summer, not because of the work - I'm in this "biz" for the work - but because it's a time of goodbyes. And fortunately (or unfortunately if you look at it that way) I have a lot of goodbyes to say this season. I have made more friends from this summer than any previous. It's going to be very difficult to say goodbye to a majority of the people this year. What makes this feeling worse is that I am staying around for two weeks after the regular season ends to Tour Manage the tour that the theatre sends out every year. It's a very small cast, and the house that I live in will seem very empty.

The only that helps me is that I will stay fairly busy until Monday or Tuesday, and that will keep my mind off of the fact that everyone is gone.

Breathing Room

Wow, I've really been kind of busy the past few weeks. It's flown by really fast. I finally have a chance to catch my breath again... Whew.

Let's see over the past weeks, I have went canoe-ing, designed a show, rented a pontoon boat, closed a show, had a birthday (turned 27 on July 29th - sheesh, getting old), participated in Xmas in July, attended a "Wine and Cheese" party, co/co-hosted a "white-trash" theme party, had a "few" drinks, eaten a lot, slept some, worked some shows (6 nights a week), read the new Harry Potter book (fantastic!), bought a digital cam-corder (just today, I'm very excited!), and just generally hung out with friends (new and old).

I bet you're all wondering "What's Next!?"... no? Well, I'm going to tell you anyway. Right after the regular season is over, and two-week touring children's show heads out for several parts of Eastern Kentucky. I'm the "Tour Manager" - which basically entails driving 6 (possibly sleep deprived) actors in a big Ford Van, loading in a set, running the show, taking money, loading out the set, and driving to the next school. There's usually two shows a day, and just enough time in between them to grab some fast food before hitting it again.

Then right after that it's time to head back to Lexington and make some more money, and visit all the friends I've neglected the past three months (bad job, me... but then, hey, phone works both ways, huh?).