Godspell National Tour: Week 7

... Aaaaaaand we're back! 

I'm one of ten cast members on the first National tour of the musical Godspell, and we're back on the road after a 5-week hiatus over the Christmas holidays. We all live in Ontario, where the weather has been cold, dry and icy for a good chunk of that break. So you can imagine how excited we were that our first stop on this second leg of the tour is in freaking FLORIDA!

(Sorry, I don't know what the question marks on this poster mean. Not sure if anyone does. That's why there are question marks)

We flew from Toronto's Pearson International Airport into the warm, welcoming skies of West Palm Beach.

*Sidebar: why doesn't anyone clap for pilots when the plane lands anymore? Like "hooray, we didn't die! Great job!" Stacey Kay and I are reeeeeally trying to bring that back.

Most of my cast mates learned their lessons well from the first leg of the tour and packed lighter this time around. For some, that meant bringing only ONE super-sized suitcase instead of their previous two. For others it meant leaving the beloved, yet non-essential ukelele at home. Be the star of a post-show jam session or lug less weight around from hotel to hotel? Priorities.

From the airport, we were reunited with our tour bus (aptly crowned "the Soul Bus") as well as our favourite driver, Robert. It was a short drive to our hotel in Fort Pierce, and we were settled into DAY 1 before dinner time. 

By settled, I mean it almost felt like no time had passed since we'd seen eachother last. Yes, some of us saw one another over the break, but I still thought it was pretty cool how quickly we got right back into the groove. Ugh, it's probably that 'love' thing again. It won't really leave us alone ;-).

A bunch of us headed across the street to Red Lobster for dinner that evening, but overall it was a quiet night. We all wanted to be rested and ready for the rehearsal AND show we had the next day.

Enter Tuesday morning: hotel breakfast, sunny walks and poolside chillin. We all did our own thing, but most of us partook in some combination of the aforementioned activities until rehearsal began. It went great. Then we performed in front of a full, enthusiastic crowd at the Sunrise Theatre that night. Also great. I said "we're back!", did I not?

Sunrise Theatre

Wednesday morning, we drove to Sarasota. Sadly, we've been experiencing unseasonably cool temperatures in the Sunshine State. Gladly, it's still warmer than it is at home. So, there's that. And in Toronto, we don't have mini-putt courses with live alligators, either.  Jake (Godspell's Jesus) was all about it, but the nearest alligator-captivity-golf-course was a bit too far from our hotel. Also, it's weird.

In Sarasota, we performed at the Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall: all-purple everything! It's my favourite colour too, how did they know?!?!

Thursday we drove to some other town in Florida. I'm really not sure where the heck we were, but it wasn't a long drive, the theatre was small but nice, and they kindly prepared dinner for the entire cast and crew before the show. We like food. Especially of the 'free' persuasion, so thank you Dolly Hand Cultural Arts Centre.

*Another Sidebar:  I don't know what Lauren (our wardrobe lady) was doing to Jake's costume here... but I AM certain that taking this picture and putting it in the blog was the right thing to do.

It's super-early on Friday morning right now (some might call it "Thursday night"), and we'll be making the long drive to Orange Park, Florida, where we'll perform inside the Thrasher Home Center. Sounds intense. Surprisingly, I don't really dread the longer bus rides as much as I thought I would. I've got books, movies, games, music, snacks, a pillow, blanket and good company.  Just yesterday, I turned around in my bus seat and saw this staring back at me:

That's Michael Hogeveen. He enjoys acting, singing and long walks in and out of Crazy Town  (...and no, the picture has not been photoshopped. His head is indeed floating between the seats, lol).

So! That sums up our first week back after our big break... Making it officially the end of Week #7 on the Godspell National Tour. Remember, I'll be posting Godspelly updates every Friday, so come back and read it! :-)

Ciao for now,

~ Lisa Michelle

My Twitter: itslisamichelle

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