The Gammage Auditorium. It’s an iconic space really. Designed by Frank Lloyd Wright. It’s often called things like “the birthday cake theatre” because it is round and looks like it has decorations on the top edge.

When I first started touring this is a space I really wanted to see. I studied Theatre Architecture in grad school and always thought this was an interesting space.

The biggest challenge here is the loading dock. It is one story down a curved ramp. The curve is such that nothing bigger than a 20’ box truck can navigate driving down it. As a result everything is unloaded in the parking lot and you walk or forklift everything down the ramp.

Because the theatre is on the campus of a university, the parking lot is prime space. This means that not only do we need to share the lot with all the folks that park there on a regular basis, but our audience does too. So, it means we cannot have matinee performances. It changes our load-in schedule to starting on Sunday and opening on a Tuesday. Ultimately for me, it means a couple less hours of time to focus the movers for the show. Amazingly, the opening was good. I still needed a work call to finish focus on Wednesday, but the show looked good on Tuesday and was great on Wednesday.

For those that did not know I am looking at houses in North Dakota….yep.

We are going to move closer to my wife’s family. It is a different place, but I am hoping to make it a fabulous move. It’s been a long time since I have searched for a new home. This will be a new experience.

I am currently in the Dallas airport waiting for a plane to go to Bismarck and search some neighborhoods with my sister-in-law and brother-in-law.

Fun times!

Great opening night!! A line that often got a chuckle in the show now gets roaring laughter!

“Elphaba, I can’t harbor a fugitive, I’m an unelected official!” Took a while for the audience to calm down after that line last night. I guess this group reads the news!

I got through almost all the pre-sets this time and discovered a couple issues (in terms of the re-focus method) that I’ll figure out and take care of when I get back. I’m headed to Winston for some vacation with the family. I’m also going to Bismarck to see where it is I’m going to be living in the future. Here’s hoping for a great trip to both places!!

We made it to San Diego!

We are off to a great start!

Well I’m leaving LA next week. It has been an adventure for sure. Seen a lot of friends and missed a few too. Survived the fires a few weeks ago and hey, it even rained yesterday. We are off to San Diego next, where I’ll take 9 days off and visit Winston for a while and then Bismarck for 2 days….more on that later!

For now check out some pictures from the stop!

The new (ish) set up for running lights on the Wicked Tour.

We are now half-way through with our run here in Hollywood. It’s been interesting. I have actually walked around Hollywood more than I ever have before! It’s been kind of fun and educational.

The family was here for Christmas. It was great to have them here. Jen and I were reminded that we were in LA for Christmas once before in 2001 when she was pregnant with Clara. Long time ago…

In other news, I must admit to being a bit worried about the future of employment. The nutcase that is taking over as President hates unions and really doesn’t like people that have to work for a living. At least that is what it looks like to me! His last chance to change labor and tax law resulted in my tax burden going up and my union’s influence going down. Not a good combination for my future. I am looking forward to retiring (full time retirement) more than ever!

Take care, friends!

Did a tour of Pixar on Monday. What struck me the most was the expense and effort that the company has gone to in order to make the campus a relaxing and comfortable place to work. No doubt there are times that pressure and stress may be high, but certainly looking around it felt like an employer that was giving their employees a lot of benefits. The campus includes a gym, sand volleyball, a pool, basketball and soccer pitch. Numerous restaurants including a pub. Everyone seemed pretty chill and the vibe was awesome.

We are doing portfolio reviews!! So nice to see what our students are doing in all their classes. The C2 students are discussing their chosen “path” with us (the lighting faculty) and it is uplifting to share in their excitement for the future.

We continue to work on next year’s season. Drama has decided what shows they will do and we should be announcing that soon. Dance is working on their season and it is, once again, very exciting to be thinking forward!

It’s been an exciting year of coming change. New static units, new LED strips, new movers, new consoles and new rigging. All to further enhance our learning opportunities here at the school.