The interior of the Orpheum Theatre.Memphis – The Show’s Open
February 14th
As everyone knew it would, Spamalot opened in Memphis last night. The audience was wildly enthusiastic – the French Taunter got a huge welcome when he popped his head out of the castle. The show was a little bit bumpy, but I’m happy to say that most of the bumps had very little to do with me! I’m sure that if I was more familiar with all aspects of running the show, I could have helped smooth things out more, but there were no epic disasters. We even incorporated two new elements to the show last night: a new Camelot Castle and “Mud Castle”. Both pieces are lighter and easier to assemble – great for when you need to load-in and load-out overnight. Once again I’m amazed at the crew – 24 hours after the truck doors opened, we were in front of an audience. This is a crazy way to make a living.
With no rehearsals this week, I can get down to the serious issue of eating my way across the country. Naples wasn’t too inspiring on the cuisine front. The big meal there was Brian’s going-away fondue. Memphis has already been better. When we arrived on Monday, we went to a Creole restaurant on Beale Street: gumbo and crawfish etoufe’, delicious. Yesterday for lunch was a southern spectacular: chicken fired steak, turnip greens, bourbon carrots with mac and cheese (listed on the menu as a vegetable!). Today’s mission is barbecue. Can hardly come to Memphis and not have some. One of Sheila’s co-workers is a Memphis native and she recommended a fried chicken place not too far from the Orpheum.
There are also group trips to Graceland and Sun Studios planned for the week. Memphis also has a small trolley network. With my enjoyment of all things on rails, I’ll have to take a ride – plus it’s only $1! The Memphis presenters are also throwing two parties for us while we’re here in Memphis. Saturday is a party at a restaurant with theatre VIPs, but Sunday the members of the theatre’s guild are making us a home-cooked meal between shows. Everyone’s very excited – the Sunday meal is apparently legendary. Throw in the free pass the presenters gave to everyone for BB King’s on Beale Street, and this might make-up for all the TV watching I did in Naples.
February 14th
As everyone knew it would, Spamalot opened in Memphis last night. The audience was wildly enthusiastic – the French Taunter got a huge welcome when he popped his head out of the castle. The show was a little bit bumpy, but I’m happy to say that most of the bumps had very little to do with me! I’m sure that if I was more familiar with all aspects of running the show, I could have helped smooth things out more, but there were no epic disasters. We even incorporated two new elements to the show last night: a new Camelot Castle and “Mud Castle”. Both pieces are lighter and easier to assemble – great for when you need to load-in and load-out overnight. Once again I’m amazed at the crew – 24 hours after the truck doors opened, we were in front of an audience. This is a crazy way to make a living.
With no rehearsals this week, I can get down to the serious issue of eating my way across the country. Naples wasn’t too inspiring on the cuisine front. The big meal there was Brian’s going-away fondue. Memphis has already been better. When we arrived on Monday, we went to a Creole restaurant on Beale Street: gumbo and crawfish etoufe’, delicious. Yesterday for lunch was a southern spectacular: chicken fired steak, turnip greens, bourbon carrots with mac and cheese (listed on the menu as a vegetable!). Today’s mission is barbecue. Can hardly come to Memphis and not have some. One of Sheila’s co-workers is a Memphis native and she recommended a fried chicken place not too far from the Orpheum.
There are also group trips to Graceland and Sun Studios planned for the week. Memphis also has a small trolley network. With my enjoyment of all things on rails, I’ll have to take a ride – plus it’s only $1! The Memphis presenters are also throwing two parties for us while we’re here in Memphis. Saturday is a party at a restaurant with theatre VIPs, but Sunday the members of the theatre’s guild are making us a home-cooked meal between shows. Everyone’s very excited – the Sunday meal is apparently legendary. Throw in the free pass the presenters gave to everyone for BB King’s on Beale Street, and this might make-up for all the TV watching I did in Naples.
One of the Main Street Trolleys (they're all different and authentic antique...)
JV
5 comments:
i approve of any place that even suggests mac & cheese is a vegetable!
Ooh - this already sounds SO much better than Naples! I love all the photos already!
Love,
Your Valentine
Glad you've found some good food! And that you missed all this snow/rain!!
Thanks for the sheets ;-)
This weather is awful dude, be glad. And we were JUST talking about having mac and cheese as a vegetable in Cracker Barrel last night. Weird, man.
Jovon, this is great!! I always wondered what your job was like and now I can live vicariously. Congrats on the cool gig and thanks for your posts. I love all the details--keep 'em coming! :)
--Jen (Fanson)
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