The Cottage Under the Banyan Tree

Tuesday, March 18th

The Kravis Center

The week in West Palm Beach was another busy one. It felt like every day was booked up. I did, however, have some really great housing for the week. I rented myself the "Coconut Palms Cottage". Francesca actually found the cottage on AlwaysOnVacation.com and passed the listing on to me. It was a tiny oasis of calm. I loved staying in my little yellow cottage under the banyan tree.

The Coconut Palms Cottage - view across the patio


As you approach the cottage from the garden path

I drove up from Miami on Monday to be at the load-in. The Kravis Center was surprisingly roomy and things went very well. Tuesday, as usual, was eaten up with more load-in and opening night. We did two shows on Wednesday. By Wednesday night, we had all had enough Spamalot. Julie Barnes arranged an impromptu trip to Sloane's ice cream (in the neighboring City Place shopping/dining/residential development). Much of the Spamily turned up for some post-show sweets.

The Spamily invades Sloan's


Jonathan and his giant ice cream cone


In addition to ice cream and candy, Sloan's offered all sorts of novelties...

Thursday afternoon was my only opening for Grapefruit League Baseball. Jupiter (15 minutes north of West Palm Beach) is the Spring Training home of the Florida Marlins and the Cardinals at Roger Dean Stadium. Matt Allen, one of our ensemble men, is a St. Louis native and big fan of the Cards so picking a game for the week was a no-brainer. Roger Dean Stadium was a nice facility (both the Cards and Marlins have minor league teams that play their seasons there), but not all that big - a little more than 7,000 seats. The Cards hosted the Mets and the game was quite the draw; the only tickets available were standing room. Fortunately, there was plenty of room and good places to stand. It was another perfect day for baseball and we had a great time. The Red Birds took the game to a tenth inning before defeating the ratty Mets.

Matt outside the ballpark in full Cardinals regalia


Jeff, JV, Piper, Patrick, Brad and Cuz along the right field line



Roger Dean Stadium

After the show on Thursday night, I invited several of the guys to the Coconut Palms Cottage to sit on the porch and enjoy some cigars. Right outside my front door was a patio as big as the cottage itself - it cried out for a party. Graham, Tony, Berg, Karl and Scott all came over for a drink and a cigar. It was a great evening of just relaxing and hanging out with the boys.

Friday we had a photo/video shoot that ate up the whole afternoon. Saturday, as usual, was a two show day. Graham and Cara hosted shot night Saturday evening. In honor of the approach of St. Patrick's Day they poured bright green "Key Lime Pie Shots". The shots were super-strong even with a topping of whipped cream and crushed graham crackers. Irish music and dancing (lead by Brian O'Brien) accompanied the drinks.

Cara and Brian dancing at shot night


Ken made a kilt from one of our Equity cots




Brian leads an Irish Dance Lesson

Sunday morning I got up early, did laundry and drove over to Palm Beach to glimpse the ocean. While West Palm Beach, where the theatre and the cottage were, was nice - Palm Beach is uber-nice. It reminded me very much of East Hampton. The streets are lined with designer boutiques in rows that, very consciously, try to maintain a small town feel. The residential streets are lined with tall hedges and you're just as likely to see a Bentley as a Volvo. I stopped at the municipal beach to dip my toes in the ocean once again. The beach was beautiful white sand dotted with all kinds of shells.

Palm Beach is one of the Atlantic nesting grounds for Loggerhead Sea Turtles. March is still a little early for the turtles to crawl ashore to dig their nests, but the town has already begun enforcing it's lights out on the beach rule. (Once they hatch, the baby turtles dig out of the nest and follow the light of the moon toward the ocean. Street lights, security lights and other man-made lights confuse the babies and lead them in-land where they often die. The mother turtles are reluctant to dig nests, wisely, on beaches with bright lights nearby. Once they hatch, the babies swim for up to a week, without stopping, to reach seaweed fields at sea!)

Piper hosted a Sunday morning brunch at her apartment near the theatre. She made an entire feast: 3 kinds of quiche, 2 varieties of stuffed french toast, 3 kinds of sausage and on and on. About a dozen of us showed up to partake al fresco. Another fun way to hang out with the Spamily outside of the theatre or the bar. Thanks, Piper for hosting.

Piper: the hostess who made the mostess


Sunday brunch under the palms

With just a Sunday matinee (the pay-off from the hateful Wednesday matinee) those of us who weren't loading out had Sunday evening free. I cast about during the early part of the week looking for something cool to do with my unusual evening off. I settled on a trip back down the shore to Fort Lauderdale and the Mai Kai. The Mai Kai opened in 1956 and has been serving up an "authentic" South Seas experience ever since. Karl, Erik and I made the 45 minute trip to enjoy tropical beverages in the Molokai Bar and it was worth the trip. The bar is decorated to resemble the interior of a sailing ship: with lanterns, rigging and sails. Many of the windows have water streaming down over them with island scenes outside that feature tiki idols, torches and giant seashells. Despite the obvious kitsch possibilities, the Mai Kai took itself very seriously. We enjoyed our pupu platter and assorted rum drinks (Karl got one served in a hollowed out pineapple) immensely. After we had our fill of rum, we made a return visit to Primanti Brothers for some french fry and cole slaw laden sandwiches to soak up the drinks.

Karl with his pineapple drink - the Pina Passion


Karl, JV and Erik: this photo was taken by one of the "lovely sarong-clad maidens" who tend the Molokai Bar (though they don't mix any drinks - that happens in a secret back room.)


Outside the Mai Kai


Erik at Primanti Bros.

Monday I drove from Florida's Atlantic Coast, across the cattle and citrus ranches that populate the dry areas in central Florida, to the Gulf Coast and the next stop on the tour: Clearwater. I passed right by Legends Field (spring training home of the 26 time World Champion New York Yankees) just as the Bronx Bombers were preparing to lay waste to the BoSox. It broke my heart not to stop, but there was yet another load-in to attend to...

The Spamalot Tour celebrated its official two year anniversary on Saturday.

The producers gave us all fleece jackets to celebrate.

Here's Suzanne modeling our gift!

The customary album of photos from the week is here.

JV