Dallas, TX

Dallas, TX
Tuesday, June 19th

So, I had sort of forgotten that I am working for the National Touring Company of Monty Python's Spamalot. It all came back to me on Sunday night when it came time to pack up the show and move up the street to Dallas.


We're loading into the Music Hall at Fair Park today. The Music Hall opened in 1925 on the Texas State Fairgrounds. Yet again, the architecture is Moorish-inspired. The building was renovated in 1972 (a couple of restaurants and a new lobby were added) obscuring most of the original building. Still, at 3,400 seats, it's an impressive venue. It's smallish on-stage with a spacious loading dock tacked on upstage to give us enough room to layout the show. The dressing rooms flank the stage with two levels on either side. The 1970's addition (loading dock, dressing rooms, green room) is sort of charmless - more like a high school or YMCA (Francesca's impression).

The Music Hall

The really cool part about the place is that it sits on Fair Park, home to the Cotton Bowl and the Texas State Fair. While the fair doesn't get going until September, the grounds are still neat. Most of the place is built in the Art Deco style. It seems like it would be a cool place to hang out when it's all decked out for fair-time. (The 1962 movie of State Fair was actually filmed here.) The centerpiece at fair-time is "Big Tex" a 52' tall cowboy (he wears a 75 gallon hat and size 70 cowboy boots). Sadly, they only put him up for the fair (as his cloths are real) so I can only imagine how cool he must be. If you go to the Texas State Fair's website http://www.bigtex.com/aboutus/history/bigtexhistory/ you can "hear big Tex."

I'm glad for the change of scenery (4 weeks in Houston was enough). I'm planning a trip to see the Rangers take on the Cubs this week, my Aunt and Uncle are going to show me around on Monday, and Sheila Marie's coming to town to celebrate the 4th of July. Plenty to keep me occupied for the next three weeks in Dallas!

JV