Good Vibes Needed

Good Vibes Needed
Sunday, June 24th

So it’s been a rough week for the Spamily. On Tuesday, Jaki (one of our dressers) was feeling so ill, that she had to go home at intermission. She continued to feel poorly and missed the shows on Wednesday and Thursday. Thursday night, during the show, Jaki was leaning out her 6th floor hotel window when she fell. She fell to the roof of the hotel’s courtyard; breaking her leg and several ribs. As of Sunday morning, she’s still in intensive care and breathing with the help of a ventilator. Surgery to put her leg back together was successful and the doctors hope to move her out of ICU early in the week. Of course, we all send her love and best wishes for a speedy recovery.

Spamalot's favorite wee-Scot: Get well soon Jak.

In happier developments:

The welcome extended by our presenters here, The Dallas Summer Musicals, could not be warmer. Each of the actors was welcomed to their dressing room with a floral arrangement and a card. The President and Managing Director greeted the Company at half-hour on Tuesday. Following Tuesday’s performance, we were all invited to an opening night party complete with food, drinks and gift bags. They offered everyone in the Company a free pass to the 6th Floor Museum and to Six Flags Over Texas. To top top it off, the volunteer guild caters in food between all of our matinee and evening shows. Yesterday it was Texas Barbeque (with peach cobbler) and this afternoon it was barbequed chicken. They really are striving to make us feel at home here in the “Big D”.

We welcomed a new company member this week. Sabra Lewis will take over the track left vacant when Jamie Karen leaves us at the end of next week. We’ve been busily rehearsing her in the afternoons and having her track the show backstage in the evenings. (Sabra was a Rockette my first years at Radio City.) After Friday’s rehearsal, Graham and I went to dinner at the Rembrandt Café. It’s owners are Dutch and wanted to bring a bit of their homeland to Dallas. We had a nice meal (I had some very tasty baked mussels and frites) and mean to go back after the show to sample their interesting beer selection.

This afternoon Mike Berg and Keith Martin introduced me to the “Triple Fudge Bourbon Brownie Ala Mode” available across the street from the theatre at the Exposition Park Café. Wow. I’m glad we have two more weeks in close proximity to this delight.

During our load-in, the Dallas Morning News was here. They interviewed several people and photographed many of our preparations for show time. (There’s an extended interview with Ken, my boss.) Some of the photos are great and the video gives you a better sense of how some of the scenery goes together than my “How We Do It” blog was able to. The link to the piece is here.

Dallas’s downtown has more after-work life in it than Houston’s. They’re farther along in getting people to live (as well as work) in the city’s center. This translates into a more welcoming experience for us! While there is still a lot of revitalization work underway downtown, there are still plenty of restaurants and late night spots near the hotel. There is also a nice grocery store and the farmers’ market is nearby. I walked over this morning and came back with some fresh peaches and strawberries and enjoyed an al fresco lunch along with my people watching. While it’s true that both of these cities spread out for miles in every direction, the piece close to our hotels is a lot more inviting. (Of course, the theatre here is driving distance from the hotels….)

I’m really looking forward to the day off tomorrow. My Aunt Melody and Uncle Colin are picking me up in the morning and taking me to the 6th Floor Museum and then out for some Tex-Mex at one of their favorite places in Dallas. It’s always fun to have someone local show you their town.

JV