Courtney Jones worked at NYCPAS as Assistant to the Director for two years before embarking on the national tour of “WICKED” as an ensemble cast member. She is a graduate of SUNY Purchase College and danced professionally in New York City with Jennifer Muller/The Works, among others. This is her second weekly blog about her experiences on the road.
Our cast was excited to be heading to Portland, Oregon. For some, it was a repeat city. Others were just happy to be in a city. Portland is beautiful, when there’s no rain. At one point, it seemed like the rain would never, ever, ever, EVER stop!
I was excited for this stop on the tour because -- after two weeks of rehearsing, shadowing, and watching -- I finally got to make my debut and put in my performance. I was also excited because they had a rehearsal space for warming up! Unfortunately, the rehearsal space was not the most convenient to get to: it required us to go out into the theatre lobby and up an elevator. Another option: there was an obscene number of stairs you could climb in order to avoid the lobby, but, really, who would want to do that? Since I get to the theatre early, I was able to sneak through the lobby, use the warm up space and take the stairs down (always easier) to get back to the backstage area. So not a total bust. And on days I didn’t feel like taking that hike, our lovely physical therapist who travels with us (aren’t we lucky) would allow me to warm up on small square carpet she would lay over a concrete floor. Thanks, Nat! Giving myself a full barre on a small piece of carpet is no easy task, but I’ll take what I can get.
Backstage had both elevator access and stairs. Naturally it was quicker to take the stairs although the stairwells were really tight. The gondola area was behind the stage and fairly accommodating. By that I mean the women were able to dress without feeling like they were completely invaded by one another. Although once we get to putting on the monkey wings and the ball gowns, things can get tricky!
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