NYC Performing Arts Spaces Blog

Blogging from The Road: Providence Performing Arts Center

Posted by Courtney D. Jones, on May 13, 2010 - 0 comments

Tags: blogging from the road

The cold weather followed us to Providence, Rhode Island, as we prepared for a four-week run at the Providence Performing Arts Center during a very busy holiday season.  I was really excited to get there because it meant that my Christmas vacation was right around the corner and I was going to get to spend some time with my family and friends -- because of all this, Providence seemed like a whirlwind!

I did love the house of the Providence Performing Arts Center.  Theatres with beautiful velvet red chairs and golden accents like old movie theatres are my favorites to perform in.  The intimacy of the house and the reserved nature of the audiences sometimes played against each other.  Many times we, as performers, were concerned that the audiences might not be connecting with our characters...until the final moments of the performance.  Immediately at curtain call, the audiences were quick to reassure us that they had, in fact, enjoyed the show!

 

Despite its beauty, the Providence Performing Arts Center was a difficult house to play for many reasons, but what stands out has to be the house's faulty plumbing.  On more than one occasion, our unlucky -- but resilient -- physical therapist, Natalie Kinghorn, experienced the misfortune of having a pipe burst above her and all her equipment.  I will spare you the details and just reiterate that this was indeed a difficult house to play.

When we weren’t dodging the smell of sewer water, we were navigating our spatially-challenged dressing rooms or trying not to freeze in the gondolas since they were inconveniently located off the loading docks.  Luckily, space heaters were eventually provided.

BTW, If you go to Providence, make sure you find that Haven Bros. truck and order a milkshake -- it’s a must!

Before going to the road on this tour, I had decided to take on the task of planning my 10-year high school class reunion.  Once I was actually on the road, I quickly realized that I had maybe bitten off more than I could chew.  But it was too late to stop now, so on top of celebrating the holidays I had a lovely time organizing and attending the High School for the Performing and Visual Arts Class of 1999 Ten-Year Reunion (see photo below), as well as my sister's wedding!

 

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 has danced professionally in New York City with Jennifer Muller/The Works, among others. This is her 11th blog from the road (click "blogging from the road" in our tag cloud [right column] to see all her blogs!).

Blogging from The Road: State Theatre, Cleveland

Posted by Emily Bowles, on March 26, 2010 - 0 comments

Tags: blogging from the road

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 has danced professionally in New York City with Jennifer Muller/The Works, among others. This is her 10th blog from the road (click "blogging from the road" in our tag cloud [right column] to see all her blogs!).

 

Cleveland has an active and vital theatre community, one that is particularly impressive for a city its size.  Our cast had a great time performing for wonderful audiences and preparing for a repeat of WICKED ROCKS! at the Hannah Theatre.  Once again we had a successful evening and such a rewarding experience. 

The area surrounding the State Theatre was not the most appealing of areas, but it made up for this fact in other ways. 

 

The theatre was large, with 3,100 seats.  The lobby of the theatre was absolutely stunning, especially with its Christmas decorations.  The house was not an intimate one, meaning the audience was quite a distance from the pit, which was open.  This made it difficult at times for the actors to hear themselves or one another, and I’m sure it made for an absolute field day for our sound department.   Nonetheless the theatre did have some convenient perks, including a rehearsal space and easy-to-reach dressing and green rooms. 
 

The bitterly cold weather made sight-seeing quite difficult, but I did make it a point to visit the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame with fellow castmate Jared Zirilli. 

 

Meeting David Archuleta of American Idol fame made for a night to remember -- he stopped by to see the show after finishing his own concert performance in an adjoining theatre. 
 

I must admit I don’t have much to report from Cleveland, as I got hit with the flu bug and was out for an entire week of performances!  I did celebrate my first Thanksgiving alone (by choice). 

I received many invites from cast members who were also away from family on turkey day, but I was excited to make all my favorite dishes that my mom makes and to eat them all by myself.  I share a lot of things, but not my mom's yams!

Blogging from The Road: Denver Center for the Performing Arts

Posted by Emily Bowles, on March 8, 2010 - 0 comments

Tags: blogging from the road

Denver turned out to be a very, very busy gig.  In addition to it being a six-week run -- the longest I had done with the tour so far -- we were also raising money for Broadway Cares/Equity Fights Aids.  I happily volunteered to be a part of an amazing fundraising event called WICKED ROCKS!, which had a successful night at the Bluebird Theatre.  I am proud to say that the cast was able to raise $235,000 in Denver and Cleveland combined.  We thank you, Denver, for the generous support!

With this being our third visit to the Denver Center for the Performing Arts theatre, and with a longer run and a few snow storms, I was not sure we would have full houses every night.  But never doubt the power of the WICKED!  Even under winter weather advisories, the show must -- and did -- go on, to packed houses nightly. 

 

A wonderful thing about working on the road is getting reacquainted with people you haven’t seen for some time.  I have had the great pleasure of spending time with friends and family that I would not have been able to see if I were staying put in one city.  It’s so amazing, and Denver was no different.  While we were there, I was able to see an old high school buddy, Angela Bui, and I got to celebrate my uncle’s birthday with him and my cousin. 

 

The Denver Center for the Performing Arts was wonderfully accommodating and the theatre was easy to navigate.  I was, however, absolutely NOT prepared for the elevation- and altitude-sickness.  The company managers had warned us to take precautions: to stay hydrated and to not be afraid to use the off-stage oxygen tanks whenever we needed.  That still did not prepare me for opening night, when I was actually unable to perform due to altitude sickness.  I returned to work the next night, but had what I can only describe as the hardest performance I have ever experienced.  At one point the lack of oxygen proved too much for me.  It was impossible for me to breathe, let alone catch my breath to sing.  I would like to take this time to thank my cast for being patient with me and basically carrying me on their shoulders.

On a happier note, the beginning of the holidays arrived while we were in Denver, and I was "booed"!  For most of our run in Denver, the cast took turns secretly decorating each other’s stations with Halloween treats and ghosts and goblins.  We also attended a lovely Halloween costume party hosted for us at the Denver Performing Arts Complex.  I went as Olympic gymnast Dominique Dawes.  Thanks for the great idea, Ryan!

Although Denver was an awesome city to play, six weeks was a good while and we were all ready for a change.  See you in Cleveland!

 

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 has danced professionally in New York City with Jennifer Muller/The Works, among others. This is her ninth blog from the road (click "blogging from the road" in our tag cloud [right column] to see all her blogs!).

Blogging from The Road: Paramount Theatre, Seattle

Posted by Emily Bowles, on February 6, 2010 - 0 comments

Tags: theatre, performance space, blogging from the road

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 has danced professionally in New York City with Jennifer Muller/The Works, among others. This is her eighth blog from the road (click "blogging from the road" in our tag cloud [right column] to see all her blogs!).

 

Believe it or not, five straight weeks of sunshine in San Diego left me yearning for a gloomy day, so heading to Seattle was actually quite exciting.  The moment I stepped into downtown Seattle, I immediately felt rejuvenated.  I remember thinking if my alma mater, SUNY Purchase, were its own city, it would be downtown Seattle.  Youth groups rallying on the street, local musicians playing their music on every corner and lots of energy. 

I was so inspired by Seattle that I did something I had not done since I had been on tour.  I contacted an old professor of mine who I knew had completed his MFA in Dance at the University of Washington to find out if there were any dance studios where I could take a class as a visitor.  He referred me to a wonderful space called Velocity Dance Center (thanks, Michael!). 

Professionally, Seattle brought changes to the cast of Wicked: we said goodbye to both Myra Lucretia Taylor, who played the lovely Madame Morrible, and Lenny Wolpe, who played The Wizard (see photo of cast on their final performance).  And we welcomed Randy Dawson and Richard Kline of "Three’s Company" fame!

 

The Paramount Theatre had a lovely charm, however the backstage layout proved to be more than difficult.  With only one elevator and the women’s ensemble dressing room on the fifth floor, visits to and from the dressing room were nearly impossible.   If you did decide to wait for the elevator, you would be waiting a very long time and risked the possibility of getting trapped, which happened on more than one occasion (sorry, Shanna!).

Since we were in the “Emerald City” and had played the house before, the audiences were knowledgeable and really great.  The staff members at nearby restaurants were used to our time constraints between shows -- they showed us great respect, and got us in and out with lovely service.  I would also like to thank the Taphouse Grill for letting me celebrate my 28th birthday there with the entire cast -- we had an awesome time. 

For those who have never visited Seattle, make sure you make it down to the Pike Place Market and, although I regretfully did not make it there, don’t forget the Space Needle.  Seattle was a beautiful and exciting city to play.  Thanks, Seattle.  I will definitely be back!

Blogging from The Road: Civic Center, San Diego, CA

Posted by Emily Bowles, on October 12, 2009 - 0 comments

Tags: blogging from the road

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 has danced professionally in New York City with Jennifer Muller/The Works, among others. This is her seventh blog from the road.

 

I was VERY excited to go to California.  I had been there once before on a family vacation, but I was quite young at the time and hadn’t been since.  San Diego in August was almost unreal.  With the exception of a few random hot days, the weather was absolutely perfect every day (especially considering we had just come from Tempe, AZ temperatures!). 

 

San Diego's Civic Center was a bit challenging in some ways and convenient in others.  The challenge, as with many other theatres, was the location.  All of the theatres I have played so far have been located in the downtown areas.  Although downtown San Diego has shops, coffee houses and restaurants, which the cast absolutely enjoyed (thanks to Currant, a beautiful between-shows hot spot!), downtown areas can also prove difficult to navigate and safety can be an issue.  With that said, the cast did a great job keeping tabs on one another and making sure everyone had a walking buddy.

I was super excited that this theatre actually had a rehearsal studio on site!  Unfortunately with the exception of the opening week, a lot of other groups' rehearsals were scheduled during our run at the theatre, which meant the space was unavailable for warming up.  This was quite unfortunate since there was absolutely no other space for the dancers to really get a good warm up -- only a tiny area near the physical therapy room and on deck, which is never easy as the crew is setting up for the show.

 

San Diego's Civic Center, like the Gammage Theatre in Tempe, lacks a center aisle (this configuration is called "continental style" seating and requires some preplanning by audience members for comfort and convenience...). 

 

 

The backstage area was spacious and the dressing rooms were in close proximity with few stairs to tackle.  With the exception of the huge crowds outside the stage door after performances, this theatre was quite accommodating. 

 

I got to see some unbelievable sights while in San Diego: Coronado Beach was absolutely amazing and when our producer gave the entire company VIP passes to Universal Studios (see photo), I knew I had hit the big time!  Overall, San Diego was a pleasure to play and may be my new favorite vacation location.