And over the walls I have wended;
I have climbed the hills of view
And looked at the world, and descended;
I have come by the highway home,
And lo, it is ended."
-Robert Frost
The final week of our tour had arrived. Its end was heralded by snow, in copious amounts. We arrived in Springfield, MA that Saturday evening, and the place already had a significant accumulation. It snowed constantly throughout the night and the entire next day. So much so that the city was half-shut down and escaping the hotel was out of the question. There was however a movie theater across the highway which we made good use of.
With all of the snow, and the storm forecast for Sunday night, we were all in high hopes of a cancellation on Monday. Myself especially since I was still recovering my voice, and an extra day of vocal rest would have been just the thing.
Alas, 'twas not to be. Sure enough, the storm was not as heavy as predicted (meteorology by Miss Cleo evidently), and those New Englanders know a thing or two about how to deal with it. This left us with a very cold, very snowy load in and performance Monday morning. It was a little tricky too because the theater didn't have a loading dock, so we had to unload the truck outside in the elements, wheel everything in through the orchestra pit and raise it up on the hydraulic lift on the apron of the stage. An atypical load in, but not too difficult. The hall itself was impressive, and very very big. All part of a distinguished downtown arts and civic complex. Exactly the kind of thing one would expect in a regal old New England town.
The show was fine, though my own performance was spotty at best. It was becoming more and more clear that my voice was not going to make it through the rest of the week. I'm sure the kids were wondering why Ichabod's voice sounded different in each scene, as I varied wildly in pitch and volume all morning. But I made it through and before long we were on the road to New Bedford, MA, where we were spending the next two days.
We drove through Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and back into Massachusetts, to the very tip of the state, through heavy traffic and wintry conditions. The area around the hotel was nice and had a lot of restaurants. We were able to eat heartily without venturing too far out into the cold.
The next morning found us at the Zeiterion Theater in downtown New Bedford. It was a great house, and they were used to running our shows. We got loaded in and prepped for the performance, and I was stressing about my voice (or lack of one). It hadn't gotten any better over the last day or so, and I did my best to get through the show anyway. This however, was the last time for me to do the full performance, as I could barely get the lines out. Croaky would be a generous estimation of my vocal quality, something more along the lines of barely audible rasping would be more accurate. I noticed during Sleepy Hollow that the audience, normally laughing and cheering Ichabod on by this point, looked terrified and confused about why I was even on stage. Ichabod had gone from endearing goofy fop to creepy old man with speech problems, and it certainly was not working in the context of the show.
I finished the show that day and had a sit down with Erin about what we should do, since it was obvious to everyone this could not go on much longer. She had talked to the office and they decided I should continue playing Ichabod to finish the week, but that Nate (who was understudying the male roles) would go on for me in the second act for the rest of the week. I would also be on vocal rest (no talking outside of the show), until further notice.
This was a great relief for me, and terrifying for the rest of the cast, since Nate had had zero rehearsal time thus far for any of the three roles he would now be playing. Also scary for Nate (obviously) who had thought he would make it through the whole tour without having to jump in. Since we didn't have to load out that day, as we were playing the same venue on the morrow, we had a quick understudy rehearsal for Nate, and led him through the blocking. He picked it up rather quickly, and by the end of the rehearsal we all had high hopes for the next day's adventure.
At this point we decided to go relax and see the sights of New Bedford. Though a lot of us did not know it, New Bedford had been the epicenter of the whaling industry in the 19th century. It was home to Herman Melville and Frederick Douglas and many other famous American icons. And there was an amazing whaling museum in the historical district withing walking distance of the theater.
We ate lunch at an amazing little cafe with really great organic sandwiches and soups. I had fun trying to order and communicate via notepad and pen. Some people thought it was cute, some people thought I was deaf, and my fellow cast members couldn't resist asking me lots of questions they knew I couldn't answer, and interpreting my muppet-like gesticulations completely inaccurately. It made for ridiculous hijinks over the last few days of the tour.
The whaling museum was really cool. They had a 60ft humpback whale skeleton hanging in the main entry hall, and a full-sized whaling ship in a back room. There were all kinds of interactive exhibits and lots of great whale facts. We played on the ship and marveled at the intricate scrim-shaw trinkets that many a whaler had carved for his sweetheart. The building was situated right on the harbor and you could look from the second story deck/balcony at the ships coming and going. For most of us it was all so new and different than where we grew up or what we were used to. Only Nate (aka Captain New England), who had worked on a historical longship as a historian and knew the words to every sea shanty was unfazed. He pointed out lots of interesting facts about sea life and whaling vessels, and could answer any question we had.
The next day we geared up for our second performance at the Zeiterion. This was Nate's big day and we were all a little jittery. I played Ichabod again, and it was getting worse with each day. But thankfully it was over quickly and then came the moment of truth: Nate had to start off Act II with a curtain speech and then play three roles, which he had not rehearsed more than twenty minutes. When I came offstage as Ichabod, I helped Nate put on the Factory Man getup (wig, mutton chops, mustache) and went with him back up to the stage . . .
. . . then the lights came up and he was on. And he NAILED it! He rocked right through the intro without missing a beat, and headed backstage. I was watching from the wings, exuberant, as the show continued on as if nothing at all was out of the ordinary. Nate soared effortlessly through The Monkey's Paw (Factory Man), The Necklace (Bernard) and The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County (Smiley), hardly missing a line. The rest of the cast helped him as much as possible with the blocking too, giving him a nudge on the elbow if he needed to step up a level or me whispering for him to enter upstage instead of down, etc. But after an hour the whole thing was over and we had made it through, due to Nate's rockstar understudying and everyone's hard work.
We were all tremendously proud of him, and in excellent spirits as we loaded out and headed up the coast to our final stop on the tour, Concord, New Hampshire. Now this little jaunt, should have been a quick two hours. And after all the traveling we had done thus far, we were just fine with our last travel day being truncated.
Not so! Not so! Sure enough the snow storm that had been looming all week finally broke over our heads. It had been snowing off and on all week, and there was already a healthy covering of snowfall, but this was the real deal. After about thirty minutes on teh road, the storm made for slow going. Add in to that mix rush hour traffic around Boston, and we were going nowhere fast. Our two hour quick trip became a five hour, congested, snowy saga. When we finally reached the Comfort Inn in Concord, we were all beat. The week had taken its toll on all of us, and the episode with inserting Nate into the show had been stressful as well. I was feeling even worse than I had earlier in the week, and was positive I would not be able to perform the next day at all.
The hotel was nice, with spacious rooms and a cozy lobby. It had an indoor pool and hot tub and was the perfect place to relax while waiting out the storm that evening. We were scheduled to be there for two nights, and could not have picked better accommodations for the current situation.
Its funny how sometimes the universe works in your favor. We were all exhausted, and most of us just ready for the tour to be over. With the end in sight, and only two performances left, all any of us wanted was to be done. And although Nate had done a great job that morning in the show, we were not too keen about him having to go on for me as Ichabod as well, as the staging and lines were much more complex. Given our collective mood and phyiscal state, it came as an enormous blessing the next morning, when Erin called us to say that the day's show had been canceled.
Turns out Concord had received over a foot of snowfall that night, on top of the four inches that had already accumulated. This proved to be too much for even the New Englander's to deal with, and so all the area schools were canceling, and most businesses were either delayed or not opening either. It was as if the entire world had taken a day off to hibernate. Thinking back to Sunday night when we had all hoped so earnestly for a snow day, and didn't receive it, made it that much better on Thursday when we really needed it. As the song says, 'if you try sometimes, you might find, you get what you need.'
On our day off, after celebrating ridiculously for about twenty minutes of whooping and hollering, we mostly took it easy. We enjoyed a leisurely breakfast at the hotel (not rushed for once), and watched the news, which was interspersed every five minutes or so with campaign ads from one of the presidential candidates. This was our first stop in one of the primary states, and you could feel it immediately.
Then we piled in to the van, to see what we could see of Concord. I had the gang drop me off at a walk-in clinic so I could get some help fighting my cold. Everyone else went to a bookstore and hung out while enjoying the snowy landscapes. A bit later they picked me up, antibiotics in tow, and we all headed to The Common Man, a wonderful New England soul food restaurant that Kate knew of from her last tour. It was located in a renovated victorian house and was completely decked out for the holidays. There were two different levels of wood paneling, Christmas lights, great food and good cheer. We ate heartily, and made the most of the cozy atmosphere.
The day passed lazily, and it was great to have one last bubble of free time together before the whole thing came to a close.
The next day, Friday, was a long one. On top of the regular performance we had to drive back to Boston, and divide the truck/van to different locations to unload the sets, costumes, and electrics. With all that in mind, the final performance had a sort of inevitability about it. I went on as Ichabod one last time. Still had the funny voice, but I managed to get a little more character out of it. Nate went on again for me in the second act and did a marvelous job again. The rest of the performance went as usual, and by the time the curtain came down for the last time, we were all focused on getting the rest of the day's tasks out of the way.
We did a reverse load of the truck in order to facilitate the drop-off schedule. And once we had everything loaded up, we grabbed some lunch and headed to Boston for the final leg of our journey. We hit some really bad traffic coming in to the city, and on top of that had trouble finding the costume shop. The truck (with Kate, Peter, and Martin at the helm) headed to south Boston to return the set and the electrics. By the time we dropped off the costumes, they were unloading the electrics, and we were supposed to meet them on the south side to help unload the set.
Unfortunately, with the traffic and the mapquest (curses!) we got a little misdirected, and ended up lost or held up for the better part of two hours. When we finally got down to the right part of town, those three troopers had already unloaded everything and told us to meet them at the rehearsal space at good 'ole Uphams Corner.
So we rendezvoused in Dorchester one last time, and carried all the tour effects up the four flights of stairs. After taking stock of all the tour trappings, and getting the van in order (had to make Matilda respectable, before we said goodbye to her), we finally headed to the Holiday Inn, where we would spend our last night before traveling out the following morning.
Brent left that night. His girlfriend Liz came and picked him up, to take him back to Harvard Square, and then on to Detroit to see his family the next day. We saw him off, and were glad to finally meet her.
Kate's fiance Evan arrived that night as well. We had met up with him a number of times throughout the tour, and were glad to see him again, as was Kate of course.
The other three companies, who had been touring other parts of the country all converged on the hotel as well. We all ended up hanging out together and swapping tour stories. It was a lot of fun to meet others who had been through a very similar, and yet very different experience over the last few months. But as a result of the long day, most of us were pretty beat, and before long the revels were at an end.
At breakfast the next morning we said goodbye. Martin had already check out and headed home. Kate was the first to leave, driving with Evan back to D.C. Next came Meg, picked up by her mom and driving back to Connecticut. Finally Nate's girlfriend Liz picked the rest of us up, driving Peter and I to the train station, Erin on to catch a plane, and then she and Nate went back to Quincy, MA where the two of them live. Peter and I caught the Chinatown bus to NYC, and parted company on Canal street.
Thus came our fellowship to an end and so is the final chapter of Ichabod and the Barnstormers concluded. After four months, 52 performances and over 16,000 miles the journey was complete. It had been an incredible ride, filled with new places, beautiful landscapes, and unforgettable experiences. Miraculously we had managed to go the entire way without killing one another, and generally got along like 8 peas in a pod. Looking back over the fifteen entries in this blog, its incredible to me how much of the country we saw, and all the incredible memories we shared together.
Touring will teach you a lot about yourself, about your limits, and your personal boundaries. And while I'm not ready to go out on the road anytime soon, I definitely think I would like to tour again someday. Either way, I feel blessed to have shared this experience with such an amazing and talented group of people, and would feel privileged to storm the boards with them again any time.
But for now the Windy City awaits. I've set aside the wig and the false nose, the cravat and the khaki hose, and am going back to what I know. The winds of change are blowing strong in this new year, and I would wish for you all that they send lots of joy, success, love, and a bit of luck your way. With that I leave you, faithful reader, with the promise of more breathtaking performances from our brilliant Barnstormers, on stages from New York, to Chicago, to D.C. and everywhere in between.
Audentes Fortunas Juvat
Be bold. Live well.
Until next time, I remain very truly yours,
-ICHABOD
