Tour To Date...Part One

OK, so, as you can imagine, I have about a billion pictures to choose between to show you what's been going on in my life for the past two weeks as we've been on tour. I'll try to keep this short (ish!) (OK, since short didn't work, I've decided to just make this a two-parter! Keep your eyes peeled for part two!)

I do have to tell you a funny story before I forget it...I went to a church across the street today. It was all in Danish, so I only understood the words that sound like German or English (about half of them.) Interesting! My favorite part of the service (apart from getting to sing worship songs and have communion, of course) was the final song of the service. We sang, as a congregation, "This Little Light of Mine," in Danish (I sang in English.) And, to top it all off, we did the motions. Everyone. Including the old couple sitting beside me, and the minister in his robe and regalia! I loved it!

So, the tour: there are four of us actors, two guys, two gals. The guys are from the US, and the gals are from Scotland. The first week of tour we were in Germany near our rehearsal base in Soest. After that week we drove up to Copenhagen, Denmark! So, here are some show pictures (from week one when our director was traveling around with us.) I'll post pictures of our week in Denmark in part two!

My character in "The Weasel in the Sack," Me as the FAT brother, Marmaduke.

The brothers after having "lost" their sister whom they were planning to kill...

The brothers - in the sack! Tied up by the princess we had treated poorly her whole life as our "sister." When the children have to "tickle the sack" they tend to hit/pinch! :(

The second level play, "Future Perfect," in which I pay the main character: Jimmy Doramus. Jimmy is quite the slacker and nerd as a kid...

He imagines himself fighting crime as James Pond, and, yup, you guessed it: SUPERMAN! Yes, this is a rip away suit under which is the Superman costume. The first time we did this show (as the final invitation dress where the other tour casts were able to watch) the rip away worked a little too well - my red plastic underwear came off as well! Thankfully, they decided to put buttons instead of snaps which works much better!

By the end of the show, Jimmy becomes a rich and famous rap musician - yes, I have to rap! I also teach the kids the coffee grinder - great fun!

Tom in The Glass Menagerie "Sometimes they would turn all the lights out except for a large glass sphere that hung from the ceiling. It would turn slowly about and filter the dusk with delicate rainbow like colors."

Tom and Amanda (my mother is played by a woman who's 6 years my junior!) "What about Laura?"

Tom and Laura (This is when I come back after getting drunk and Laura comes to check on me.) "What are you doing?" "I'm looking for a door key!"

The cast of Glass Menagerie L-R: Michael (as Jim), Amy (as Amanda), Nichole (as Laura), and Me (As Tom!)

Our Glass Menagerie Set

Our trusty touring van!

The dam near our first lodging.


Another view.


This sign made me chuckle. Notice that for the next 10 ft beyond the no diving sign is a slab of concrete - NO KIDDING NO DIVING!

Stay tuned for part two, coming soon!

Howdy!

Hi folks! I just wanted to let you know that I'm doing well! I arrived in Denmark yesterday, and we have today off. We have our first show in Denmark tomorrow morning! I've got a laptop with me now, and I've got internet at our flat here in Denmark, so I should be able to upload photos and post some updates sometime soon! Love and hugs!

VERY brief update!

Hi folks!

I don't have much time to tell you what's going on, but I thought I'd send you a few sentences about life in rehearsals. I also don't have my camera cable with me, so no photos - sorry!

I just completed my second week of rehearsals, and came home to Essen to spend the weekend with Sidonie! Our tour group is doing three shows: two original pieces for children (Weasel in the Sack, and Future Perfect) and The Glass Menagerie for young adults. In Weasel, I play one of two evil brothers to the main character. My character, Marmaduke, is a fat glutton who is selfish and prideful. It's a fun show with a fairy tale feel. We climb a mountain, cross a river, fight a dragon and find out that our Cinderella-esque sister is really a princess!

In Future Perfect, I play the lead character, a boy that we see grow from 13 to 22 (both ages that are clearly still in my playing range - right? ;) Jimmy Doramus (my character) doesn't like school, so he doesn't apply himself and doesn't do very well. He tries to find work after graduation, but ends up in the packing department for a toy company: not something he anticipated. In the end, he is discovered by a movie producer, and becomes a big rap sensation (that's right, folks, I rap throughout this piece!) The moral of this story is that while Jimmy made it big without applying himself, this type of success is not common.

In Menagerie I play Tom (for those who don't know the show, that's the narrator and male lead.) This is a role I've always wanted to play, and I'm having such fun rehearsing for it! We've set the play in its original St Louis (accents and all!) This is worth mentioning because both of the women on my tour are Scottish! They're doing quite a nice job adapting to not only a foreign accent, but a dialect of a foreign accent! The other guy on tour is also American (he's from Upstate NY.) We tech on Tuesday and have an invite dress the following day! We're all looking forward to that! We have our first public performance on the 27th of October, and we'll be performing Menagerie twice that day, once in the morning and once in the evening (a rare occurrence as most of our performances are before noon!) We perform in middle and upper level schools and typically perform between one and three shows (in any arrangement) each day. We stay in one place for at least a week (sometimes up to a month.) We're usually done with work by early afternoon each day and are free until our performance the next day. We have Saturdays and Sundays off (but we often travel to a new location on Friday evenings.) We also have nearly three weeks paid leave for Christmas and about two weeks paid leave for Easter.

Our tour is for the NW portion of Germany. We'll be staying in this area for most of the 9 month contract, but we'll also be going up to Denmark, and will be performing in N German cities like Hamburg and Flensburg. My cast mates are happy that I've lived in Deutschland for a year, so that I can help when we encounter folks who don't speak English! (The other two tours are made up of actors from Australia, America, England, Scottland, and Ireland, and none of the others speak German.)

Well, I'd better get back to life here - I've got to get things ready to head back to Soest for more rehearsals tomorrow!

Love and hugs to all! Don't forget to let me know what's up on your side of the globe :D

Changes...

Howdy folks! So, I promised to let you know what came of the auditions, and here it is :).

Drumroll, please...

I have a job! Wahoo! This has been quite a journey here in Essen. We've been here a little more than seven weeks, and I've been looking for a job since then! We really didn't want to just take any old job, but we wanted to hold out for one that I would actually enjoy. Our waiting has paid off.

I had two auditions in the past couple weeks, the one with the dinner theatre I mentioned and one with the theatre that wanted me to audition for The Glass Menagerie a few weeks ago. I know, strange story gets longer! The brief version - the rehearsals for this job began a week ago. However, the guy that they had cast in the position they originally wanted me to audition for decided one week into the rehearsal process that he didn't like the job, and he went home. I got a call yesterday from one of the two theatre directors who told me the above information and asked me to come audition (their rehearsal space is about an hour away from Essen in Soest.)

The skinny is: I have booked a British Equity educational English language theatre year-long contract. I will be playing Tom in The Glass Menagerie, and two other roles in two other shows. The other shows are original works/adaptations, and one is an ensemble piece, and I'll play the lead in the other. There are four of us who will play all the roles in the three shows (two guys - both American, and two girls - both Scottish.) We will be touring around Germany and Denmark (mostly in NRW: the German state that we live in.) The great thing about that is that I'll be able to come home to Sidonie in Essen almost EVERY WEEKEND!

Because the group is a week into the four week rehearsal process, I've got quite a job ahead of me! I'll begin at 9 AM on Monday, yes, that means three days from now! Needless to say, we've got quite a lot to do here this weekend!

Well, I'll keep this short, so I won't give all the details of the audition here, but if you want to know them, just send me an email or leave a comment.

Dinner and a Show

OK, so I know I promised to write more often and I haven't...BUT, there is a reason... I've been working feverishly to get a job, and have had some interesting things happen along the way...

I have requested a bazillion other auditions in the area, and have done a ton of research, both on foot and on the internet! Some companies have responded that they are not looking to cast until next summer, but I did hear back from a dinner theatre which invited me to audition now. I had my audition this afternoon (after a very tumultuous trip there - oh the joys of public transport) and it was great fun! I did two German monologues (one from Hexenjagd - the German version of The Crucible, and a Billy Flynn monologue from Chicago.) I also sang two songs - one in German the other in English (as is expected here.) I should hear something from them within a couple weeks, or so they said before I left. I promise to let you know what comes of it! :D I'll also let you know if I hear from any of the other companies I've written.

In other news, we have found a church here. It is a very difficult thing to find a church in Germany - it's the antithesis of the States! In the States, you can find a church with people who love God and worship Him together weekly on nearly every corner. Not so here! There are plenty of poorly-attended Catholic churches, don't get me wrong, but as for finding a Protestant church with people who actually come because they love God and each other - good luck! The people at the church we found are VERY sweet, and we've had offers for rides (the church is about a 20 min walk from our flat) invitations to lunch, and even found a guy who is interested in booking us for vocal and instrumental gigs! The pastor actually studied at Christ For The Nations International in Texas! He and his wife have two kids and are super sweet. The pastor's parents are also leaders in the church, and are dolls! The first week we were there, we inadvertently sat directly behind the pastor's mom. She greeted us warmly (not so common here) and asked us where we were from. When we told her, she said (in German, of course): "Oh no, you speak German, right?" We said yes, and she said: "Not that English is bad, just that I couldn't talk to you if you couldn't speak German because I can't speak English" - so cute!

Sorry for the lack of pictures, but I do have a couple here with updates on the flat.

Our bedroom - after painting!

My bedside table - notice the cool puzzle piece I found for a Euro fifty! Also, notice the peacock feathers from Aunt Joan's peacocks!

Sidonie's bedside table decor all for about five Euros!

The guest room - I dyed these curtains along with the pillow cases from the living room, but because they're synthetic and I dyed them after the pillow cases and didn't leave them in as long, they came out this lighter color of blue to match the other decorations in the guest room!

The other half of the guest room - notice our "bookshelf!" More furniture is still to be purchased, but this sofa does fold out into a bed (hint, hint!)

For updates on Sidonie's job, check out her blog at pleaseshinedownonme.blogspot.com!

Love and hugs to all!

INTERNET AT HOME!!!

So, as you can see, we FINALLY have internet at home!  We are still doing well, and are very thankful for the necessities, like internet at our fingertips...Oh how dependent we are on technology!

Anyway...Here's the skinny on our trip to the States as well as the past 2 1/2 weeks here in Essen.

Drumroll, please!

Before flying out to the states, we got to go to Bavaria to teach workshops for the folks who introduced Sidonie to Deutschland a year ago!  It was great to get to meet them and their cutie pie of a son!

Lucas' first time drinking from "stem ware!"  Too cute!

One of the views from beautiful Kiefersfelden!

Once we arrived in Miami, we got to visit Sidonie's grandma (mom's side) who turned 97 while we were there!!!  When we asked her how old she was on this birthday, she said "a hundred and somethin'!" in her great Jamaican accent! It was wonderful to get to see her and laugh with her again!

Look at that pretty smile!

Three generations of thumbs ;)

Next, we got to visit with Sidonie's little cousins.  The two older ones (Conner and Carson) played a violin duet for us - adorable!

Us with all three of Sid's cousins' boys (Chad is the little guy!)  We also got to visit with Aunts, and grown up cousins, but the kid pictures were just so cute I had to share those ;)

We also got to meet Sidonie's highschool friend Nicole's little guy: London.  He didn't care a bit that we were trying to get him to smile - he was like "WHAT!?"

Next, we went to the Miami Beach Botanical Garden where we had gotten married three years prior!

Next door to the Botanical Garden is the WWII memorial - it's really breath-taking.

The monument itself.

After that, we, of course, had to go to the beach!!!  We were so happy to be playing in the beautiful sun, sand and waves of a FL beach once agian! :D

Other beach-goers were taking in the sand in other ways (in his case, literally ingesting it!)

Our Miami Beach PUBLIX!!!  Where Shopping is (indeed) a Pleasure!

Publix is THE BEST grocery store - we need them here in Deutschland!

They even have FREE carts (OK, so ALL American grocery stores do, but Publix is still the best!)

Miami Beach Bayside at night!

More of the same!

While in central FL, we got to visit some of our "nephews!"  Wonder where Iain gets that dimple?

Isn't he just too cute?

Cory wanted to play too, but just not right after nap time...sleepy eyes =)

Some more adorable "nephews!"  Here Joshua is warming up to Uncle Ryan whom he hadn't seen in over a year (by the end, we were fast friends, playing blocks together!)

Isn't he a doll?  Little brother Landen (now big brother Landen since little sister Lydiann was just born!)

When we got up to Tallahassee, Sid hosted a jewelry party at Mom and Dad's house (and got TONS of free jewelry too!  Re-packing for the trip home was interesting!)

My cousin's daughter, Faith, came to the party and showed me all the jewelry she liked in the catalogue as well as what everyone had worn when "Ain't Eeeeedrus" (Aunt Edress) had her party a few weeks before that! (Faith has picked up her Mom's Southern accent!)

Couldn't get him to keep still long enough for a good picture - but this is Jared (my brother) setting up for his band's last concert in Tallahassee before moving to Orlando (which we helped them do later that week.)

Sidonie, Mom, and Dad waiting for Jared's concert in the NON-AIR-CONDITIONED warehouse in the middle of the FL summer heat!  They were patiently, and warmly, waiting!

Nanny (my Grandma - who has 22 years before she catches up with Nana, Sid's Grandma!) seeing her latest great-grand for the first time!

My cousin, Tara, her husband Justin, and their baby daughter, Brionna.

She has the same stick-up hair that her mom had when we were kids!  So cute!

In addition to all the wonderful things that you've seen through the pictures, we also sorted through all our things that my parents had been storing for us and had a massive yard sale!  I got to go with Jared to his job (he teaches music at a school for developmentally disabled adults) and meet all of his awesome students - He's a great teacher, and I'm filled up with big-brother pride!  We got to see Sidonie's brothers, both of whom are doing well - her little brother is in Tallahassee at FSU, and her older brother is in Miami.  We got to visit with Sidonie's Dad and his wife in Miami.  We also got to see lots of our church family in all three cities!!!  We got to minister at my parents church in Tallahassee both Sundays we were there.  On the Saturday morning we were leaving Tallahassee to head back south, we all got to go "garage sale-ing" together - one of my favorite activities which DOESN'T happen in Deutschland!  In summary, we visited LOTS AND LOTS of great friends (not all the ones we had hoped to, but they can always come see us ;) and loving family members (ditto ;), we ate far too much yummy home cooking/cooking from restaurants we don't have here ;), and THOROUGHLY enjoyed ourselves!

Since we've been back, it's been a whirlwind of activities!  We got back on Tuesday, the 11th, and began to settle into our new apartment (which is only a 10 minute walk from Sidonie's theatre - big change from last year, huh?)  There was A LOT to do with the apartment - the former tenant thought it would be nice to leave things for us...  Some of the things were helpful, like a bed (with no crack in the middle of it!!!) and two wardrobes!!  Some of the other things he left (like seafood in the freezer, and dirty dishes in the dishwasher, among many other things) were NOT so helpful!  On Thursday, we rented a big moving truck (too big because I couldn't decide in Meters how much space we needed without seeing the truck...) and drove from here to HH!!  Yes, we had an adventurous time!  To begin with, the GPS was set to take us on no major highways - who does that!!??  Then, once we corrected that, we found that the highway was under construction.  The WHOLE way to HH!  Oh well, we made it safely, and on one tank of gas - praise the Lord!  We got our things and came back to our new home in Essen!

As for Sidonie's job, all is still well - nothing really new to report - everyone she works with is super nice, and she's having a great time!

As for my job, I've sent a couple emails to various different potential employers, but the only thing I know of at this point is that I will have an audition next week sometime for Tom in Glass Menagerie - I'll keep you posted on that!

Here are some pictures of our new apartment.  It's HUGE in comparison to our flat in Glinde.  We're really enjoying it, and are working slowly and steadily to get it set up!

We decided to go with orange and midnight blue.

It's hard to see in the picture, but I dyed the lamp shade midnight blue.  I also painted the wall - we decided to have a 2" white border around the orange, and we really like it!

This is the other side of the living room...

...with the lamp that inspired the color scheme - it's a great Tokyo night time city scape!  There are throw pillows that I also dyed midnight blue, but it's too dark to really see them...

The rest of the sofa... (you can kind of see the throw pillow here...)

Our bedroom - we decided to go grey scale and Royal Purple.

The grey scale was inspired by the white wardrobes...

...black night stands, and white bed we were "gifted!"

The entry-way "Schuheregal" (shoe shelf) - very common here.

Our dining room - we don't have any dining room furniture yet, so it's just a nice big open addition to the kitchen at the moment!

1/2 of the kitchen...

...the other 1/2 of the kitchen!  Boy, did God answer my prayer for a bigger kitchen or what?!

Our bathroom...

...we have a BIG window that looks over our downstairs neighbor's back yard...from the shower...

Speaking of  "shower," there was no real way to shower when we moved in because there was no shower curtain, and no normal way to hang one... I ended up buying a kit that mounts to the wall and fans out in a 180º semi-circle of shower - not huge, but at least we don't have to mop after showering now!!

OK, now that I've taken up your entire afternoon, (if you even made it this far ;)  I'll let you go.  I promise that I'll post more regularly now that we have internet at home again.  Love and hugs to all!

BRIEF update!

I promise I'll post something about our new life here in Essen/our month-long trip to the US soon!  We're doing well, but we don't have internet at the house yet, so I'm "having an orange juice" at the coffee shop today.  I've done that every day for the past week...I think they're catching on...

Short update:

Sidonie's rehearsals are going well!  She has had the most fun so far with her wig fitting - they're building wigs specific to each of the women's heads!!  She's beyond excited about that!

We're getting settled in slowly but surely.  We have gotten all but the guest room done.  Now, granted, that room contains all the things that we haven't gone through yet, but at least we've condensed them to ONE room, right? :D

I'm looking for work, and have met some very sweet friends here (through our friends Janin and Sven whom we met in HH) who are praying with us that God will bring the perfect job.  It looks like I'll have an audition some time soon for an educational English language theatre - they're doing The Glass Menagerie and are looking for a Tom (the lead for those who don't know the show.)

OK, that's all for now!  I've got to keep it on the DL that we're just here for the free DSL ;) ;)

Hugs all around!

P.S. We had a WONDERFUL time in the States, and are SO GLAD we got to see all of you we did, and hope to see the others soon!!  (Don't forget that I mentioned a GUEST ROOM!  Let us know when you're coming for a visit!! ;)