A postcard in the local Des Moines print shop, RAYGUN, captured our feelings about the city perfectly:
A shirt there also captured the essence of the city:
It sure was a pleasant surprise on the list of cities that we are touring through.
The first things we noticed on our way to the hotel were the perfect murals for our “Mural Monday” posts. We loved how cute Des Moines’ East Village was. The theatre on the other hand was a little strange and unlike any house we’ve ever seen!
They just have one big block of multicolored seats: no rows, no mezzanine!The first night, I got a text from Emma: “Is anyone out there?” The audience just wasn’t responding to anything. Based on my unscientific observation from my post at the Merch booth, I guessed that the average age of the audience was 65. It was our lowest night for Merch sales as well, so I think it’s safe to assume that the show just wasn’t for them. The rest of the week was much better audience-wise.
The company knew that the weekend was going to be exciting because of the planned debuts of all four swings (understudies for the ensemble). They were all so well prepared and gave such great performances that Stage Management thought it would be smooth sailing to the end of the run.
However, the last show on Sunday was a stressful one for Emma and the rest of the Cast and Crew. The actress who plays Cady Heron, Danielle Wade, felt like she was loosing her voice at the beginning of the show. Stage Management had her understudy, English Bernhardt, get in hair and makeup just in case even though her understudy hadn’t rehearsed the role of Cady on stage yet; she also understudies Regina and had only rehearsed that role.
Right before intermission, Danielle let another cast member know that she didn’t think she could keep going. She came off stage at intermission and confirmed with Stage Management that she couldn’t do Act 2. English had 20 minutes during intermission to finish getting ready. She did, went out on stage, and performed brilliantly. No one could tell that English hadn’t been rehearsed. She was prepared and did a great job.
From what Emma says, it sounds like it was a terribly nerve-wracking and stressful experience for English, but it didn’t show any time she stepped out on stage. Brava to English and the rest of the Cast and Crew for rolling with the punches! You are all stars!
We’re hoping that this week in Columbus is a little less stressful. 🙂
We’ll see,
b
Have a great stress free time in Columbus and stay warm 😘