After a unexpected detour to St. Louis (big arch) to pick up my tour partner Mallory, we arrived in little Salem, Illinois last night. And as luck would have it, there's a Denny's in our hotel. In fact, they are the one's sponsoring our housing and the show. A big round of applause for the home of the Grand Slam (which I had for breakfast)! Salem is about 8,000 people and is surrounded by corn and bean fields, a small town with great people gauging from those we've already met.
Our audition today yielded our smallest cast so far, only 39 kids, compared with about 60 the other weeks. It looks like the kids will be good this week. Apparently when Mallory was taking names and phone numbers down for the kids, one kid who was no more than ten asked Mallory if she wanted her home number or her cell number. I don't remember my childhood being like that. We also asked the kids this question, "If you could bring one thing other than food or water to a deserted island, what would you bring?" I think 3-4 kids said a cellphone and at least 2 said a computer. I don't think they quite understood that there would be no infrastructure to support those devices on the island. My favorite answer this week was "A book on how to build a boat on a deserted island." Smart kid.
Salem, Illinois also happens to be the hometown of a former Tour Actor, Phillip Squibb and he happened to be visiting his folks for a couple of days and called us up. He took us out to a local lake and we did some swimming and tubing (albeit on a slowly deflating tube) and attempted to water ski. After unsuccessfully skiing several times (well I got up a few times, but couldn't manage to stay up) both Mallory and I are having difficulty maintaining a grip. Good workout for those forearms. After a great afternoon on the lake, which made the 90+ degree weather much more bearable, his folks took us out and bought us tacos! And they're going to take us out again on Wednesday! Wonderful, generous people.
As the Squibbs demonstrated, there is a kind of underground Missoula support network stretching all over the country. These are the people from the various presenting organizations who host us. They are former Tour Actors or their families. They're parents of kids who have done Missoula shows in the past. We've met these people in each town we've been in, alwasy extending graciousness and hospitality, to varying degrees, but always there. It's comforting to know that this hidden network exists, ready to lend a hand if needed. Obviously this job takes you away from your family and friends, but you get to meet many people willing to chip in a bit and help fill that void in whatever way they can.
1 comment:
You were sponsored by Denny's?? That is amazing!
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