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Today was our second day off from the tour, we have played about five shows, and each one has brought its own special experience.  We loaded into Mahaiwe Theatre in Great Barrington Ma, and used a pre focused dance plot, this gave me a chance to make sure I was comfortable calling the show, and it was an opportunity to play with color choices.  After our MA performance the snow began to fall and we pushed off to Albany NY.  In Albany we had a great union crew and I got to spread my wings on the full lighting package.  Naturally we hit most of the technical problems at this venue.  We learned some of the crew hired to build the show was not as skilled résumés led us to believe, and some of the aspects where built incorrectly.  Clay came to see this show, which was the first moving light show, and we danced on the stage after the house was cleared.  I sussed out many of the technical issues made a plan, and then pushed off for Albany.  IT was as Albany we decided that the show needed to be cleaned up, I made a plan with the local at Virginia Beach to help de loom the rig and I went from 4 cable trunks to 1.

Our bus is our own little home, and the people have been great to get along with.  We are all very mindful of personal space and property, and we bring war stories, laughs, songs, and dances to the table.  Every day we try to learn a new word of Russian from our to Ruski Costumer’s

At night the bus pulls out and we usually drive for about 10 hours, right now we are waiting for warren to come back and begin the push to Tulsa OK.  The sound of the engine and the geni lull most of us to sleep and the 10 of us get whisked across state lines.  Two days ago I woke up to a bay, and this morning I woke up to the great Cowpocalypse of 2011…

Luckily we had to pull off the road to fix a headlight and it put us about 5 mins behind a major big rig accident in which cows escaped a trailer and got in the way of trucks…   We passed the flaming wreckage of big rigs and the smoldering carcasses of cows and each of us grew quiet as we contemplated how lucky we had been.   We literally sat in a stand still for 4.5 hours while the crew cleaned the road up.

I have been cooking and going out with the crew and staying up late on our leather couches and I am having a blast.

Seacoast Is moving forward, and I trust that Erik is putting that show in with confidence and expertise.

 

I look forward to telling you more soon!

 

Love – me

Ok my avid readers lets dish.

I am coming to you from the king sized bed in our bed room, wrapped up in a white cabled turtle neck sweater and newspaper leggings, hiding under a pile of blankets and afghans.   The October snow on our porch roof is almost all melted and a soft scented candle from Ikea is burning on the desk.   I have my old laptop sitting next to me on its side playing Lady Gaga’s poker face off of an internet dance station, and I am popping vitamin C like its my job!

In the past few months I have been all over the New England Region, I have become the Resident Lighting Designer For Seacoast Repertory Theatre in Portsmouth Newhampshire, I landed the East Coast Lighting Design position for the Moscow Ballet’s Great Russian Nutcracker, I have designed about 10 weddings and I have programmed my schedule through Dec of 2012, in case you haven’t been following me on twitter https://twitter.com/#!/MichaelCWonson that’s a whole lot of stuff happening to me.  I have been living in Boston, Northampton and NYC, and I am very humbled by the generosity of my partner putting up with my crazy schedule, my friends for giving me beds, kitchens, and everybody’s abundant supply of unending support and love.

I am looking forward to hitting the world class theatres which are in front of me (im told, “some of the best in the nation”) and turning out a mean show every day.   Talking about every day, we are in a new city every day!  That’s two months of tour bus living people!   With that in mind I am looking around my house and thinking about the minimal things I could want to make this new living experience work.  On the list are my special soap, my pillow, popcorn, coffee, computer, headphones, cell charger, poufy jacket, and 7 days worth of clothes.  Feel free to comment and let me know if I should add anything to the list.  I am very excited to set foot on our bus and tweet out to all of you my best Lady Gaga move…

I am also looking forward to Erik Fox taking my paper designs and implementing them in two theatres while I’m on the road.   It’s humbling to know that while I am away entertaining thousands of people a night my name, ideas, and aesthetics will be going up around Boston and New Hampshire.  I am very grateful to Erik’s friendship.  Erik and I met years ago when I decided to leave grad school, and he decided to apply at North Shore Music Theatre.  We both collided and he Master Electricianed 3 of my shows, and from that moment on we have been inseparable helping each other lift to the next level of our design experience.

I am looking forward to vacationing with Clay at the end of the tour, and returning home to continue to fill the small gaps in my production schedule..  I am still trying to branch out in the Five College Region and I would love to land an Opera for next year.

 

Well kids that’s all he wrote for the moment, I really need to go finish a light plot, some paper work, and mail out color to Erik…

 

I am looking ahead to sending you weekly updates, so please stay tuned for all the crazy fun…

 

 

<3

~anon

 

ps,

see if i am coming to your city and please come and visit me… or send me trinkets

http://www.nutcracker.com/your-city