IWENTTOMAINELASTMONDAYWHAAAAAAT?!!?!?!!!!
So I went to Maine on Monday. For a party.
I didn't spread it around that I was going because I couldn't stay long enough to do any visiting at all (work at 9:15am on Wednesday morning) So to everyone in Boston, to Marthe, and to Rae, I'm sorry.
But I went to Maine! Specifically, to Monmouth because David Greenham is retiring from the Theatre at Monmouth at the end of this season. So there was a big shindig/party/drinking night party for him, and many many people from past seasons were invited to attend. So that is why I went. Because Dave is awesome and he will be missed.
My Journey (parts of which are not to be tried at home. all times are local):
-I left my apartment at 3am on Monday morning and took the red line down to the blue line, which I took out to O'Hare for my 6am flight.
-Flew JetBlue to Boston. Time in the air: 1 hour 50 minutes. Arrived on time.
-Trekked up to North Station (which was not as far out on the orange line as I thought. Boston's subway system is nowhere near as expansive as Chicago's). I noticed on the silver line that they automated an announcement that told people the bus's engine would turn off for a moment so they could switch over to/from an electric power supply. Yay for not freaking out people who have never ridden the silver line to and from the airport before! I had also forgotten that North Station was on the ground floor of the TD Banknorth Garden. I had only ever been in the building 4 times and only one of those times was for a train. The other times were for Celtic games :-) and a Globetrotter's game.
-Took Amtrak (only $19!) up to Portland. 2 hours 40 minutes.
-Got picked up by Mr. Dennis Price in his big white ford and the we drove up to Monmouth (actually we drove to Dennis's villiage, 25 minutes away from Monmouth, but we drove through Monmouth. It's weird to see the Grange off it's foundation (which is new now!) and backed another 30 yards away from the road. It was supposed to be done by now. Yeah, right - that was EVER gonna happen)
-Arrived at Dennis's new (and very nice) abode where there was time to shower, change, and heat up some delicious concoction of Robin Struck's before carting it (and several bottles of booze) over to the ski lodge. There was also time to meet Dennis's new (to me) dog, Lucy - a newfoundland, huge and gentle), his friend (and friend of Cumston Hall) Danya, and his roommate and fellow teacher, Nick.
-4:30pm, PARTAY! @ Ski Lodge, almost within spitting distance of the Price House. This place is a small, but serious ski lodge. There are snowshoe ceiling fans, old fashioned wooden skis on the walls, and a GIANT moose head over the fireplace. There were a lot of people there I didn't know, BUT I did get to see and talk with Dave and Jeri (Zach was there - he has gone through a growth spurt. He's my height, has braces and looks like the lovechild of Dave and Dennis - sorry Jeri); Rew Tippin and his fiance, Bill Van Horn, Mark Cartier, Amy Cookson, Brian Bell, Dan Bilideau, Lynne Chase, and the incomparably fabulous Dustin Tucker. Also in attendance - visiting from NYC and fashionably late - were Jeff Meyers and Mike Anthony. My favorite duo. With everyone I saw, but especially Mike & Jeff, I was reminded of Natural High #5: Running into an old friend and realizing that somethings (good or bad) never change. People I missed, who really should have been there - YOU, Mulcahys, Tor O'Brien (his parents were there though), Sally Wood and Frank Omar. I also saw several board members who's faces I recognized, but who's names I could not recall. And what fancy Monmouth party could be complete without Mrs. Melody. There was tons of food, tons of alcohol, a deck from which to watch the storm pass to the south of us, and two fabulous tribute videos to Dave, put together by this year's company. Seriously - no one is funnier than Dennis Price and Bill Van Horn. The best was listening to Dave laugh all the way through. There so many great stories from everyone and the board had all pitched in and got Dave a vacation the Stratford Festival! I've heard that Dave's replacement is wonderful and will do a great job, but Dave was one of a kind and it won't be quite the same without him. (Many of us think that family can't quit this theatre cold turkey. At least Jeri and/or Dave will continue to direct for awhile)
-By 9:30pm it was mostly the young company still in attendance (and dancing!) and that's about when Dennis, Danya and I split. (It sounds early, but seriously - the party had started at 4:30 and I was tired and drunk)
-The next morning I was awake at 5:20, in the shower by 5:30 and on my way to Portland by 6:30p - driven by a first year actor, Marie?
-Train from Portland to Boston
-Trekked across Boston to Logan Airport
-Flew American Airlines back to Chicago - time in the air 2 hours and 15 minutes. Crying baby in front of me for all of take off, who then proceeded to sleep for the rest of the trip.
-Here comes the fun part - Arrived at O'Hare and went to get on the Blue Line. Sorry, this station is closed. I'm sorry what? Go up stairs and there's a shuttle to Rosemont. .... .... .... okay. Go upstairs. There are 7 trillion people in the lobby and spilling out onto the sidewalk waiting for shuttle buses. Firetrucks along the curb and firemen are making their way through the crowd carrying all sorts of strange looking equipment. Obviously the problem with the blue line was very recent. Although I seriously considered getting a taxi, I ended up not because with everything there was to coordinate, the CTA officials did their job quickly and efficiently. I even saw one of them handing out water bottles to old ladies. I was on the 3rd shuttle to leave O'Hare and got a seat on the train that was waiting at the Rosemont blue line stop. Even though not a lot of friendships seemed to have been forged from everyone's shared adventures, there was an atmosphere of camaraderie. One visitor to the city felt it enough to ask an entire subway car for suggestions of a good Thai restaurant downtown. All in all, I was glad I waited and saved the expense of a taxi. Now, if I were getting off Amtrak at Union Station or if I had had more luggage, I would have taken a taxi. But with only one relatively light shoulder bag (no computer even), I was happy to wait.
-Arrival at home was around 7:30p, Tuesday.
It was only an overnight trip, but I'm so glad that I went. I learned that having only one shoulder bag when traveling by air is AWESOME. I made some new friends and reconnected with others. If I had more time, I would have stayed in Monmouth for a week to see all the shows and my Aunt Rae, and then I'd spend another week in Marion, while taking day trips to Boston to see my friends who are still there. Then I'd go to California and spend a week in San Diego (with a side trip to Vegas), a couple days in LA and a couple days in San Francisco. But now I'm in dreamland, where I'm not limited by funds or work schedules.
Oh and I just wanted to quickly list a couple songs that remind me of specific Theatre at Monmouth people/moments:
Gonna Make You Sweat (Everybody Dance Now) - Dusty
Leader of the Pack - Dusty
Dreamweaver - Mike Anthony
Dream Lover - the entire cast of Midsummer
Vampires Are Alive - scene change from Egypt to the manor. Really the whole set. And Rew.
Thank You For Lettin' Me Be Myself (or Mice Elf, whichever you prefer. Sung by Eddie Murphy) - The entire Irma Vep experience, but mostly the curtain call.
I didn't spread it around that I was going because I couldn't stay long enough to do any visiting at all (work at 9:15am on Wednesday morning) So to everyone in Boston, to Marthe, and to Rae, I'm sorry.
But I went to Maine! Specifically, to Monmouth because David Greenham is retiring from the Theatre at Monmouth at the end of this season. So there was a big shindig/party/drinking night party for him, and many many people from past seasons were invited to attend. So that is why I went. Because Dave is awesome and he will be missed.
My Journey (parts of which are not to be tried at home. all times are local):
-I left my apartment at 3am on Monday morning and took the red line down to the blue line, which I took out to O'Hare for my 6am flight.
-Flew JetBlue to Boston. Time in the air: 1 hour 50 minutes. Arrived on time.
-Trekked up to North Station (which was not as far out on the orange line as I thought. Boston's subway system is nowhere near as expansive as Chicago's). I noticed on the silver line that they automated an announcement that told people the bus's engine would turn off for a moment so they could switch over to/from an electric power supply. Yay for not freaking out people who have never ridden the silver line to and from the airport before! I had also forgotten that North Station was on the ground floor of the TD Banknorth Garden. I had only ever been in the building 4 times and only one of those times was for a train. The other times were for Celtic games :-) and a Globetrotter's game.
-Took Amtrak (only $19!) up to Portland. 2 hours 40 minutes.
-Got picked up by Mr. Dennis Price in his big white ford and the we drove up to Monmouth (actually we drove to Dennis's villiage, 25 minutes away from Monmouth, but we drove through Monmouth. It's weird to see the Grange off it's foundation (which is new now!) and backed another 30 yards away from the road. It was supposed to be done by now. Yeah, right - that was EVER gonna happen)
-Arrived at Dennis's new (and very nice) abode where there was time to shower, change, and heat up some delicious concoction of Robin Struck's before carting it (and several bottles of booze) over to the ski lodge. There was also time to meet Dennis's new (to me) dog, Lucy - a newfoundland, huge and gentle), his friend (and friend of Cumston Hall) Danya, and his roommate and fellow teacher, Nick.
-4:30pm, PARTAY! @ Ski Lodge, almost within spitting distance of the Price House. This place is a small, but serious ski lodge. There are snowshoe ceiling fans, old fashioned wooden skis on the walls, and a GIANT moose head over the fireplace. There were a lot of people there I didn't know, BUT I did get to see and talk with Dave and Jeri (Zach was there - he has gone through a growth spurt. He's my height, has braces and looks like the lovechild of Dave and Dennis - sorry Jeri); Rew Tippin and his fiance, Bill Van Horn, Mark Cartier, Amy Cookson, Brian Bell, Dan Bilideau, Lynne Chase, and the incomparably fabulous Dustin Tucker. Also in attendance - visiting from NYC and fashionably late - were Jeff Meyers and Mike Anthony. My favorite duo. With everyone I saw, but especially Mike & Jeff, I was reminded of Natural High #5: Running into an old friend and realizing that somethings (good or bad) never change. People I missed, who really should have been there - YOU, Mulcahys, Tor O'Brien (his parents were there though), Sally Wood and Frank Omar. I also saw several board members who's faces I recognized, but who's names I could not recall. And what fancy Monmouth party could be complete without Mrs. Melody. There was tons of food, tons of alcohol, a deck from which to watch the storm pass to the south of us, and two fabulous tribute videos to Dave, put together by this year's company. Seriously - no one is funnier than Dennis Price and Bill Van Horn. The best was listening to Dave laugh all the way through. There so many great stories from everyone and the board had all pitched in and got Dave a vacation the Stratford Festival! I've heard that Dave's replacement is wonderful and will do a great job, but Dave was one of a kind and it won't be quite the same without him. (Many of us think that family can't quit this theatre cold turkey. At least Jeri and/or Dave will continue to direct for awhile)
-By 9:30pm it was mostly the young company still in attendance (and dancing!) and that's about when Dennis, Danya and I split. (It sounds early, but seriously - the party had started at 4:30 and I was tired and drunk)
-The next morning I was awake at 5:20, in the shower by 5:30 and on my way to Portland by 6:30p - driven by a first year actor, Marie?
-Train from Portland to Boston
-Trekked across Boston to Logan Airport
-Flew American Airlines back to Chicago - time in the air 2 hours and 15 minutes. Crying baby in front of me for all of take off, who then proceeded to sleep for the rest of the trip.
-Here comes the fun part - Arrived at O'Hare and went to get on the Blue Line. Sorry, this station is closed. I'm sorry what? Go up stairs and there's a shuttle to Rosemont. .... .... .... okay. Go upstairs. There are 7 trillion people in the lobby and spilling out onto the sidewalk waiting for shuttle buses. Firetrucks along the curb and firemen are making their way through the crowd carrying all sorts of strange looking equipment. Obviously the problem with the blue line was very recent. Although I seriously considered getting a taxi, I ended up not because with everything there was to coordinate, the CTA officials did their job quickly and efficiently. I even saw one of them handing out water bottles to old ladies. I was on the 3rd shuttle to leave O'Hare and got a seat on the train that was waiting at the Rosemont blue line stop. Even though not a lot of friendships seemed to have been forged from everyone's shared adventures, there was an atmosphere of camaraderie. One visitor to the city felt it enough to ask an entire subway car for suggestions of a good Thai restaurant downtown. All in all, I was glad I waited and saved the expense of a taxi. Now, if I were getting off Amtrak at Union Station or if I had had more luggage, I would have taken a taxi. But with only one relatively light shoulder bag (no computer even), I was happy to wait.
-Arrival at home was around 7:30p, Tuesday.
It was only an overnight trip, but I'm so glad that I went. I learned that having only one shoulder bag when traveling by air is AWESOME. I made some new friends and reconnected with others. If I had more time, I would have stayed in Monmouth for a week to see all the shows and my Aunt Rae, and then I'd spend another week in Marion, while taking day trips to Boston to see my friends who are still there. Then I'd go to California and spend a week in San Diego (with a side trip to Vegas), a couple days in LA and a couple days in San Francisco. But now I'm in dreamland, where I'm not limited by funds or work schedules.
Oh and I just wanted to quickly list a couple songs that remind me of specific Theatre at Monmouth people/moments:
Gonna Make You Sweat (Everybody Dance Now) - Dusty
Leader of the Pack - Dusty
Dreamweaver - Mike Anthony
Dream Lover - the entire cast of Midsummer
Vampires Are Alive - scene change from Egypt to the manor. Really the whole set. And Rew.
Thank You For Lettin' Me Be Myself (or Mice Elf, whichever you prefer. Sung by Eddie Murphy) - The entire Irma Vep experience, but mostly the curtain call.