Tootsie on Tour: Durham, NC
**Disclaimer: The content of this post reflects my own personal views, opinions, and experiences.
This post does NOT express the views or opinions of my employer.**
Note:
Due to an ongoing family emergency, there are times where I may post less regularly or with less content.
Thank you for your understanding.
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The venue: Durham Performing Arts Center (DPAC)
(stock photos)
Covid tests to date: 9
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On Monday morning I got up super early to eat breakfast and finish packing.
Around 8am we all dragged our luggage down to the waiting charter bus.
It's been fun Buffalo, but now it's time to hit the airport and get this tour on the road.
We had two flights with a short little layover in between, which made for a pleasant trip.
I've never flown Southwest before, the planes were nice. The whole "open seating" thing was a little weird, but it did seem to me that everyone got seated a lot quicker, so maybe it works.
During the layover I checked in with family and with Jameson.
Family was doing "ok" today, for what seems like the first time in a while.
Without going into detail, I was very grateful to get updates from my sisters and aunt.
Jameson was loading into the Alexis & Jim Pugh Theatre for the first time for his production of RENT. He was understandably very nervous! There is so much to coordinate to put on a show--sound, lighting, staging, the pit, the set, the acting, the rehearsals--as a pretty basic pit musician I can't even fathom it. Jameson is capable of so much, it boggles me. I can barely think past the tip of my trombone slide, and here he is running a show himself. Is it obvious that I'm super proud of him, and excited for him? :)
If you happen to be in Orlando next week, consider going to see his show. Link is HERE.
After landing in Durham we gathered our luggage and rode a charter to the hotel, which is basically attached to the Durham PAC.
We checked in and checked out our rooms. Once again I have a lovely big room. But this time, no microwave and no full-size refrigerator.
Here is where the experimentation begins. How many groceries to get? How to cook things? Where should everything go?
Hotel living in general is new to me, and finding the most efficient or cost-effective or easiest way to do things is going to take some time. I'm intrigued to see how things will go! Already I feel like my circus background is going to pay off as far as saving space.
First I took out all of my concert blacks and hung them in the closet, because they need to look nice and be unwrinkled.
Then I set the large packing cubes of clothing on a flat surface, open but with the clothes still neatly folded inside. I'll take what I need and see what it looks like at the end of the week.
After giving the little fridge a hard look, I put on my yoga pants and took a 1.5 mile walk to Whole Foods.
The weather was gorgeous, low 70s and sunny. I love NC so much!
Here is the front of the theatre, do you see our TOOTSIE banner?
At Whole Foods I shopped much like I used to do in the circus, taking my time and asking myself, "Do you REALLY have room for that?", prioritizing high-nutrient foods, foods that I could assemble and cook quickly, foods that could be combined in multiple ways for breakfast, lunch, or dinner. I ended up with preboiled eggs, liquid egg whites, romaine lettuce, precooked 90-second rice, two small yams, enough fruit to fill a small fruit bowl, blueberries for my oatmeal + oatmeal, single-serving packets of almond butter, precooked brussels sprouts, a 4-pack of Ripple pea milk, Greek yogurt, and 1/2lb of deli turkey. Oh and a 2-gallon jug of water because to me it's worth the $2 to have good-tasting water to drink for the week.
For "extra treats" I got a few small cookies, a bar of dark chocolate, coconut water, and a bottle of Japanese green tea.
I Ubered it home because a lot of what I bought was heavy and needed refrigeration. Back in the hotel I stocked the fridge like so:
...and the shelves like so:
...with the cookies, yams, and snack-like foods being stored on a desk.
Then I got out the electric skillet and used it to boil some water for tea. It's faster than the immersion coil and hotter too.
The rest of my night was spent relaxing and doing my meal planning for the week to see if I'd bought enough, or too much.
The 1/2 pound of turkey may have been a mistake, I could have probably got by with either less of that or without the boiled eggs. I'll definitely have leftover oatmeal but oats are so light, I'm hoping to bring it along with me to the next city.
The view from my hotel room. Even when I'm feeling down, I can't help but appreciate a moment like this.
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On Tuesday morning I woke up to the sound of a train going by on the nearby tracks. Circus nostalgia.
I took the short walk to Ninth Street Bakery for a loaf of local bread.
There were lots of beautiful options, and I wanted to try them all! But I ended up settling on the "Rye Levain", advertised as "a hybrid between country bread and deli rye".
It's SO GOOD. Super-chewy, crunchy crust, and a soft pillowy inside. It's pretty tart so I think their "country bread" must be a sourdough. Anyway it's extremely good, and I'm already making plans to go back for one of their sandwiches or a pastry or something.
Now it was time to check out the skillet!
I used it to make scrambled eggs, coffee, and oatmeal on two separate days.
Here's the process, via TikTok:
TikTok by @tromboneontour
One thing about this skillet is that it doesn't cook evenly at all. I have to tilt the skillet to the side that gets hot in order for things to cook evenly. While this is not a problem for eggs or veggies, I do worry about being able to cook raw meat evenly. At some point (not this week though) I will do a test with some ground beef or turkey to ensure that I can get an even cook. If not, I might have to look into other skillet options. But for this week's purposes, it worked out just fine.
After breakfast I cleaned my dishes and got caught up with family, ate a less-involved lunch of deli turkey, romaine, pear, bread, and a Whole Foods cookie, and walked over to the theatre for our first sound check. This theatre has a deeper pit and less space for us, but it was still perfectly manageable. Any time I'm not hitting stuff with my slide it's a good space haha.
After sound check I sat outside for a bit just because it was so nice out, then went inside where I took a rare nap because I didn't feel great. Must have been tired from the stress and travel lately. When I woke up I ordered some ramen noodles from M. Kokko for dinner. I figured some warm tonkotsu broth, chewy noodles, earthy mushrooms, and fresh herbs would make me feel better. And I was right.
The show Tuesday evening went alright, pretty normal. The pit here is very deep, so our MD is lofted above us on a riser so he can see the stage because he's got to give direction to the actors as well. This meant I could no longer see his gestures or cues in person without looking completely away from my music, so I had to rely a lot on the tiny monitor clipped to my stand. It took some getting used to, and I didn't play quite as well as I would have liked. But, nothing so terrible as to be noticeable by anyone but other musicians.
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Wednesday there was only one evening show scheduled and no rehearsal, just a covid test in the evening before the show.
I got to sleep in, then tackled Oatmeal In A Skillet for breakfast, as you saw in the TikTok above.
After breakfast I had some family work to do, then a light lunch followed by meeting a friend for coffee at 9th St Bakery.
We had a good chat, and I got to try one of their scones. After that I took a walk around Durham Central Park, which was really just an empty lot with a playground but it was lovely weather and nice to be outside regardless.
The evening show went well, especially well for me, perhaps because I got some positive news from family.
Maybe stress has had a tighter grip on me than I realized, because today was I think the first show where I could actually focus my entire brainpower on playing well, as opposed to worrying about what comes next and what I could be doing to help my family and how will we get through this and blah blah blah. Other people noticed, and complemented me on my playing, which was simultaneously great and also made me feel bad that I hadn't been playing my best up until now. But I'm a human, not a robot, and there's a lot going on.
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Thursday I woke up early because my Aunt was kidnapping me!
We went for a lovely walk around a lake near her house, and talked and talked.
It was good to get a lot of things off my chest, like always when we're around each other. I hope she felt the same way, because I like to be a good listener for her. She's been through a lot in her life, and has always been a source of wisdom and guidance for me. I want to be a support for her as well.
We enjoyed lunch at La Farm, a local bakery with awesome breads and sandwiches. I had avocado toast with a fried egg on top.
Then we went to H-Mart, which is an asian grocery. I couldn't get much of course--don't want to overweight my luggage--but I did want to look for a new Zojirushi thermos. Mine has served me well for almost two years, but because of the tall and narrow design it has been very difficult to clean well, plus the rubber parts are starting to stain and wear out. I found a new one that has a wider mouth, so I should be able to clean it really well! We didn't get anything else, but I enjoyed looking at all of the things that I want to get or try someday.
Back at my Aunt's house we talked for a bit and looked at old family photos, then too soon it was time for me to get back to the hotel so I could rest a bit and get cleaned up before the show. We hugged goodbye, and she gave me a container of homemade vegetable soup, which I am so thankful to enjoy over the weekend. My Aunt is so important to me. This was a much needed day of time with her.
The evening show went well, nothing to report except that the audience had a great time.
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Friday, I had NOTHING scheduled. It was WEIRD.
I did some work for family, but not much.
It was a cloudy day, and I didn't have anywhere to go, so finished watching Midnight Mass and took a walk to Whole Foods after lunch for a few extra groceries to get me through the weekend. With prices climbing higher every day, it's actually just as affordable to eat out for every meal as it was for me to get a few groceries. But the walk was good, and this way I can avoid wasting the food I already have.
I also did some day-drinking because I had an extra single-serving bottle of red wine that I wanted to get rid of before our next jump to Tampa.
The evening show was fine, the audience was particularly into it, maybe because it was a Friday!
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Saturday, two show day. I had a meeting with family early in the morning, then enjoyed a few hours of down time before the matinee.
Both shows went well, audiences continue to have fun.
Forgot to mention, earlier in the week I found a news article stating that Ringling Brothers will be revived by Feld Entertainment in 2023.
This confirms that we have fallen off the main timeline and are in some sort of twisted parallel universe in which nothing makes sense.
During Jameson's production of RENT tonight the fire alarm went off and everyone had to evacuate.
They were able to finish the show, however.
See? Parallel universe.
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Sunday I woke up earlier than I wanted to for no reason, and made myself some oatmeal and coffee.
This being our last day in Durham, I started my packing in the afternoon and gradually packed more as the day went on.
Leaving everything in the cubes but leaving them open on a desk or countertop seems to be working for now, anyway it was a lot faster to pack thank last time. Once again I had room for everything without going overweight.
Both shows went well, nothing to report there.
Next week we are in Tampa, which for me is not deeply exciting but for others might be fun and new :)
In addition to our company-provided covid tests, we are also getting tested by the venue, so we will have something like FOUR covid tests next week! It looks like we will also get our media training, and possibly a Thursday rehearsal (although I'm kind of hoping the band will be exempt from that). The hotel is a significant walk from the theatre this time and it is still in the high 80s in FL, so I am preparing myself mentally for being a sweaty mess and/or changing clothes a lot more frequently.
The week after that, we are in Orlando! I will get to stay at home! And drive my car! And spend time with Jameson!!!
It's also a convenient time to switch out some things in my luggage that aren't totally needed. I have a few plans in that regard, but for the most part I do use everything I've brought, so it'll just be a few small items and restocking this and that. And of course I'll also need to clean the house.