The long-awaited Delta House tour!

So with a little time on my hands this morning, I figured I'd get these awesome pictures of the Delta House up. And, because it's how I do...I'll probably give a little commentary as we go. So enjoy!

The picture at the top of this blog is of the Delta House from the street. The front, I suppose. This is the House from the back...pretty much by the barn you've heard about and seen already. The "front" door to the House is on the left-hand side of the this picture up a little ramp by the garbage cans. It's fun.

To the left of the "front" door, please deposit your butts. SP did his duty a week or so ago by dumping this out. Brave guy that he is.

Just inside the front door, here's the entranceway. To the left of the small bookcase there is the TV room and straight ahead is the dining area. To either side of this front door are small rooms filled with junk and random costume pieces. I'm sure there aren't any random woodland creatures in there. Can you feel the sarcasm?

Here's that aforementioned TV room. Two couches, two easy chairs, a table, and a TV. I'm sitting right where the heating pad is in this picture (the pad has been taken away) and watching "Cash Cab".

Go through the dining room and you'll get to the kitchen. It's...um...brightly colored.

Go the other way through the dining room and you'll get to the hallway leading back to three bedrooms (including SP's room). But you have to get past the crumbling ceiling to get there. That circular thing that's hanging down? It's a smoke detector. Fire laws are played fast and loose in Michigan!

Just before the crumbling ceiling there's a half-bathroom. This picture is the ceiling of that bathroom. The light works, though!

In the dining room is the fridge. At the time this picture was taken, there were four guys living here and a fifth had just left for a job in Pennsylvania. Milk, beer, assorted condiments...it's single guy livin' at it's finest!!

This is the same crumbling ceiling hallway where you can also climb these stairs to the upper six bedrooms. Join me upstairs, won't you?

At the top of the stairs is this odd little room. It has a bunch of random costume pieces on racks and jammed into sinks populating it. At the back of this picture is a doorway. Through that doorway is my "wing" of the House. Three bedrooms and a bathroom (pictures of the bathroom are located on the right-hand side of this blog).

This is the doorway. Room number 4 is off to the right. You can juuuuuuust see into my room there to the left.

This is my room! Lucky room number 5. There's a star on my bedroom door...because I'm a star! Or...something.

And here's where the magic happens. Two beds are better than one so I can sleep catty-corner like always. I like the sheet on the window so I kept it. Really helps to complete the "I'm back in college" feel of my life.

Here is a bedside table that I took from one of the other vacant rooms. Books, my ill-gotten Black Duck, and usually my computer when I'm not sitting on the couch with it.

And this is the view I have from the sheet-covered window. That road is Verona Road in lovely Battle Creek. I wish I could say that it was raining when I took this picture but the weather is ALWAYS overcast in Battle Creek. OK, that's not necessarily true. But it felt like it for a while.

So there you go. For better or worse, a little tour through the Delta House. Hope it was worth it. I'll post more later.

I promise...

I am loved!!

Accomplished today: Performed, went to a Marshall watering hole

So we're well into the run of this thing now and I guess you could say that we're starting to click. This afternoon's matinee was pretty good, actually. It was a huge crowd and they seemed to just love everything that I did. SH made a comment during intermission that I could pass gas on stage and the audience would laugh like crazy. And she wasn't too far off. They just seemed to connect with me somehow and it was pretty enjoyable.

We're all now in somewhat of a groove and the lines that are dropped are just dropped and forgotten and it's actually more of a surprise when someone remembers a long-forgotten line. So we're all just left to make this show more fun for everyone. I'm having fun with it and adding stuff as I go, but it's starting to be fun for others in the cast, too, and that's when the fun really starts. Now I get people to play with on stage! So when I do a little gesture or something to the side of the real action, maybe somebody will play on top of that and now it's a whole performance instead of people with wildly different English accents reciting lines to each other.

So maybe the first few audiences didn't get much of a show...I guess you gotta break a few eggs to make an omelet (or so they say)...but I think the remaining audiences will get a better show because of it. That's my theory, anyway. We'll see if it holds up.

It's freakin' hot up on that stage. I'm a big sweaty ugly mess by about half-way through Act I. But I couldn't do the part with any less energy. Just not possible. I have to be manic and worried and stuff and that requires a lot of energy. Add in the fact that I'm a bit of a sweater, anyway, and you've got yourself a puddle by the end of the show. Hopefully, I can get my hair cut soon and maybe that will alleviate some of the heat. Trim the beard a little bit...that might help, too. Eh, we'll see. Gotta figure something out.

Or else I'll end up melting completely in the middle of some performance come June. Yikes!

A little excitement!

Accomplished today: Watched the response of Battle Creek's finest, officially opened the big show, did laundry

So I woke up this morning and updated the blog, then went downstairs to have a little something to eat and watch SportsCenter. Which I started to do. But then trucks with lights on the top went past on the driveway, attracting my attention. I went out to the porch and towards the back of the House and...lo and behold...there was a fire in the backyard. I guess there was a small brush fire in an adjacent property and it started to get out of control somehow. It was kind of exciting but it sure did seem like overkill. At one point I counted 10 vehicles and up to 15 fire fighters on the scene. It was sort of amazing. Here...I took some pictures...


Why do I look so happy? Maybe because it's early. Maybe because I didn't sleep well. Maybe because there was a fire. Maybe I'm losing my mind and anything was going to be rather humorous. Your guess is as good as mine.

The driver of this truck was late to the fire party. So the cool fire-fighters made him park near the street and walk up the driveway. Ha! Sucka!

You can't see it, but you must trust me...there are flames out there somewhere. But the smoke is pretty thick.

This picture includes the barn so you can tell that it actually took place behind the Delta House. See all the smoke? Kinda cool, huh?

Smoke! And where there's smoke...there's a small brush fire that the Emmett Township Fire Department needed a few hours to control. Isn't that how the old saying goes?


Let's see...what else happened today? Oh, yeah. We had our very first paying audience this afternoon! A decent house, including two reviewers (or so I'm told), who seemed to laugh at most of the correct places. There were some pretty large stumbling blocks in the show, line-wise, but I have to give it to all of us. We got through it. And I think we did well. After every show, three of us have to go out to the exit doors of the house and greet the folks as they file out. Shake hands and smile nicely and stuff. And, of course, everyone said good stuff and seemed to dig it (of course, what were they going to say? You suck?) and one old lady even told me that I had a new fan in her. Which was sweet.

All-in-all, I'll give the show a positive review. Now...we'll see what the two reviewers have to say!

Oh, and I did laundry today. In the car on the way home, with some of the laundry on my lap, I started sneezing like crazy. Never before has an allergy been so obvious to me. I guess I'm allergic to the laundry detergent. Ah, well. Live and learn.

And sneeze. A lot.

This will be a marathon...not a sprint

Accomplished today: First audience!

Well, the Turkeyville crowd came out (I'll estimate about 35 people, maybe) and watched the show last night and with some hesitation I will say that I think they enjoyed it. It's always nice to have the "Friends and Family" preview to reassure us actors that everything is going to be alright and that things are funny and all that nonsense. Now, armed with a view of what the show SHOULD look and sound like (from an audience-reaction aspect), we can open this thing and work our asses off trying to get back to that response we had last night. Or better, hopefully.

It was a rough start to the show. Some lines got dropped, there was a bit too much talk of frozen pastas and such, but eventually the show got on a track and wound its way around to the end. Somehow. I can't be sure, because who keeps track of things like this in the heat of the moment, but I think I might have achieved a personal best by bailing out every one of my castmates from a point where their lines just didn't come. I'm sure I was bailed out at some point, too, but I can't think of when that might have been. But whatever. I guess we were all there for one another and the audience was laughing at all the right places. They even got ahead of us at one point when my character was about to launch into a long explanation of lies and stories and one audience member could be heard saying expectantly "Oh, no, here it comes". That, I will admit, made me feel pretty good.

The one complaint (because it's me and I HAVE to complain about something) would be that it was ungodly hot up there on stage. I was constantly wiping my face with the handkerchief I have with me onstage. Thank God I do a lot of drinking during the show (at least through Act I) or I might have passed out, what with the WOOL jacket I'm forced to wear and the fact that I'm running around like a lunatic for the better part of the act.

Anyway...here are some pictures of the set and the house and other random tidbits. I took these last night before the show.



As much of a close-up as I can get of the set. From left to right, there's a spare bedroom door, the door to the kitchen/dining room (next to stairs going up that you can't see), the bar, the entrance leading to the front door, and then the other spare bedroom.

A wider, darker view of the set to include the tables and chairs...just to prove that this is indeed dinner theater.

And a view from onstage looking out into the house.

And the poster for the show. If you look closely in the bottom right-hand corner of the poster it says "adult comedy". The story is that one of the owners of the place was in attendence last night and said to our director afterward..."It said adult comedy and it was funny as shit". High praise, I'm sure.

So that's about it for now. This afternoon we have our first paying audience and I'm sure the response will be juuuuuuuuuuust a little different. I'll let you know.

I'm not out of the woods yet...literally.

Oh, it's ON!!!

Accomplished today (since the last post): Rehearsed, grocery shopped a little, rehearsed, did run-throughs, rehearsed, and worried like crazy.

Well, so the big first audience is tonight. I'm...scared out of my mind. Since my last post, I've quite literally done nothing that isn't somehow associated with the show. Even if it's just sitting on my bed and worrying like crazy all by myself. Which I've done plenty of.

I just don't know what else can be said. SP and SH are just not getting the lines down. And in a little over 3 hours, we have an audience of Turkeyville employees to act for and it's an awful feeling being this unsure. As I've said before here, once I arrive onstage on Page 4 (or maybe 5), I'm almost never offstage and that means that I'm around and available to help out if anyone forgets a line. Don't get me wrong, I'm not AGAINST being there to help out a fellow castmember, but I am almost to the point where they are expecting me to cover for them if they go up or start jumping around the script wildly. And that upsets me. I am not an insurance policy. I have lots of stuff to do and take careof my own self. Damn...

I also don't know what more can be done. I've offered the Delta House as a line-through spot. I've sat down and worked one-on-one on scenes I'm not in or a part of, I've stayed late at rehearsals and sat there doing line-throughs for the benefit of others...I just don't know. Maybe I'm being bitter. Maybe I'm being unduly upset. But I really don't think so. Quite honestly, if I can have all my lines down and be in a comfortable position with the amount of lines I have, the two of them should be able to have all that down as well. I'm not (nor have I ever been) a line-counter but I'm sure I have to have very nearly the same number of lines as the two of them. I mean...it's now or never guys!

Anyway...here I sit. Just making myself ill with worry. Eating more than I've probably eaten all week (put together maybe!) because I'm just not sure of how this is all gonna go tonight. I'll have to stop soon, because I almost never eat very close to a show, but for now it's how I'm coping with my fear of tonight. SP is outside studying lines. Which might be helping him but doesn't help me at all. I guess if it helps him, it'll be worth it.

In the meantime...AAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!

Sadly, there isn't much else to report now. But tonight I'm sure I'll have a lot to say. So wish me luck, keep your fingers crossed, light a candle for me, and anything else you can think of. This...could get interesting.

That light at the end of the tunnel...is that freedom or an oncoming train?

Accomplished today (since the last post): Saw the gospel-type show's closing, helped with Strike, attempted a midnight line-through, ran-through the show, watched movies

So here we are. The beginning of the end. I couldn't possibly be more scared right now of what this week is going to bring. Let's start at the beginning.

OK, so I went to see the gospel-type show on its Closing Night and it was actually way better than I thought it was gonna be. Everyone was really good and just sort of threw themselves into the show, which I called a "Holy Hee Haw". There were little skits that were cute, songs about God, even a narrator-type character thanm spoke directly to the audience...Buck Ownes-style! Corn stalks in the background of the set made me think somebody was gonna come out of them at some point and give a big "saaaaaaaaa-lute!" to Antioch, Tennessee (population 549) or some such place. But it was good fun to watch them all dive in and just get it done.

The Strike went well. SP and I weren't sure if we were supposed to stay and help because we (SP, really, but me to a lesser extent) wanted to get back to Delta House and keep going over lines but we stayed for an hour or more lugging set pieces in and out and then once the really heavy lifting was done we took off. I offered the use of the Delta House to anyone in our cast who wanted to come over and run lines (my first mistake) in the hopes that would help some folks who are woefully unprepared. So after SP and I went and got some beer (my second mistake), we went back and "hosted" 2/3 of the cast in a line-through. And it was about as counter-productive as it could have been. SH, the female lead, is distracted by every little thing and give her beer and some chips and maybe a magazine or something and a new environment and she was all over the place. I actually had to become "camp-counselor Tucker" at one point (my third mistake...because it made me look like a controlling ass) and said we all needed to focus and get going on this. It worked...but only for about 10 minutes.

Anyway, after that fiasco, we all went to bed. SP was up bright and early running lines. I watched "Free Enterprise" and gave the show a quick once-over. I feel pretty good about where I am in the memorization process. I have some rough spots but it's tough for me to figure out if I just don't know them (because I know them cold in my room all by myself) or if I'm getting thrown off by OTHER people not knowing their lines in the scene. I think it might be a combination but I'm certainly not calling for line every single time. And, trust me, that's being done. It's maddening.

At 1PM we were supposed to have a line-through of Act II (the tougher of the show, line-wise) which took forever. There was a Sunday paper floating around and I made the mistake (are we keeping track? This would be #4) of starting the crossword puzzle and that seemed to open up the door for everyone to start looking through the coupon inserts and stuff, which distracted them no end. At least I knew when to put the paper aside and be a part of the scene. ARGH! I'm not saying that I was the only one who knew enough when I had to be engaged in the scene and when I could sneak a peek at the paper, but the few people who couldn't afford doing that were didn't know enough to put the paper aside and concentrate. And that's what I found most maddening. I have to try and think ahead from now on and try to be a better example. No more doing the crossword, I guess (which I have gotten about 80% of already...I'm impressed with myself!).

So after that we tried a stumble-through of the show on our new set, which is pretty cramped. But it was good to have doors where we were told doors would be and sofas and stuff. There were some issues, spacially, but it was good. The run-through...bad. We worked some stuff that sort of had to wait for the set and we were let go. SP and I returned to the Delta House, which is now exclusively ours after the two other guys left for places unknown on Sunday, and dove into our scripts. SP never let up. I looked once or twice and then watched "Fight Club".

Today we have a 2PM run-through and if that goes well, we're supposed to have the rest of the day off. Which is great. The weather looks nice and I'm all about sitting around watching TV and chatting with my Chicago peeps but I don't think that what this show needs right now is time off from the show. I would be happy if we just ran this thing three times a day for the next three days and just ran it into the ground. There's absolutely no danger in us peaking before we have an audience and it can only do us good. But there are issues with peoples' kids and who is around to watch them and blah blah blah so we might only get the one run-through in today. And if that happens it's going to take every ounce of self-control that I have not to say...something. Because something desperately needs to be said. We open this Thursday afternoon (tourist attraction = mostly matinees) and have our first audience...the owners of the place and any employee that wants to come...on Wednesday night. Some quick math tells me that that first audience is now 58 hours away. I've NEVER felt so scared of a first audience/Opening in all my life. This could potentially be a huge train wreck and I'm the one who's pretty much at the center of it.

I'm actively beginning to learn other peoples' lines so that I can help cover if the occasion should arise. I've never even considered having to do that before. Wish me luck.

In other (good) news, the Red Sox have the best record in the American League. So that's something to keep my spirits up! (---contented sigh---)

I just don't get it...

OK, I realize that I'm a large dude. I could afford to lose some weight (who couldn't), but on the other hand I don't think that I'm obnoxiously large. I'm no John Goodman, for Christ sake. I'm in fairly decent shape. And, for what it's worth, I've actually lost some weight since I've been here. Whatever.

But why is it so hard for people to find costumes for me? Weeks ago I got an e-mail asking me for my clothes sizes and I gave this woman the appropriate information. So why, when she showed up about an hour ago with costume possibilities, is everything smaller than the sizes I gave her? Did she think I was lying? Telling her that my shirt sleeve length should be a 38 when it's really a 34? What would be the point of lying LARGER than my actual size? It's just so damned frustrating. Especially after this morning's stumble-through, which was pathetically bad. ARGH!!!


(---deep breath, trying to get control of myself---)


OK, well, because I promised, here's some stuff about my character...

My character's name is Robert. He's invited by his old friend to their house for the weekend primarily so that the friend (Bernard) has an alibi while he gets together with his girlfriend while his wife is out of town. But Robert has been having an affair with Bernard's wife, Jacqueline. She decided not to go out of town...and hilarity (we hope) ensues. So Robert starts out trying to be kind of dashing but really he's a nervous guy. And as lies pile upon each other, he gets more and more nervous and fidgety and tongue-tied. He wants to do the right thing, whatever that might end up being, but he's kind of sucked into all the shenanigans by his best friend and, eventually, not wanting to get caught up in the lies that involve him and the people he cares about. It's an interesting thing to try and play. Also, it's remarkably tiring to be that nervous and fidgety for an entire show. I end up getting VERY tired early on with little time to catch my breath...as I think I mentioned here before.

So I think that's about it, I guess. I'm not in a very good mood after this morning's awful rehearsal (people still on book and unsure on entire chunks of the show, timing was off, etc, etc...) and then the costume "fitting" so I'm gonna go and see about trying to solidify some scenes and relax a little before the show tonight.

Don...I hope this was what you were sort of looking for...