It was a long drive across Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, and finally into Pennsylvania (all in one day) when we finally arrived in Bradford…just in time to grab dinner at the “Burgers and BBQ” joint in town for Ethan’s birthday. Ethan got a HUGE burger for dinner…we celebrated by singing happy birthday to him and hugs all around. We stopped at the local Walmart and picked up some birthday cupcakes to celebrate.
After dinner, it was back to the hotel. Sunday morning would come quickly. It was an early morning load in for a 3pm matinee performance. We arrived and, while I back the truck to the dock, the gang went into the theatre to start preparing for load in. I rarely have a problem with anyone on the local crew and the technical director, Les, had several hard workers ready to move the show into the theatre. There were a couple of guys from the local IATSE union, however, who arrived with a bit of an attitude – not eager to work or make life any easier for anyone. It wasn’t long before Les stepped in and remedied the situation. I was impressed with the way he handled it and, in the end, the day moved along much smoother.
Once the equipment rolled to the stage, everyone kicked into gear. I worked with the local guys to get some scenery in the air and to get the intelligent lighting in place. Cindy, Ethan, and Alan all concentrated on the details of the show – sound, illusions, costumes, etc. And Keith set up our light board and worked with the local sound company to make sure it all looked and sounded good.
We had a sold out audience for the show and some great volunteers on the stage. Cody, one of those volunteers, took the time to join us on Facebook and post a message:
Hell-of-a-show in Bradford today, I was up on stage with you during your segment of walking through the brick wall. Still confused how you guys pulled off some of those illusions. Good stuff!
After the show, the crew packed it all up while I got to spend some time in the lobby talking to people. It’s one of my favorite times of the day but I always feel just a bit guilty knowing everyone else is backstage working so hard. Once we were packed, we decided to drive for a couple of hours. A few hours down the road put us that much closer to home!