We arrived in Conway on Monday night after a bit of a drive from Galesburg, IL. Our show at the Orpheum Theatre was great fun and, thankfully, a matinee. We decided to drive a few hours after that show to get a little closer to Conway. Once we checked into our hotel, we grabbed a bite to eat and got some rest…well, actually I did some work. I’m trying to wrap up our 2010/2011 Tour Schedule (and it’s looking really fun for next year!).
The next morning, we made our way to the University of Central Arkansas campus where we found the Reynolds Performance Hall – a beautiful theatre. The website for the theatre really doesn’t do this place justice – it’s a fantastic theatre! The crew met us on the stage. We had a few things to “shift” around before we could get the cases in…so we started right away to move around some of the soft goods (curtains, etc). Once that was done, all hands started hauling in the cases.
I checked with the Box Office fairly quickly to see how ticket had been selling. The answer made me smile – we were fairly close to a sold out house, almost 1100 seats! And my family (Mom, Dad, Sister and her family) and Alan’s family were also coming to the show (no pressure here). It was going to be a great day!
We had a fantastic day of set up. The crew was well organized and not afraid to work. We were able to get set up quickly, tech the show, and have a quiet dinner before the doors opened at 7pm. The stage looked really nice – it was going to be a fun show!
The audience was a nice mix of all ages – kids, adults, college students, and senior citizens. I love this kind of audience – my absolute favorite! We had some terrific volunteers on the stage that really added some excitement to the magic. And the audience was very responsive to the magic. I enjoyed working with Jerry B., the executive director, and his staff – they made us feel so comfortable and welcome. And Frank and his crew were awesome.
I’ll look forward to coming back to Conway in the future!