This was the night I’ve been waiting for since our arrival in the beautiful city of Bilbao, located in the Basque region of Northern Spain.  Tonight was our first performance at the spectacular Teatro Arriaga.  After months of planning on our part and countless hours of marketing and promotion by Serrano Producciones, we had a SOLD OUT audience for the show!  It was a great way to begin our European tour!

The day started with the arrival of our team at the theatre.  As we pulled into the artist entrance, the Transluminaria truck was just in front of us.  What a welcome sight – they are transporting all of our equipment for the tour!  The truck pulled to the loading area and the crew from the theatre went straight to work unloading all the cases into the freight elevator.  Once it was on stage, the work day began.  We started with lighting, scenery, and the initial stages of setting up sound before taking a lunch break.  Alan and Chase worked on getting the illusions assembled while Jeff worked mostly with me on some lighting things.  Keith was busy getting all his gear set up.  Cindy stayed at the hotel for the morning but Josune would take me to pick her up around noon.

After a fantastic lunch (I can’t even begin to describe how delicious this food), we were back at the theatre wrapping up the details for the 7pm performance.  The crew here is very organized and hard-working.  We have two technical people who will be with us for all the shows in Spain – Miguel (audio) and Elene (lighting).  And I don’t know what I would if it were not for Josune taking such good care of us!

This afternoon, three others arrived who have been instrumental in making these performances possible: Roland (the agent who arranged the tour), Ander (the technical liaison who will be with us for the remainder of the performances in Spain), and Mr. Serrano (without whom none of this would be possible).  It was nice to meet them face-to-face after several Skype conversations and dozens and dozens of email exchanges.  Elena, the translator, arrived around 4pm and we were able to take some time and talk through several portions of the show.  She is such a professional – and great fun!

We had a bit of a push to be ready before the doors were scheduled to open at 6:30pm because I was having some difficulties with my microphone. Keith and Miguel were able to get it all worked out in time.  A few other details to settle and it was time to get started.

I’m going to post a couple of pictures here of the theatre inside – it’s just too beautiful for words.  This is the view from the stage of the seating area.

And this is the view of the ceiling.  Click the picture to watch a brief video.

When the doors opened at 6:30pm, the audience made their way to their seats and were ready for the show promptly at 7pm.  I was excited…and nervous – but mostly excited!  There was nothing more to be done except take the stage and perform.  So, that’s what we did.  And the audience was wonderful!!  We had so many good volunteers throughout the show, lots of laughter, and strong responses to the illusions.  Our interpreter, Elena, was “perfecto” and we hit a rhythm that was very comfortable.

After the show, I had the chance to meet hundreds of people in the lobby.  Photographs, autographs, shaking hands, saying “hello,” listening to their favorite moments.  I can’t think of a better way to start this tour.  THANK YOU BILBAO FOR COMING TO THE SHOW!

Tomorrow, we’re off to Santander for a press conference.  I’ll be posting pictures!