whats up shnooooozies! (thats a term that comes from the hit musical, max and ruby) this is aaron comin to you from rock hill, south carolina. a week has now gone by since hitting the road, and we have been through 9 states. yeee haw! likes thats just nuts...we're averaging over a state a day. and yet we've only done 2 and a half shows...how is any of this possssible...what are we doing....im getting paid to drive around and stay in cheap hotels....wha!? wutevs, life is random, bring it on.
so! much has happened since louisville. from louisville we drove further into kentucky, stopping in good ole bowling green! and i dont feel like writing anymore...maybe later...ha
Sunday, September 30, 2007
Thursday, September 27, 2007
my track in the show
Folks, what you’ve all been waiting for, the show itself. Max and Ruby is a delightful romp of time that airs on nickelodeon and noggin daily. It’s a series revolving around a pair of bunny siblings. The TheatreWorks show work in a similar vain. The show centers around Ruby trying to put together a show for her grandma, while max and other interruptions get in her way. That summary is all nice and good, but what you really need to know is that the show is a 45 minutes crack addicted romp of crazy times. Ruby is on stage for the whole show, and while she has no costume changes, she has to carry the whole damn thing on her back. Annie plays ruby, and she’s super rockin. But at the end of the day, the show is Lee’s. he plays max, and he may only have one word a scene, but somehow the kids watch him non-stop…not that he’s not super good, cuz he is wonderful, but its some shit is all I’m sayin. Then the rest of us (me, jojo, tricia, and Kristin) play a crazy assortment of bunnies and other random characters that come in and out of the bunny siblings day.
I’m gonna give you a sweet dose of my track at this point (if any other cast members wanna hit up their tracks, than by all means, let the world wide web know whats going on, for real for real).
I start the show as mr. barley…now lemme tell you a lil bit about old man barley. He is a 68 year old lecherous old man bunny. Not that the inspiration for this character is in any way lecherous, but the character is inspired by two Ithaca college professors, norm Johnson and greg bostwick. They both combine to create the brilliance of old man barley. On top of them, old man barley has undertones of wanting to spend alone time with the lil bunny max. that never comes across in performance, its just part of my journey is all Im sayin. Barley comes on for the opening number to look for max, and immediately after that I change into Gracie. Gracie is a saucy, sexually repressed, nerdy girl bunny scout. I have to shave everyday because of gracie, and as a result I find myself resenting her in great amounts, but alas, I put all that behind me when I take the stage, bc a true artist does not judge, but rather simply is. Blegh. Anyway, some people do happen to think that gracie is just mr. barley in disguise so he can get closer to the young bunny rabbits, but I don’t know if that rumor holds any truth…its hard to say…regardless gracie has a lot of spunk. And I look really goood in my purple dress, braids, and knee highs. Im pretty sure everyone that sees the show wants gracie. She signs the most autographs at the end of the show, and there is nothing like singing really high in my normal voice, and then having to switch over to my falsetto since the music person wrote the entire part right in my break, which was just about the sweetest thing that could have ever been done for me….its awkward is all im gonna say, but im an awkward guy, so I guess everything is working out as planned.
After gracie’s first scene is done, I make a super quick change into the alien green gorilla…he’s furry, he’s sings off key (my fault) and he has cowboy boots ☺ I like the fur and the cowboy boots. Im basically a big figment. So I come on, act like a fool for a scene and sweat my balls of and then I go off and make a 30 2nd quick quick change from hell…seriously…back to old an barley, and then I simultaneasoluy play barley and a ribbit frog at the same time, and its jus crazy is what it is. Then I jump into gracie for the sake of a set change, a change in which I take the opportunity to show some bunny leg and shake some bunny tale and provide some much needed sass. Afterward I transform into a scary tarantula. He’s super scary is all im sayin. While we were rehearsing in the studio I would watch us in the mirror (cuz we all make-up the tarantula) and every single time, pee would run down my leg. The fear gets to ya man. Anyway, we do this wicked cool tarantula number, I sing some jazz….also prolly off key…and I got claws and a head dress and the kids go nuts. Then I become gracie again and come out and we end the show in this crazy hallucinogenic acid trip, that always concludes with me not really realizing whats just happened. And then all of a sudden we’re taking the set down and moving on. Crazy really. But its got some catchy tunes and everyone gives some sweet performances. Good times all around.
I’m gonna give you a sweet dose of my track at this point (if any other cast members wanna hit up their tracks, than by all means, let the world wide web know whats going on, for real for real).
I start the show as mr. barley…now lemme tell you a lil bit about old man barley. He is a 68 year old lecherous old man bunny. Not that the inspiration for this character is in any way lecherous, but the character is inspired by two Ithaca college professors, norm Johnson and greg bostwick. They both combine to create the brilliance of old man barley. On top of them, old man barley has undertones of wanting to spend alone time with the lil bunny max. that never comes across in performance, its just part of my journey is all Im sayin. Barley comes on for the opening number to look for max, and immediately after that I change into Gracie. Gracie is a saucy, sexually repressed, nerdy girl bunny scout. I have to shave everyday because of gracie, and as a result I find myself resenting her in great amounts, but alas, I put all that behind me when I take the stage, bc a true artist does not judge, but rather simply is. Blegh. Anyway, some people do happen to think that gracie is just mr. barley in disguise so he can get closer to the young bunny rabbits, but I don’t know if that rumor holds any truth…its hard to say…regardless gracie has a lot of spunk. And I look really goood in my purple dress, braids, and knee highs. Im pretty sure everyone that sees the show wants gracie. She signs the most autographs at the end of the show, and there is nothing like singing really high in my normal voice, and then having to switch over to my falsetto since the music person wrote the entire part right in my break, which was just about the sweetest thing that could have ever been done for me….its awkward is all im gonna say, but im an awkward guy, so I guess everything is working out as planned.
After gracie’s first scene is done, I make a super quick change into the alien green gorilla…he’s furry, he’s sings off key (my fault) and he has cowboy boots ☺ I like the fur and the cowboy boots. Im basically a big figment. So I come on, act like a fool for a scene and sweat my balls of and then I go off and make a 30 2nd quick quick change from hell…seriously…back to old an barley, and then I simultaneasoluy play barley and a ribbit frog at the same time, and its jus crazy is what it is. Then I jump into gracie for the sake of a set change, a change in which I take the opportunity to show some bunny leg and shake some bunny tale and provide some much needed sass. Afterward I transform into a scary tarantula. He’s super scary is all im sayin. While we were rehearsing in the studio I would watch us in the mirror (cuz we all make-up the tarantula) and every single time, pee would run down my leg. The fear gets to ya man. Anyway, we do this wicked cool tarantula number, I sing some jazz….also prolly off key…and I got claws and a head dress and the kids go nuts. Then I become gracie again and come out and we end the show in this crazy hallucinogenic acid trip, that always concludes with me not really realizing whats just happened. And then all of a sudden we’re taking the set down and moving on. Crazy really. But its got some catchy tunes and everyone gives some sweet performances. Good times all around.
Post 2: Live from the van
O hello there. So good to see you again.a new day has dawned…trust me I was up early enough to watch the sun rise, and I am ready to continue where I left off.
Reading, pa. yeehaw
We got to reading, and put off checking into the hotel so that we could get some chow. We chose the best available option that reading had to offer, T G I Fridays. It was that or applebees and we’d had that the night before…so we figured that the Friday’s twist on bland American food would be a delightgul change of pace. (please don’t think I don’t like Friday’s…I find it to be very nice most of the time, but when chain restraints become your number one/only option for meals you find yourself missing dining hall food, and that’s pretty sickening. I almost jus wanted some ramen and meatload…eeek. So we had a lovely meal and moved on to dessert. We really wanted some DQ, cuz who wouldn’t want dairy queen blizzard to top off a thrilling day on the road. Unfortunately we couldn’t find one…those dq’s are elusive sons of bitches. Luckily, we found something way way way better (the three ways are necessary to get across just how incredible the place we found was) We came across a Dairy Swirl. Now, I don’t know how many of you know about the Dairy Swirl, but its basically ice cream heaven. They’ve begun to franchise themselves out like transvestite whores in new york city, and I was millimeters away from dropping out of the tour to open my own dairy swirl in the location of my choice…possible tempe, Arizona or perhaps boise, Idaho…but alas I couldn’t leave the joys of touring for theatreworks, no matter how exciting the prospect of owning my own dairy swirl might be (plus, I’m young, the future may still have dairy swirl ownership in store for me). So there we all were at the dairy swirl. We all were craving blizzards from the dq, but like I said, the dairy swirl was way better and they had their own take on the blizzard…the Arctic Swirl. Unreal is all I can say. I got my blizzard combo of chocolate soft serve and butterfinger topping and I was knocked off my ass with its exquisite deliciousness. Everyone got wonderful combos, but tricia almost didn’t get hers because when she ordered it, she called it a blizzard instead of an arctic swirl, and being that the dairy swirl and dairy queen are swift competitors, the works at the dairy swirl got slightly miffed that she would be so rude as to refer to the arctic swirl by its lesser step-cousin the blizzard. As we were enjoying our tasty treat at the dairy swirl, the mayor of reading made a celebrity appearance and joined us. Mayor Black (that’s what he told us his name was) was a joy and delight…truly capturing the spirit of the wonderful folk of reading. At one point we mentioned the word “rear” and all of a sudden Mayor Black become hostile. “Keep it G-Rated” He stammered, shaking in a violent rage. We certainly didn’t intend to put off the mayor of reading and his constituents, so we apologized immediately. He asked us where we were from, and we answered truthfully. “NYC BITCHES!!” and he replied “Oh, that explains it.” And then he up and left before his arctic swirl was even ready. Luckily he’d already paid so I got his arctic swirl for free. So if you’re reading this Mr. Black, mayor of Reading, PA, thank you for your hospitality and thank you for the arctic swirl. As we were leaving, we asked if there was a DQ near by, and apparently a mere half mile on down the road, we woulda found exactly what we were looking for. Oh reading! Then we hit up the econolodge, checked in, and you no about my experience there
The next day we took off for OH…..IO…woo woo. We drove lots and lots, its was super uneventful, stopped at a Q…where I got my sandwich sent through the toaster twice, cuz that’s what my awesome girlfriend taught me to do, cuz she used to work at the Q when she was a teenager. (Thanks heather dawn. I love those sandwiches double cooked) When I asked to have the sandwich sent through twice, the old haggity woman working, said, “you know, if I put it through twice, itll burn” to which I replied, “oh yeah” to which she replied, “you sure you want me to do that,” to which I replied, “OH YEAH!” then while I was waiting for it to come out, the man behind me saw how crispy my sandwich was, and he exclaimd, “oh no, I hope my sandwich isn’t that burned,” to which I replied, “don’t worry sir, I had them send mine through twice to make it that way,” to which he replied, “you can do that here,” to which I replied, “oh yeah,” and then I took my sandwich, walked away, and enjoyed its crispy deliciousness.
Our vans stopped in Wilmington, OH, but my trip continued on down to Cincinnasty! That’s right. I got to go home for the night, a wonderful unexpected treat for all involved. I got good eats, good company, and some wonderful down time with my family; not to mention the fact that my pillow smelled nothing of latex, and if there was a condom in my waste basket at home it woulda meant that somebody I know and love was getting action, and who can argue with that! Go get’em dad! And if its not yours dad, than the boy that tried to sleep with my angelic little sister better start running to a monastery cuz I’m driving a huge cargo van right now, and if I find out who you are, I’m coming for you. Bitch. Watch you back. I might even be behind you right now with a pickle… (ha made you look). Anyway, home was great. My sister had just had her gallbladder removed so I got to hug her and spend some time with her while she was stuck in bed, and I made her smile at least once which is better than nothing. Let me just take this moment to say that my sister is the absolute coolest person I know, and anyone that doesn’t know her should take the time to get to know her cuz she’s the strongest bravest person I’ve ever met and I love her very much. Ok. Serious moment over, back to the tour where I dress of like a girl bunny scout.
The next day I met the gang in kenwood, we grabbed some graters (only the worlds best ice cream) and hit the road. We headed down the lousiville, Kentucky, where we were scheduled to do a 15 minute showcase of our show for a bunch of theatre bookers. We were basically there to whore out the show and make money for the company. (the even called and asked me to make gracie extra enticing and sexy. I told them not to worry cuz I do that for the 3 year olds every day anyway so I wont have to adjust a thing) so we got to l-town, loaded in the set (which is just as fun as ever) and went and checked into the hotel. Then we saw a skyline and hit that shit up hard….mmmmm 3 coneys….heaven. And then, steve, the theatreworks rep that was there kinda in charge took out the whole cast for dinner at pf changs. It was hot shit is all im sayin. The boys coordinated there outfits, and we all wore cowboy shirts, and the girls all looked lovely and we ate our sweet asses off. Steve-o ordered every appetizer on the menu, then we all got our own entrees (I got seafood of course) and then he ordered all the desserts on the menu…not to mention we all drank as much as we wanted…I put back a few knobcreeeks…yee haw. We stuffed outrselves silly, it was kinda sick. Then we hit up home and went to bed so we could be up and in the van by 6 to go to do the whoring. We whored exceptionally well, and gracie got lots of cat calls when she made her first bunnyscout appearance. (I’m super hot in the costume, its unreal) and now we’re back on the road again headin south. Tourin is crazy times. Tensions get high sometimes, especially when rule 66 gets broken. We have lots of rules…and 66 is the hardest to keep, but I’m sure there will be a rule posting in the near future. More to come….more to come.
Reading, pa. yeehaw
We got to reading, and put off checking into the hotel so that we could get some chow. We chose the best available option that reading had to offer, T G I Fridays. It was that or applebees and we’d had that the night before…so we figured that the Friday’s twist on bland American food would be a delightgul change of pace. (please don’t think I don’t like Friday’s…I find it to be very nice most of the time, but when chain restraints become your number one/only option for meals you find yourself missing dining hall food, and that’s pretty sickening. I almost jus wanted some ramen and meatload…eeek. So we had a lovely meal and moved on to dessert. We really wanted some DQ, cuz who wouldn’t want dairy queen blizzard to top off a thrilling day on the road. Unfortunately we couldn’t find one…those dq’s are elusive sons of bitches. Luckily, we found something way way way better (the three ways are necessary to get across just how incredible the place we found was) We came across a Dairy Swirl. Now, I don’t know how many of you know about the Dairy Swirl, but its basically ice cream heaven. They’ve begun to franchise themselves out like transvestite whores in new york city, and I was millimeters away from dropping out of the tour to open my own dairy swirl in the location of my choice…possible tempe, Arizona or perhaps boise, Idaho…but alas I couldn’t leave the joys of touring for theatreworks, no matter how exciting the prospect of owning my own dairy swirl might be (plus, I’m young, the future may still have dairy swirl ownership in store for me). So there we all were at the dairy swirl. We all were craving blizzards from the dq, but like I said, the dairy swirl was way better and they had their own take on the blizzard…the Arctic Swirl. Unreal is all I can say. I got my blizzard combo of chocolate soft serve and butterfinger topping and I was knocked off my ass with its exquisite deliciousness. Everyone got wonderful combos, but tricia almost didn’t get hers because when she ordered it, she called it a blizzard instead of an arctic swirl, and being that the dairy swirl and dairy queen are swift competitors, the works at the dairy swirl got slightly miffed that she would be so rude as to refer to the arctic swirl by its lesser step-cousin the blizzard. As we were enjoying our tasty treat at the dairy swirl, the mayor of reading made a celebrity appearance and joined us. Mayor Black (that’s what he told us his name was) was a joy and delight…truly capturing the spirit of the wonderful folk of reading. At one point we mentioned the word “rear” and all of a sudden Mayor Black become hostile. “Keep it G-Rated” He stammered, shaking in a violent rage. We certainly didn’t intend to put off the mayor of reading and his constituents, so we apologized immediately. He asked us where we were from, and we answered truthfully. “NYC BITCHES!!” and he replied “Oh, that explains it.” And then he up and left before his arctic swirl was even ready. Luckily he’d already paid so I got his arctic swirl for free. So if you’re reading this Mr. Black, mayor of Reading, PA, thank you for your hospitality and thank you for the arctic swirl. As we were leaving, we asked if there was a DQ near by, and apparently a mere half mile on down the road, we woulda found exactly what we were looking for. Oh reading! Then we hit up the econolodge, checked in, and you no about my experience there
The next day we took off for OH…..IO…woo woo. We drove lots and lots, its was super uneventful, stopped at a Q…where I got my sandwich sent through the toaster twice, cuz that’s what my awesome girlfriend taught me to do, cuz she used to work at the Q when she was a teenager. (Thanks heather dawn. I love those sandwiches double cooked) When I asked to have the sandwich sent through twice, the old haggity woman working, said, “you know, if I put it through twice, itll burn” to which I replied, “oh yeah” to which she replied, “you sure you want me to do that,” to which I replied, “OH YEAH!” then while I was waiting for it to come out, the man behind me saw how crispy my sandwich was, and he exclaimd, “oh no, I hope my sandwich isn’t that burned,” to which I replied, “don’t worry sir, I had them send mine through twice to make it that way,” to which he replied, “you can do that here,” to which I replied, “oh yeah,” and then I took my sandwich, walked away, and enjoyed its crispy deliciousness.
Our vans stopped in Wilmington, OH, but my trip continued on down to Cincinnasty! That’s right. I got to go home for the night, a wonderful unexpected treat for all involved. I got good eats, good company, and some wonderful down time with my family; not to mention the fact that my pillow smelled nothing of latex, and if there was a condom in my waste basket at home it woulda meant that somebody I know and love was getting action, and who can argue with that! Go get’em dad! And if its not yours dad, than the boy that tried to sleep with my angelic little sister better start running to a monastery cuz I’m driving a huge cargo van right now, and if I find out who you are, I’m coming for you. Bitch. Watch you back. I might even be behind you right now with a pickle… (ha made you look). Anyway, home was great. My sister had just had her gallbladder removed so I got to hug her and spend some time with her while she was stuck in bed, and I made her smile at least once which is better than nothing. Let me just take this moment to say that my sister is the absolute coolest person I know, and anyone that doesn’t know her should take the time to get to know her cuz she’s the strongest bravest person I’ve ever met and I love her very much. Ok. Serious moment over, back to the tour where I dress of like a girl bunny scout.
The next day I met the gang in kenwood, we grabbed some graters (only the worlds best ice cream) and hit the road. We headed down the lousiville, Kentucky, where we were scheduled to do a 15 minute showcase of our show for a bunch of theatre bookers. We were basically there to whore out the show and make money for the company. (the even called and asked me to make gracie extra enticing and sexy. I told them not to worry cuz I do that for the 3 year olds every day anyway so I wont have to adjust a thing) so we got to l-town, loaded in the set (which is just as fun as ever) and went and checked into the hotel. Then we saw a skyline and hit that shit up hard….mmmmm 3 coneys….heaven. And then, steve, the theatreworks rep that was there kinda in charge took out the whole cast for dinner at pf changs. It was hot shit is all im sayin. The boys coordinated there outfits, and we all wore cowboy shirts, and the girls all looked lovely and we ate our sweet asses off. Steve-o ordered every appetizer on the menu, then we all got our own entrees (I got seafood of course) and then he ordered all the desserts on the menu…not to mention we all drank as much as we wanted…I put back a few knobcreeeks…yee haw. We stuffed outrselves silly, it was kinda sick. Then we hit up home and went to bed so we could be up and in the van by 6 to go to do the whoring. We whored exceptionally well, and gracie got lots of cat calls when she made her first bunnyscout appearance. (I’m super hot in the costume, its unreal) and now we’re back on the road again headin south. Tourin is crazy times. Tensions get high sometimes, especially when rule 66 gets broken. We have lots of rules…and 66 is the hardest to keep, but I’m sure there will be a rule posting in the near future. More to come….more to come.
Post 1: Live from Louisvile
Ladies and Gentlemen… the tour has begun. Max and Ruby (the blue tour, a very important distinction) is off and running. I am writing this initial post from a red roof inn in Louisville, Kentucky. It’s hard to believe I’m saying this, but I’m totally digging the comfort of what the rri has to offer. After a night in an econolodge and now this, you realize that not all 2nd rate hotel/motel/shmotels are created equal. Each has its own unique character and specialness…like the used condom in the waste basket of the econolodge. At least it was in the trash and not on my pillow. I bet betsy (the Indian maid with a furrier mustache than I could ever grow in my wildest dreams) was nice enough to remove It from my pillow to place it in the waste basket. I could be wrong about that, but I had a dream last night about being at a doctors office, and I think that is a direct result of the slight smell of latex wafting from my pillow as I had my nose buried into its incredible fluffy wonderfulness of the pillows offered by the aforementioned establishment, which led me to my incredible reasoning that the condom at one point was on my pillow…but alas w/o the proper csi equipment I will never be able to fully prove this hypothesis, and being that I don’t plan on heading back to that particlar econolodge in reading, pa, I will never know the real truth…a mystery that will have me waking up in cold sweats for years to come. Ps, when I mentioned the incredible fluffy wonderfulness of this e-lodge pillows I was trying to capture the idea of cardboard, but I feel like my adjectives weren’t accurate in providing a pinpoint description. Enough blabber, lets start from the top.
We left NYC on Monday morning at some butt early time, but the butt earliest time of all, just a middle of the road butt early time. Butt early is so butt early its neither possible or important to comprehend the exact specific time. Anyway! I took on the privelage of driving us out of ole new york city as we embarked on our journey. Being the morning person I am, I found myself nodding off quite frequently…which isn’t the best method of driving when 5 other peoples lives are in your care…but alas, that is why god created the rumble strip! (and god did in fact create the rumble strip, there was a special exhibit on it at the Creationism Museum in Cincinnati, OH, that was passed by) The exhibition was entitled The Rumble Strip: An end to stampeding tri-tops. That’s right friends, humans, which were created at the same time as dinos, were also given the rumble strip as a means of stopping stampeding dinosaurs…gosh god, you rock. O and the creationism museum is real and as in Cincinnati. Oh America…o my home town…o bengals…ooop a dooo.
So there I was driving, veering off the road, hitting the strip, jolting awake, and scaring the cast half to death…but bygolly we made it to ventor, nj…albeit wicked late. We had 45 minutes to set-up the show and get on stage…and by golly we did it! And we performed the pants off that show. (a forthcoming post on the details of the show, as well as the load-in/out will show up eventually, cuz they’re both way too brilliant to not talk about in-depth, but this particular show went jus fine. There were some real nice falls cuz the floor was slippery, but other than that it was all normal and good and stuff…and these kids absolutely go nuts. Its kinda cute in one of those aw shucks moment kinda ways.
Post show we got some eats and chilled at the beach and drove on to reading, our destination for the evening. . . yikes gotta sleep now, but ill continue after the show 2morrow morning (which is at 8) im sure ill be in a right state of mind to write at that point continuing from where’ve left off… in reading…until then…amo
We left NYC on Monday morning at some butt early time, but the butt earliest time of all, just a middle of the road butt early time. Butt early is so butt early its neither possible or important to comprehend the exact specific time. Anyway! I took on the privelage of driving us out of ole new york city as we embarked on our journey. Being the morning person I am, I found myself nodding off quite frequently…which isn’t the best method of driving when 5 other peoples lives are in your care…but alas, that is why god created the rumble strip! (and god did in fact create the rumble strip, there was a special exhibit on it at the Creationism Museum in Cincinnati, OH, that was passed by) The exhibition was entitled The Rumble Strip: An end to stampeding tri-tops. That’s right friends, humans, which were created at the same time as dinos, were also given the rumble strip as a means of stopping stampeding dinosaurs…gosh god, you rock. O and the creationism museum is real and as in Cincinnati. Oh America…o my home town…o bengals…ooop a dooo.
So there I was driving, veering off the road, hitting the strip, jolting awake, and scaring the cast half to death…but bygolly we made it to ventor, nj…albeit wicked late. We had 45 minutes to set-up the show and get on stage…and by golly we did it! And we performed the pants off that show. (a forthcoming post on the details of the show, as well as the load-in/out will show up eventually, cuz they’re both way too brilliant to not talk about in-depth, but this particular show went jus fine. There were some real nice falls cuz the floor was slippery, but other than that it was all normal and good and stuff…and these kids absolutely go nuts. Its kinda cute in one of those aw shucks moment kinda ways.
Post show we got some eats and chilled at the beach and drove on to reading, our destination for the evening. . . yikes gotta sleep now, but ill continue after the show 2morrow morning (which is at 8) im sure ill be in a right state of mind to write at that point continuing from where’ve left off… in reading…until then…amo
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