Ladies at our opening night in Minneapolis
We've made it all the way to State College, Pennsylvania by way of Toronto, Detroit, Boston, Raleigh, Chicago, and Minneapolis. To sum it up briefly: Toronto was cooooold but we had a lot of fun; Detroit was much more friendly than we had expected; Boston was so cool to explore and had great food; Raleigh was nice and relaxing; Chicago was wonderful and I had my first real deep dish pizza there; and Minneapolis was confusing with it's skyway but gave us some of the best audiences yet! Now we're in the home of Dan Gleason's alma mater. We opened to a pretty big but polite crowd on Tuesday, and last night we had a great, loud audience for closing. That's right, only two shows and now we're off to St. Louis!
To help me get the ball rolling, I asked people on twitter if there was anything they wanted to know, so here we go...
@cgtheatregeek - "What are your fav and least fav parts about being on the road all the time?"
+ I love being able to travel to so many places I've never been before, and I'm a big foodie so I love to see what the local favorites are! Least favorite part would maybe be living out of a suitcase and trying to keep it under 50 lbs. It's also tricky to eat well sometimes, depending on the area we're staying.
@whatsername43 - "favorite things about the tour and playing extraordinary girl :D"
+ The company I keep is one of my favorite things about tour. Cast, crew, everyone... all so cool. My favorite thing about playing Ex Girl is probably that once I "become" her, I get to take a little break backstage! The first half of my show is dance/sweat/sing/sweat more. It's nice to finally take a breather after I fly.
@alyson_leonard - "Have there been any big stand-out moments for you that have happened while on tour? What has been your favorite stop so far?"
+ There have been a couple not so great stand-out moments involving flying... I guess it can get weird going from city to city, dealing with different power sources and new dressers. There was one time in maybe Boston (?) when Scott's mic fell off his head and I somehow got it back on to a degree, I felt like a hero :) And last week we had a huge fiasco... for anyone who saw the Sunday matinee on the 26th, just know that you didn't see, or hear for that matter, what the flight was intended to be.
On that note, there have been lots of great stand-out moments as well! On our travel day out of Raleigh, all the girls decided to dress like "elegant ladies". We got some interesting looks at the airport. Being on TV for the new year's eve celebration in Canada as soooo much fun! Looking out over Chicago from the Willis Tower was really incredible. Lots of good moments so far.
I've liked different thing about each city we've been to, but I'd say that so far Chicago may have been my favorite stop so far because...
@NikkiRandom1 - "how it was being in Chicago & what was your favorite thing being in Chicago for the 2 weeks?"
+ ...One, we were there for more than a week! I actually got to unpack my suitcase and have a whole free day. Also, my boyfriend was able to be there for a few days including Valentines day <3 and we got to explore together. And also, deep dish pizza!
@armedwithlysol - "...how do you feel about fangirl stalkers at your shows?"
+ Haha, I love talking to fans after the shows!
@armedwithlysol - "Please also finally confirm the cast vote for best deep dish Chicago pizza. What's the best thing you ate on tour?"
+ I don't know about the whole cast, but I dined at Lou Malnati's and Pizzeria Due (because Pizzeria Uno was too packed) and I'd have to say that while Due was nice, The "Lou" at Lou Malnati's has my vote. Wow. Wow. Like, really.
@armedwithlysol - "Legit: How'd your pilot audition go? How do you find time to audition on the road? Also, how do you guys choose roomies?"
+ The audition went great! My manager in Los Angeles got me the audition, it was just lucky that they happened to have a big casting office in Chicago. Several other people from the cast auditioned for the project as well!
As for roommates, most of the cast opts to have their own room, but once in a while Krystina, Jillian and I will choose to room together for a little extra per diem. Sometimes it's every other city, it just kind of happens.
@IdiotOnTourFan - "So much has happened since your last post, would love to hear some highlights! What's a typical day like?"
+ A typical day... generally most of us sleep in, then get some food. Maybe a trip to the gym for the muscle twins (Vince and Dan), and maybe a little exploring, more eating, often a lot of relaxing. We get to the theatre an hour before showtime (plus 15 mins for whoever is doing flight call) to warm up and get ready, do the show, then have dinner and sometimes go out for drinks.
@evan71788 - "can we get a video please?"
+ As a matter of fact, I'm working on one now, I'll put it up as soon as it's done :)
Well that was fun! I love answering questions you guys have so keep 'em coming. And I mean it this time, I will try to blog more often!!
I saw the tour for the first time last week and I couldn't help noticing that there are less cast members than on Broadway, especially with Jillian being the only female swing. I can't help wondering if (god forbid) something like food poisoning or sickness takes out like Gabrielle, Krystina and Taila, what would happen? I mean, would the show go on without a Whatsername or with only four girls?
ReplyDeleteSo, I saw this down in Raleigh, and I was pleasantly surprised. Since it was the touring cast, and not the original, I was somewhat skeptical as to whether the talent would be up to par, but I was not let down. The night before we traveled down to Raleigh, I stayed up watching videos on youtube. I had already seen the one of you guys called something like, “First Week Of Rehearsal.” I re-watched that and decided to choose one of you guys to research. I chose you Nicci. You fascinated me. I had recently read that you had played Mimi in RENT, one of my favorite musicals. I youtubed you in rehearsals, and that was when I knew that I was going to love this show whether it be the tour cast or original cast. Thank you for an amazing show!
ReplyDeleteHi Nicci, Great job as ex-girl, looking forward to following your blog through and beyond American Idiot. You're definitely going places. Break legs each night and not just Tunny's :)
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