Spamalot- Week 5

It's getting more and more difficult to remember what day it is, and even where we played three nights ago! You wouldn't think that it would be so easy to lose track of time. I think when I left off the last entry we were headed to Concord, NH.

The Capitol Center for the Arts, in Concord, NH

This was the smallest theatre (and the smallest pit) we've seen so far. The tech crew actually has to build an alternative set so it would fit through the loading dock doors. Despite the fact that we couldn't use all the props and set pieces, the intimate nature of this theatre made it a really wonderful place to work. It's nice to know that the show actually stands on the creativity of the script/ score and the talent of the cast instead of theatrical effects.

That said, we were all thrilled to have the entire set back in place for the next venue, Proctor's Theatre in Schenectady, NY.

The beautiful view from the pit at Proctor's Theatre.

I have to admit, even though it was amazing to play in such a gorgeous theater as Proctor's, the highlight of Schenectady was visiting the well stocked sheet music store across the hall from the stage door. We all picked up new etude books and fun pieces to keep up our "non-show" chops, and it was really nice to see such a great selection of brass music! Thanks, Schenectady VanCurler Music!

Last stop for week 5 is Greenvale, NY on Long Island. Here we lost half our set to lack of drop space. (For the non-theatre peeps on this list, many of the scenery changes are hung out of sight above the stage and just lowered to the stage when needed. This takes up a great deal of space above the stage, which some theatres simply don't have available. Our crew is pretty ingenious though and the shows have still been looking great, even in the venues without all the drops!) The wonderful thing about this theatre was the fact that the band had two separate dressing rooms and a ton of space in the pit! Hooray for Greenvale! Next week- Canada...

The very spacious pit in Greenvale, NY.