my first juicy post

i'll try to explain this in a way that even non-musicians will clearly understand.  imagine you're about to play the english horn.  you have a six-note phrase that is coming up in measure 73.  measure 73 comes and goes, and there is orchestral silence in measures 74 and 75 where one of the actors dramatically sings a cappella.  the conductor whispers to you in that silence that you missed your entrance.  in fact, the exact words were: "you missed it.  that was you."  what would you do next?

A) stare straight ahead silently, as if a virus had suddenly rendered you motionless
B) hang your head in shame and apologize to the conductor, vowing that you will not miss it the following night
C) attempt to play the six-note phrase in the silence of measures 74 and 75

hopefully, most of you chose B, but a handful of you jokingly chose A.  well, you're all wrong, because C is what happened.  at what point the conductor furiously cut him off before cueing me to come in with the singer in measure 76.  none of us could believe it.  unreal.

well, that was friday night.  saturday night was even more unreal, but for totally different reasons.  i won't spill exact details, simply because some of you haven't seen the show yet, and i don't want to reveal too much before i get to your city.  but during "one night only," let's just say that there was a technical malfunction that caused a truss nut and some bolts to fall out of the sky.  with actors onstage performing.  for everyone's safety, we had to stop the show and gave the crew some time to attempt to remedy the situation.  after a few minutes, they realized they couldn't - so after about a half-hour pause, we did the last 20 minutes of the show, brechtian-style.  lighting, sound, orchestra and costumes told the story.  no set pieces.  thankfully, the vast majority of the audience stayed and gave us a standing ovation at show's end.  scary situation with light fixtures dangerously swaying over my head while i was playing.  the band kept playing for several dozen measures after the incident.  you know, they always say that the show must go on.  and ours did, only after that 30-min delay.  the best part is that we're only under contract until 11 (i.e., at most, a 3-hour show).  the show typically ends around 10:45, but since we went past 11, we'll all be getting some OT.  can't wait to see that on my next check.

the problem was fixed, and we had two run-of-the-mill shows to close out pittsburgh on sunday.  pittsburgh resident and dear friend, the great michael mitnick and his sister, jenny, were in attendance at the matinee.  it was good to catch up with mike for a bit - he was home on winter break from new haven.  i can't believe he's only a few months from finishing up his graduate program at yale.  the world had better watch out, especially new york.  i can feel there are great things in store for him once he transitions down to nyc this summer.  for those of you who don't know, mike is a musical genius who will simply take new york by storm.  speaking of storms...our trip from pittsburgh to milwaukee encountered an unusual type of storm.  the few inches of snow pittsburgh got over the weekend was not the problem.  in fact, our flight from pittsburgh to midway and subsequent bus to milwaukee was flawless.  the issue arose when one of the two buses that took us from the hotel to the airport decided to break down.  because the bus driver stupidly didn't check the oil level.  so since we all travel together, the one good bus (the one i was on) couldn't leave the other one behind.  company management called a third bus, which arrived quickly enough, but that made for a harrowing race against the clock once we did get to the airport.  security was among the swiftest i've ever seen, so we did make it to the gate with a few minutes to spare.  which was JUST long enough for a few of us to have a pre-noon mimosa at the bar.

milwaukee = dead after 7pm - according to one of our hotel concierges.  at least in the area right around the theater and hotel.  good thing we're only here for a week, and then it's on to even colder minneapolis.  go jackets tomorrow night in the orange bowl!