It's that time of year again...

Greetings from Bakersfield, CA!

Tour has been a lot of fun so far. Everyone on team is really nice and pleasant to be around, so that is always a plus. I had forgotten how fulfilling it is to perform for people who don't have the opportunity to see our kind of show very often. I think I had forgotten how much I love being on the tour team.

I've been taking mental snapshots in my mind during rehearsals, getting ready, performing, etc, all of the little things that go into being a part of this. Setting up the light trees, taping down mats on the stage, unpacking thousands of dollars worth of costumes, slicking our hair, putting on shockingly red lipstick, waiting and watching from the wings in the dark, rushing to make quick changes, getting annoyed with the lights for not coming on fast enough in the latin medley, spraying costumes with alcohol to kill bacteria, finally finishing it all off with "Show Business", mingling with the audience and taking pictures with little kids, cooling down onstage, striking and back coiling cables (I am so proud of myself for being able to do that), repacking costumes, removing lipstick, this is all part of being on the team.
This is what we do, night after night after night. Sometimes we get bored with it all and resort to telling pirate jokes while laying on the floor in the middle of "Pirates" or yipping really obnoxiously during the mambo, or seeing just how far away from the standard pink and brown eye shadow we can stray (blue? how rebellious!), and sometimes we get tired and ornery, and it is not so fun.
And then we get to talk to the audience, and shake their hands, and see their gratitude for performing for them, and it is all worth it.

I would not trade this experience for anything in the world.