One week off, one week on then one more week off before the final leg begins. Arrived in Sarasota somewhat refreshed from catching up on sleep and getting to see my husband and friends back home, brief though it was.
When I stepped outside at the Sarasota airport I was struck by two things:
1.) It was hot and muggy!
2.) The cops at the airport drive golf carts. GOLF CARTS.
We headed for our hotel, the Sarasota Hotel and Marina which really was on a marina. It was nice to be back in sun and under palm trees. Two problems with the hotel though. The a/c didn't
work right in our room and there was a little problem with the bathroom. See Erin hadn't arrived yet so I was alone in the room and went to use the restroom. I closed the door as has become a habit. Then I couldn't leave. Yes, the jenk lock was broken and I was trapped in the bathroom for fifteen minutes. No cell phone. I wrestled with the thing and was about to start trying to kick the door down when I tried one last time and managed to escape. I layed down to take a nap before the show that night since I'd had to get up at 3 a.m. Erin came in while I was asleep and proceeded to...yes...get stuck in the bathroom. Luckily I was there to let her out when she banged on the door and woke me up for help. Ridiculous! We told the hotel and they were very nonchalant about it and never did fix it. We learned not to close the door all the way.
work right in our room and there was a little problem with the bathroom. See Erin hadn't arrived yet so I was alone in the room and went to use the restroom. I closed the door as has become a habit. Then I couldn't leave. Yes, the jenk lock was broken and I was trapped in the bathroom for fifteen minutes. No cell phone. I wrestled with the thing and was about to start trying to kick the door down when I tried one last time and managed to escape. I layed down to take a nap before the show that night since I'd had to get up at 3 a.m. Erin came in while I was asleep and proceeded to...yes...get stuck in the bathroom. Luckily I was there to let her out when she banged on the door and woke me up for help. Ridiculous! We told the hotel and they were very nonchalant about it and never did fix it. We learned not to close the door all the way.The theatre, the Van Wezel Performing Arts Center, was the oddest facility I've ever seen. 
Florida loves using pastels on buildings but the entire place was purple. Top to bottom. Inside and out. Turns out purple was Mrs. Van Wezel's favorite color and the building was designed modeling two purple shells she had found and had forever. It was designed by Frank Lloyd Wright in his classes geometric style and was very unique. Lots of cool sculptures outside. The place was right on the bay and made for a lovely place to walk between shows. Chaz and I even picked up theatre hats as souvenirs. We had nice big private dressing rooms and the space was good. We've been very fortunate of late to have nice theatres and no cause for complaint. I took this shot in the back of the theatre with the bay and sunset reflected in the glass. It was a gorgeous night.
Florida loves using pastels on buildings but the entire place was purple. Top to bottom. Inside and out. Turns out purple was Mrs. Van Wezel's favorite color and the building was designed modeling two purple shells she had found and had forever. It was designed by Frank Lloyd Wright in his classes geometric style and was very unique. Lots of cool sculptures outside. The place was right on the bay and made for a lovely place to walk between shows. Chaz and I even picked up theatre hats as souvenirs. We had nice big private dressing rooms and the space was good. We've been very fortunate of late to have nice theatres and no cause for complaint. I took this shot in the back of the theatre with the bay and sunset reflected in the glass. It was a gorgeous night. It was time to leave the warmth behind and fly to Milwaukee. The company was kind enough to fly us so we could spend New Year's Eve somewhere other than the bus. We arrived in the early afternoon on NYE to find the lovely Hyatt Regency would be an almost perfect place to stay for the next four nights...if not for the construction going on right beneath us. It started every morning at 8:30 and went on until about 6 p.m. But it was beautifully appointed, great beds, very clean, and a mini Starbucks in the lobby!
Michelle, who is from close to Milwaukee, had planned a dinner for us all at the Benihana across from the hotel. We all rested then got fixed up to go out to celebrate. The restaurant left much to be desired in service. The bartender, and there was only one on NYE, was slow and didn't know how to make much of anything. Then we had to wait for almost an hour for our tables to be ready. A few folks gave up and went elsewhere to eat but most of us stayed. When we were finally seated dinner was good if expensive. I expected better for my $40 bill. There's a little place at home in Harrisburg where I like to get hibachi and my meal is about $12 and I think they put on a better show and the food tastes better. But anyway we were together and had a good time anyway. And sake helps everything! So we finished dinner and proceeded to trudge all over Milwaukee in 8 degree weather in heels looking for a bar that everyone could agree on and this took FOREVER! This is why I'm not a fan of going out in huge groups. We finally settled on Trilogy, an enormous Irish pub that was actually 3 all smashed together. It was packed to the rafters but we managed to find a few spots right by the bar and didn't budge. At midnight I got kisses from all the gay boys although I'd much rather have been at home snuggled up with Mike and the dogs and kissing Mike (not the dogs, no offense). I stumbled back to the hotel at a fairly early 2:30 a.m.
New Year's Day was very low key. We slept really late, got brunch at a diner across the street and poked around the little downtown mall a bit while Erin shopped for clothes. Later Will, Alaggio, James and Adam came over to my room and we ordered "W" on the pay-per-view since we had awesome huge TVs in our rooms and there were no movies theatres anywhere near the hotel. It was an interesting movie. I'm not generally a fan of Oliver Stone but his take on Bush's history was pretty entertaining and Thandie Newton was the most amazing Condoleezza Rice! I didn't even realize it was her until the credits rolled at the end.
All was well until 3 a.m. on Friday the 2nd when I awoke with terrible nausea. Erin was staying in Jeff's room and this was a good thing. I'll spare you details but apparently I had a 24 hour stomach flu and spent the next 12 hours in the bathroom. Erin went out in the morning and got me some crackers and water and Vitamin water and I drank as much as I could manage. Well all hell broke loose because at 4:00 my stage manager Dan and I determined that I could not do the show so understudy alert went into high gear and there was much activity in the hotel with rehearsals and clarifying blocking and such. I helped Michelle, my cover, as best I could and she and Chaz went through the scenes. I knew she'd be fine although there have hardly been any understudy rehearsals. I felt awful about missing the show especially since I've never missed a show in well over 20 years. I felt like I was letting everyone down. But no one seemed upset with me, just concerned that I get well. I was asleep by the time the cast took the stage at the Milwaukee Theatre down the block.
The next morning I had just woken up when Dan called to see if I was well enough to do both shows and I felt I was. I was very weak and dehydrated but felt I could get through it. He wanted me on for the show but also said he had family coming and wanted them to see me. I also had a good friend from high school, Laura, coming with her friends. Laura and I reconnected a few weeks before the show thanks to Facebook and I arranged some comps for her to come see the show and then go out between the matinee and evening shows. I made it through the matinee much better than I ever thought I would. I think 
alot of it was just being happy to be back. Laura and her friends really enjoyed the show and we had a great time chatting and catching up. We went to this bar/restaurant by the theatre and the waitress came over to the table. Laura told her that I was in the show which prompted her to say "Oh! Did you want to order some Food, Glorious Food?" and sang it. I must have looked really over it because she laughed and apologized and said she just had to. It was funny though.
alot of it was just being happy to be back. Laura and her friends really enjoyed the show and we had a great time chatting and catching up. We went to this bar/restaurant by the theatre and the waitress came over to the table. Laura told her that I was in the show which prompted her to say "Oh! Did you want to order some Food, Glorious Food?" and sang it. I must have looked really over it because she laughed and apologized and said she just had to. It was funny though. I survived both shows and headed back to the hotel to crash. I was really excited to be going home for a few days to recover from being sick and, of course, to see Mike and the "kids".
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