Week 3: January 24,
2017 - January 31, 2017
Number of Shows: 8
Location: Tampa, FL
On Tuesday some of the clowns had a
PR at the Patel Conservatory, an acting school for teenagers in Tampa. Because
load in was not complete, everyone got dressed at the train and was then driven
over to the event. Here's a link to some of the footage from that day:
We
were also able to take some nice pictures at the train in costume, which is
extremely rare.
Wednesday was opening day. We had
our usual meeting in the seats, then got prepared for the show. I was out on
the concourse again this week for the first few minutes of preshow, and had a
wonderful time talking with the arena staff at the door before ticketholders
were let in. Opening night was packed! As expected since the closure
announcement a few weeks ago, we were nearly sold out.
My mom flew down from NYC Wednesday
afternoon and got to Tampa right after the show that night. I was originally
going to stay in a hotel with her while she was visiting, but found out that
week that I had early morning television PR on Thursday, which meant I would
need to stay on the train. My mom picked me up from the arena and came to the
train where we had dinner in my train room. We folded down my table and benches
into a second bed for her to sleep on while I kept the top bunk and called it a
night.
Thursday I was picked up from the
train at 3:30 AM and was in full costume and makeup at 4:30 AM. We did a BUNCH
of hits and interviews with local news affiliates and everyone was extremely
pleased with how it turned out. Here are some highlights:
Thursday afternoon my mom and I went
to the local mall for lunch, and then headed back towards the arena just to
walk around. Thursday night's show was sold out (18,000 people), and I had
about a dozen or so people at preshow tell me that they saw me on the news that
morning, which was pretty cool. Thursday night's show was also attended by lots
of former Ringling clowns like Dustin Portillo, Brandon Foster, Taylor Albin,
Dean Kelley, and Ruth Chaddock.
Friday morning's show was nearly
sold out, and mostly attended by families with very small children and senior
citizens. Kenneth Feld, owner and CEO of Feld Entertainment was there, and I
managed to find him and shake his hand after the show. Post show my mom and I
walked down the block for lunch at the Marriott before she had to go to the
airport to go home and I had to head back to the arena. The night show was
completely sold out. There are a few moments in the show when the lights allow
me to see the crowd, and I was truly speechless when I saw the gigantic mass of
people that came to see us.
Saturday was a split show day. The
Gasparilla Pirate Festival was taking place in between shows, so I didn't go
back to the train in between shows fearing that there'd be too much traffic to
make call time on the way back. I took a nap in one of the lounges (they aren't
generally used when the circus plays the arena), and then practiced a routine I
am trying to get into preshow. Kenneth Feld was at the evening show, and
recognized me during preshow, which was cool. Bello Nock was also at the show,
which was a thrill for all of us. The first circus I ever saw was Bo and Bello
in spring 2001 at MSG, so it was a pretty cool experience for the
performer-spectator relationship to be flipped. Both Saturday shows were sold
out.
On Sunday I received a nice surprise
when I went to wardrobe to get dressed: new buttons! There are two buttons on
the cuff of each of my shirt sleeves, and one fell off during a performance and
could not be located afterwards. The new buttons match the shirt better and are
much better secured. Thanks wardrobe! We had two shows on Sunday, both of which
were sold out. After the last show I walked back over to the Marriott for a
burger and fries before heading home to the train.
We pulled out of Tampa early Monday
morning to head to South Carolina. After clown breakfast on Monday I hung out
in Pie Car for a few hours just talking to people before heading back to my
room for a nap. We are scheduled to arrive in Greenville later today, and might
even be early! Until next week...
No comments:
Post a Comment