10, 000 miles (and one week) later I'm no worse for the wear.

Mileage on first day of tour 2/3:  55, 309
Mileage on last day of tour 4/2:  64, 964

The drive home was lovely.  I took my time, stopped when I wanted to, relaxed and got to truly enjoy the ride.

I started with lunch at Barley's Taproom with buddy Jake - a student at UNC-Asheville.  Then I hopped around Asheville for a bit, looking for a dress for another wedding that I'm going to in July.

I finally hit the road around 4pm - putting my arrival time at about 8pm.  Plans changed, however.

I'd always planned to stop in Winston-Salem to see Jeremy, a senior at NCSA and one of my favorite people.  I'd promised my lactose-intolerant self one scoop of Baskin Robbins chocolate chip ice cream.  I ended up pressing on (missing Jeremy) and heading to Durham to see if City of Medicine - a monthly improv show in the style of Grey's Anatomy - wasn't sold out.  I got to see it, and then I made my way to Raleigh to have a late dinner with Lori and Eric at the Mill.

The complete list of cities in which I performed:

Robbins, NC
Walstersboro, SC
Wadesboro, NC
Martinez, GA
Americus, GA
Ellasville, GA
Lenoir, NC
Clayton, NC
Selma, NC
Chesapeake, VA
Gloucetser, VA
Powhatan, VA
Virginia Beach, VA
Jarvisburg, NC
Manassas, VA
Leesburg, VA
Woodbridge, VA
Sterling, VA
Reston, VA
Glenshaw, PA
Cleveland, OH
Cincinnati, OH
Grand Rapids, MI
Temperance, MI
Edgewood, KY
Louisville, KY
Lexington, KY
Brevard, NC
Raleigh, NC
Fuquay-Varina, NC
Cary, NC
Durham, NC
Apex, NC
Tryon, NC
Albemarle, NC
Hartsville, SC
Coulmbia, SC
Fellsmere, FL
Sanford, FL
Tifton, GA
Cumming, GA (still funny)
Lawrenceville, GA
Charlotte, NC


90 performances total.  RIDICULOUS.

And now I week after my return, I hit the road once more for Virginia Beach   :)

I'll keep you posted.

Georgia is gone with a bang.

While leaving Georgia I encountered several amusing sights:

I drove through Bethlehem, GA.  Cute.

Driving through , passed a sign for insurance salesman Rhett Butler - I kid you not -  he works for State Farm.

Driving through Athens, passed a barber shop called "Samson & Delilah".

Driving through Washington, passed a plantation that appears to now be a museum.  Confederate flag hanging by the front door and everything.  

BONUS:  About 20 seconds after crossing into SC, I'm informed that a good portion of Interstate 20 is named the "Strom Thurmond Highway".

MWAHAHAHAHAHAHA.

I decided that the only way to end this day was to eat at the Cracker Barrel.  :)

Weekend Wrap-Up From Duluth, GA

ORLANDO WAS AMAZING!!!!!


I wanna live there - SERIOUSLY.  Weather was kickass, the atmosphere was laid-back and welcoming, and I saw a wonderful show at the Orlando Shakespeare Company.

I also went shopping at an Outlet mall that was 3 times the size of Crabtree Valley Mall.  I may or may not have pushed aside my general dislike of shopping to peruse the outlet stores of Adidas, Journeys, and Forever 21.  I purchased my first official pair of converse (gray), two pairs of cute dress pants, and a polka dot shirt - you know how I feel about polka dots.  :)

On Saturday I checked out Lazy Moon Pizza at the suggestion of Margaret Ellen, and saw some of the UCF campus - they offer an MFA in Acting.  Hmmm.

Then I skated over to Orlando Skakes to see if I could get a ticket at the student rush price.  I scored hardcore - a $10 ticket for a FRONT ROW SEAT.  The show was excellent and made me want to work there.  Made me want to live there.

We'll see.   :)

Weekend/Week/Weekend Update from Florence, SC :)

It's been a busy time and I'm sorry I haven't updated in a while.

I was in Raleigh this past weekend and week, catching up with people and absorbing their positive energy and enjoying every moment of privacy I could steal.  I saw a bunch of theatre (you'd think I'd be sick of it by now) and ate at Gypsy's 3 times!!!!!  I'm lame.  :)

Still editing the video from my day o' fun with Will Stutts  - look for that soon!

I've actually just wrapped up a lovely weekend.

Saturday morning I performed at the Tryon's Children Theatre - an event over 30-years old where many different types of acts come and perform: from jugglers to mimes to ventriloquists.  We shared our space with the best ventriloquist I've ever seen in my life.  Too cool.  We performed in an art-house movie theatre, very similar in design and vibe to the Rialto Theatre of Raleigh - Truly Awesome, except that I fell on my ass (yes, literally) both shows.  Well, God has to keep us humble.  :)

Tryon Theatre - The slipperiest theatre thus far!

Our show was well-received; the Prince jokes were greatly appreciated by the adults in the audience.  :)  We also got to participate in the parade; they closed down the street in front of the Fine Arts Building and we walked behind a banner and waved at children.  It was one of the most adorable things I've ever been a part of.

Then I continued my adventure to Greenville - a mere 40 minutes from Tryon - to meet the divinely lovely Meghan Meier!!!!!!!!!!!!

I'd told her I just wanted to go to Barley's for pizza; the rest of the activities were up to her.  We traveled to Simpsonville to celebrate one of her friend's birthday, and played on the swing set in the backyard.  She took me to see the house that she's closing on the end of the month, and then we were off to downtown to participate in the Google event.  The city of Greenville asked people to come downtown Saturday night to gather in the park and spell out the word 'Google' with red, blue, and green glow sticks in an effort to get Google to bring their fiber optic network there.  It was amusing making fun of the people who were a little too excited/enthusiastic to spell, but when all 2500 volunteers did the wave, I've gotta admit, it was a sight to see. It was a really fun, once-in-a-lifetime thing to do in downtown Greenville.

I'm in the big G, part of the tab part!

Having walked around all evening, Meghan and I decided to ride a rickshaw to Barley's.  (As many times as I've wanted to ride one in downtown Raleigh, I find it amusing that the first one I ride is in a town I'm visiting.) Pizza was kickass as usual, but we were exhausted as ever, so instead of getting into more trouble we decided to head home.  After a pathetic attempt to watch Bedknobs & Broomsticks, we settled into sleep.

I slept really well.  And I actually got enough.  I REALLY needed that.

Sunday was brunch at an uppity place called High Cotton.  Wasn't sure if they were actually going to let me in -  I mean, it was South Carolina, and I was wearing jeans - but it was a pretty fancy schmancy place.  The food was eh.  It was okay, I guess.

Then Meghan and I finally sat our butts down in her living room and watched Bedknobs & Broomsticks.  Being that it was the 25th anniversary DVD edition, there were many deleted songs added back into the final cut.  They should've left them out, quite frankly; the editor has a job for a reason.

And now, I am back on tour - the final stretch.  13 days to be precise, with as many performances.  We're basically going in one big circle:  Columbia, SC to Orlando, FL to Tifton, Ga to Cumming, GA to Columbia, SC and then back to Asheville.  I'm planning to treat myself to a LEGENDARY drive home; I've most definitely earned the right to control my travel destiny for a day of awesome.

Stay Tuned!!!

Weekend Wrap-Up From Ann Arbor, MI and Romulus, MI - Part ONE.

2nd DAY OFF!!!!!  Woo Hoo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Can't complain.  It's nice to have time to decompress.......and SLEEP.  

I spent Friday (1st Day off) trying to kill time.  We had to check out of the hotel at noon, but we were staying in Grand Rapids, and the next hotel's check-in didn't start til 3pm.  So I spent the majority of the day in Woodland Mall, a mall that contains every single store you've ever entered in your life. Best Buy, TJ Maxx, Old Navy, DSW, Marhsalls, Nordstrom, etc., the list goes on.  There were plenty of restaurants around as well, so stopped at the Red Robin for lunch.  

After checking into the hotel, I returned to the mall to get myself into trouble.  I've always gotten great deals on clothing at TJ Maxx, so I thought I'd check out the selection and make some bad decisions. 

TJ Maxx was disappointing - although I did a couple of $5 DVDs - so I decided to head over to DSW.  

Worst (Best?) Decision Ever.

Katherine Heigl:  What's wrong with comfort and efficiency?

Gerard Butler:  Nobody wants to f*ck it.

I must preface this story by saying that I do not like to shop in general.  You may recognize the above quote from the worst film of 2009, The Ugly Truth - if not, you dodged a bullet there.  But I guffawed at those lines. I'm the girl that dresses for comfort - not cuteness.  If I can wear jeans, I'm going to.  Me in a dress is a rare occurrence.  

And shoes.  I'm not gonna buy a pair of shoes unless they're gonna be comfortable, and I'll be able to wear them with a large percentage of my wardrobe.  I'm not into buying shoes that match just one or two outfits.

Once every few years, I'll see a piece of clothing that speaks to me - that truly captures my essence.  And that happened on Valentine's Day.  I was in Ross shopping for a dress - I'm singing at a wedding in April and I wanted to attempt to look nice - and my mom came across this blue cocktail dress that fits me like a glove.  AND it has POCKETS!!!!!  Love.It.

My mom promised to keep a lookout for shoes that would go with it.  Fast forward to me in the DSW.  I called my mom to ask her what kind of shoes I should be looking for; I was hoping that she wouldn't say blue.  She did, of course.  Blue or silver.  Um, okay, silver?  SERIOUSLY?  I expressed my concerns that I would wear these shoes once and then they'd collect dust in my closet, but my mom reassured me that if I bought a cute pair, I could wear them to dress up jeans and skirts - should I ever decide to put one on.

Touche', Mom, Touche'.

So off I went.  I really despise the trying on part of shopping more than anything else (except maybe the "surrendering money" part), so I only picked up shoes that I actually thought I would wear.  I would take a picture and send it to my mom (finally, a useful purpose for a camera phone) and then she would yay or nay.

These are the shoes I viewed:

Shiny.  First shoe I saw - and the only one I tried on that wasn't from the clearance rack.

Ugly.

I kept trying to convince my mom that beige would work, but she was right.  Nice shoe, though.

Still not sure how I feel about this one.  (Not a good sign.)

The runner up.

The WINNER.  (They're actually a little big, but I bought cushy insoles!)

I bought these, too.  Same brand.  (Bandolino - check out bandolino.com.)

I spent more than I planned, but I got both pairs for $60!!!!!  Check out the SAVINGS!!!!!

SCORE.

And that was my shopping Friday.  Lord have mercy.  My mom is such a bad influence.  When I go to the Tonys, she will have picked out my outfit; it'll be one less thing I'll have to worry about.  The thing about shopping is that once you start, it's hard to stop.  I found myself trying on shoes I didn't even want.  However, I do know what I'll buy if I ever let myself enter a DSW again:

WORD.  :)

Travel Tips from Lorm: The Hotel Edition

Choosing a hotel is the most critical part of a trip.  If you're staying at a crappy place, it can totally make or break your experience.  

Having been on the road this past month and staying in a new hotel practically every night, I wanted to offer some tips for selecting a hotel.  

Here's how I rank hotels; the qualities/amenities I require are listed by importance, starting with the most essential:

• Cleanliness.  The most important thing is that a hotel be clean - ESPECIALLY the bathroom.  If the bathroom isn't clean, I don't feel clean.  It has to look and smell clean.
• Free internet.  I shouldn't have to pay an extra daily fee to have something that is pretty much a universally acknowledged necessity in 2010.  
• Free breakfast.  It's nice to be able to walk to breakfast in your pajamas.
• Decent cable channels.  I've now been to 3 hotels that have 5 ESPN channels, Cartoon Network, but no Comedy Central.  WTF??????
• Decent curtains.  One of the first things I associate with hotel living is being able to sleep in without any intrusion from the outside world, including the most obvious - daylight.  If the curtain doesn't keep daylight out, I'm sorry - it's a lame curtain.
• Microwave/Refrigerator.  Now we're getting into nice extras, but it's nice to be able to store leftovers and reheat them later - it saves money.
• Open Space for my luggage.  I like to keep a clean, open room.  It sucks when there's so much furniture in a room that you're tripping over your suitcase.

Based on this criteria (and others), I've come to these conclusions:

My favorite chain of hotels is the Hampton Inn.  If I'm not mistaken, Hilton purchased all the Hampton Inns so they are now under the umbrella of Hilton hotels - meaning they're awesome, but not nearly as expensive as staying at a Hilton.  Comfortable beds, excellent breakfast, and spacious rooms.

I've stayed at a few Hyatt Places recently.  The design of each of them is identical, and they are BEAUTIFUL.  

Lobby area.

Front Desk Area.

Rooms are HUGE.

Pretty SWEET.

The downside of the Hyatt Place is that they don't offer free breakfast.  The food they do offer is pretty pricey.  However, if space is what you're looking for, Hyatt Place is the place for you.  :)

STAY AWAY from Days Inn altogether.  You can never be sure what level of clean you're going to get.

If you find the Hyatt Place and Hampton Inn chains out of your price range, pull up to a Comfort Inn or a Quality Inn.  They're owned by the "Choice Hotel" chain of hotels, and they're affordable.  They always have free internet, free breakfast, and decent cable.  Most of the ones I've stayed in have also provided a microwave/fridge, a fitness center, and a business area, should you need to print something out.

Well, that's my 50 cents.  I should've been a travel agent.  

Grand Rapids, ctd.....

In my haste to post about this week I forgot to tell everybody about my drive to Sidney, OH to Grand Rapids.  4 and 1/2 hours of road.  It was a lovely drive, and I drove the whole way.  I'd been advised to go through Fort Wayne, Indiana; I was more excited to have the opportunity to drive through Kalamazoo, Michigan.

Yes.  There is a city in Michigan called Kalamazoo.  And I drove through it on Sunday.  

In all honesty, it kinda seemed like a boring place, but I didn't get the chance to drive through "downtown Kalamazoo".  I was continually amused by the name of the place, and even created a little jingle for it, because it's just soooooo much fun to say.  :)

Whoever named this place had a great sense of humor.  :)

Grand Rapids, Michigan!

The birthplace of Andy Richter, Taylor Lautner, and Anthony Kiedis of the Red Hot Chili Peppers.

I arrived here on Sunday evening and will remain until Saturday morning - when I'll move on to Ann Arbor for the weekend (we have 3 days off).  This marks the first state on the tour that I've never been to.  This also marks the longest that we will ever be in one place.  It's been nice to settle into one place for a few days.  I was prepared for awfully bad weather - it is right by Canada - but it's been sunny here all week.  So sunny, in fact, that I was able to put my yellow coat in the dry cleaners to be repaired.  Just lovely, beautiful weather.

I am winding down from a pretty busy week: we did 17 shows in 4 days at 8 different schools.  INSANITY.  By Thursday morning, I felt like I'd been hit by a truck.  However, the kids here are just amazing.  They've had excellent questions, and have actually taught me a thing or two.  They're the type of kids that make me immediately want to go out and get pregnant.  Like seriously - that adorable and fascinating.

I have a light week coming up - I'm hoping that means I'll finally get around to posting those pictures and maybe actually absorbing some culture in these places I'm visiting.

Weekend Wrap-Up From Sidney, OH

Cities I performed in this week:

Leesburg, VA
Woodbridge, VA
Sterling, VA
Reston, VA
Glenshaw (Pittsburgh), PA
Cleveland, OH
Cincinnati, OH*

*-indicates FAVORITE city of the week

There was really nothing particularly exciting about this week (the weekend was a different story).  The only unexpected thing was getting stuck in the Pittsburgh morning commute Wednesday morning; however, we arrived 30 minutes before showtime and were ready to go at 5 til - pretty efficient.

As Black History Month draws to close, so does our heavy month of Frederick Douglass performances.  We closed out the month today with a performance at the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center in Cincinnati, OH.

This was the first time I've been nervous for a performance.  Kids can be a tough audience, yes, but performing fictionalized versions of historical events for adults is a different animal.  I was also worried that they'd have lots of questions that I wouldn't be able to answer.  Nonetheless, everything went smoothly and the performance was well-received.

The performance was in the middle of what turned out to be a pretty awesome weekend.  On Friday eve, I attended a performance of How? How? Why? Why? Why?, presented by Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park, at the recommendation of Margaret Ellen.  It was an excellent performance about living with a disability and enjoying life in spite of it.  Then it was off to Dewey's for a late night pizza.  I ended up eating at the bar with an adorable bartender and discussing everything from Cincy to the Olympics with this cool couple - although I must say, the man was so effeminate, I had to wonder.  Lovely night.

I got to spend the rest of Saturday evening with Smithra, a transplant to Cincy from Raleigh.  He showed me his new apartment, and we got to catch up on the past couple of years, as I hadn't seen him since the last time I visited Cincy - November 2007.

Then came my favorite activity of the weekend:  LASER TAG.  I hadn't played laser tag since Memorial Day 2008 and I was so pumped to whoop some behind (or at least do better than I usually do).  I ranked 7th or 8th (out of 30) in both rounds and actually improved my accuracy level the second time around.  WooHoo!!!

Best tour weekend EVER.  Thank you, Cincy.

Sunday is a day off.  I'm excited cuz that means I'll get to watch the USA vs. Canada gold medal hockey game and possibly the Olympics closing ceremonies.  WORD.

Weekend Wrap-Up From Ashburn,VA

Tomorrow (Tuesday) will mark the end of the Virginia leg of the tour.  Ah, ol' Virginny.  My birth state.  I felt a tug at my heart as we passed through Williamsburg - the city of my birth.  I realized that most of my memories of this state are from my childhood; I'd love to take some time at some to explore it as an adult.

That being said, Virginia is a BIG ASS state.  Dense, and at times, it seems never-ending.  The traffic surrounding DC is quite frustrating; I never want to live here.  The metro is not reliable enough and driving a car to get around everyday is too daunting to imagine.  Nonetheless, the schools here have been especially gracious and welcoming, AND we had a day off after all - a school in Maryland canceled their shows Friday because they missed so many days due to snow.  So no 11 day stretch!

Speaking of snow, it's everywhere here.  Not on the roads, but on curbs, in parking lots stacked high.  It's hard for me to fathom what 30 inches of snow looks like, but the remnants of the "snowpocalypse" are still here - and I have a feeling they're only going to get worse as we go further north.  Up this week:  Glenshaw, PA (a city near Pittsburg) and then onto Ohio for the weekend.

We performed for 4 libraries in Prince William County this weekend..  Library performances have become my favorite; everyone that attends wants to be there.  The audiences may be smaller, but they always appreciate the performance and ask great questions.

I promise to post some pictures as soon as I can get them uploaded.

alwayslove.
Lorma :)

Weekend Wrap-Up From Chesapeake, VA

I spent the weekend in Raleigh and therefore did more important things than blog.  I slept in my own bed, walked around the house in my underwear, and saw some theatre.  Not as much as I had planned, but I got to see my Meredith ladies a bunch, and I got to eat breakfast at Gypsy's.  :)

I also got to wish Ashley Chandler Phillips farewell as she departed for the other coast.  :(  and  :)

Sorry if I was supposed to see you and then didn't.  (This means you, Athena and Brett and Lori.)

The last week was rough because it was a bunch of long distance drives in a row.  Leaving Columbia, we went as far southwest as Americus, GA (LOVELY town), but then it was right back to Asheville to stay at the actor house (5 hrs), and then up before 6am to get over to Lenoir (1.5 hrs), and then another 4 hour drive to get to Raleigh.  Whew.

I'll try to post some pictures sometime this week; Americus was very picturesque, and the theatre we performed at in Lenoir was pretty baller.

I haven't done or seen anything particularly exciting yet; my body is still adjusting to this whole 6am business, but the driving is much lighter this week, so perhaps I'll be able to get out and do stuff.  We're mostly in VA this week, with weekend performances at DC libraries both Saturday and Sunday - meaning no off days this weekend.  11 days of performances - no breaks.  This should be interesting.

Weekend Wrap-Up From Columbia, SC :)

First week of tour:  DONE!

Despite the snow, we got in 7 solid performances of The Life of Frederick Douglass.  All of the sponsors we've met thus far have been very welcoming and enthusiastic about the show - and every single one of them has given us something free - either a memento(like an Obama tote bag) or buying us lunch.  It's been a lovely first week with very appreciative audiences.

On Friday, we performed in Wadesboro, NC, located in Anson County.  We performed for the high school freshman(tough crowd) and for the 7th and 8th graders at the middle school.  Both of these shows were performed in the school's gym; neither of the school's have an auditorium.  Furthermore, there isn't a theatre in the entire county.  Hearing this made me grateful for the opportunities I've had.  I can't imagine how different my high school experience would have been had there hadn't been a theatre program.  My "drama club" not only offered me a place to escape from the unfortunate parts of high school, but it also provided me with a platform to ulneash all of my creative energy.

I recall how I used to complain that students in WCPSS now were so lucky to have so many more opportunities than I did, but these shows reminded me how blessed I was to be exposed to the arts at a young age, or even at all.

If you would, tell me how developed (if at all) your theatre/arts programming was in public school.  I'm curious to hear what people's experiences were like.

Next up:  GEORGIA!

alwayslove.
Lorma Doone :)

City #1: The Acorn City - Raleigh?

I write this from my Mom's bedroom in Raleigh, NC.  I guess this is what you call full circle.

Snow has not been good to this tour thus far.

My tour partner and I arrived in Raleigh around 1:30 this afternoon, and as I pulled onto my block I did not have a good feeling about the odds of us performing in Wake County.  My block is covered in ice, and several bus routes travel through this neighborhood.

Around 6pm, Wake County announced they're closing schools for the third straight day.   :(

On Wednesday, we travel to Robbins, NC, which apparently does not have to shut down for 5 days because of precipitation.

Hope to give a full report on our FIRST SHOW tomorrow.

(Maybe we had to come to the Acorn city for luck before starting our journey?)

Love to all.  :)

Day 10

I know what you're thinking:

Lormarev said she was gonna blog all about her trip and she hasn't written a damn thing.

Well, in my defense, I haven't gone anywhere yet. The tour was supposed to start Thursday, but they ended up having to recast the male.

The tour was then scheduled to start Monday, but seeing as how there's a foot of snow on the ground right now, that seems unlikely.

Happy Snow Day, Loves.

Day 1 Wrap Up

Chilling here at the Bright Star actor house in Asheville. Pictures to come.

Today was rehearsal from 10 - 5, followed by a 30 minute nap, followed by a documentary about Fredrick Douglass.

In an hour or so I will start line review.

This week will be probably be the hardest the entire tour. We have to get 2 shows to performance quality in 5 days. We blocked Once Upon a Time today, which is the longer of the two pieces and the more complicated one, as far as character, costumes, and plot. Comedy is always harder, y'all. ;)

Not sure how much I'll be able to update this week. The internet here is temperamental and I do expect most of my off-time will be spent doing line work - or reading one of Fredrick Douglass' 2 autobiographies.

alwayslove.
Lorma Doone :)