Monday, May 19, 2008

Gateway To The West

I am writing this while sitting on a bus. I am surrounded by sights of lush, green flats, swollen waterways, and an expanse of road ahead of me. However, it is overcast: what a way to see the countryside.

But our run in St. Louis is over. 4 weeks of toasted ravioli, Cardinals fans, and living under the shadow of a giant metal arch. However, St. Louis has a few of the caveats of Tampa, with the ambition of Los Angeles. In St. Louis, if you want to get anywhere, you have to drive, and that makes life difficult when you don’t have a car. Getting groceries was sometimes quite the affair, as well as finding a movie theater. The infrastructure of St. Louis is very spread out, but they’re working on revitalizing the downtown area, which reminds me of Los Angeles: there is a housing initiative with plenty of lofts and housing available for those willing to pick it up. Anyway, I enjoyed St. Louis, but it transportation was tough.

St. Louis audiences loved us, but being that it was the largest house we’ve ever played, it’s such a different experience. You have to be receptive to the way the information hits the audience. The emotional beats are much different than being in a house of half the size. Furthermore, I got to perform as Frankie 3 times! And I want to thank everyone who emailed me after each performance. Your kind words mean the world to me. But that’s not the only exciting thing: Matt Bailey made his debut as Bob Gaudio with excellent skill, and Miles Aubrey returned to the stage as Bob Gaudio as well. They both rocked, and I’m very proud of both of them.

As for St. Louis items: I visited the Arch, but I feel like it's more epic sitting on the grass below, in it's shadow, rather than being up in it. The top feels like every other tall thing I've been in (Empire state building, Stratosphere, etc) Going up in it is a little wild as well. It's a very close quarters. Some describe at something out of Woody Allen's "Sleeper".

I tried toasted ravioli. I enjoyed it, but the health factor came into my mind. It's certainly a once in a while thing. The whole deep frying thing.

I had the frozen custard. Brilliant. I would have more.

I skipped the St. Louis style Pizza. They use Provel cheese. I think I rest my case.

Otherwise, I have arrived in Cincinnati now. Tomorrow is a free day for me to explore. I saw a camera store on my way in, so I'm very excited about that. Then back to work on Wednesday.

Alright, that's it for things on my mind now.

Don't forget, The Singing Office premieres on June 29th. Watch for me. I'm told I'm in a few of the commercials as well!

UPDATE: The Singing Office will be in early primetime (8 or 9 pm) once a week. The exact time slot is not set yet.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Could you give schedule and channel details for "The Singing Office"? I hadn't heard of it. And you know how much your fans would love to see your charming self on the TV. Thanks.

Anonymous said...

...gosh, it's a shame no one would loan you their car. ;-)

Thanks for taking it easy on our little town. Next time you'll have to try the "big elwood on a stick" and the "fish bowl beer".

Your JB-5er fan!