Kansas City, Chief

Greetings from Kansas City! I'm in the hometown of the ad agency that creates the Sonic commercials for a three-day shoot and radio recording. Tomorrow we're also doing some PR, being interviewed on the set for a local morning TV show and for the newspaper. And by "on the set" I mean at the Sonic where we'll be shooting. I've been asked why we shoot in different cities when all anyone sees is the Sonic and they all look the same. While I don't have the definitive answer to that, I do know a couple of factors. Pretty much the default location is Phoenix, because that's where the production company is based. A lot of things are shot in Phoenix, since the weather is good and it's cheaper than LA. In the summer, we shoot somewhere cooler since we're sitting in a minivan with no air conditioning. Last year we shot in Denver, and I think that may be part of the reason we're in KC now; I hear it's already 90 in Phoenix. And I've also heard that the Sonic corporate office likes to use different restaurants for some subtle differences that probably only they notice - some are newer or have been recently renovated in a more retro style or something like that.

But for now the important thing is that we're about to go out for our requisite enormous dinner. Probably for steak. But I'm told we'll get barbecue later in the week.

And the other important thing is that this past Saturday was my mom's birthday. Happy Birthday, Mom!

Questions

This is our official cast photo. I think I look bored. But generally, I think it's a nice picture.

With rehearsals starting up in 3 weeks, everyone in the cast has been squeezing in some vacation time wherever they can. This past weekend we knew we'd have two understudies in while Matt and Claudia attended a wedding. Then Brian had to go to a funeral, so we lost him Friday and Saturday. Then on Saturday, Antoine got sick, so we ended up with 4 understudies that night. I would say that in general, Saturday is my least favorite night because it's long (two shows and a set) and near the end of our work week. But this new development had me pretty excited. It's always fun, I think, when understudies are in because it changes a lot of the rhythms and things you're so used to. And when four understudies are in, you know every scene you do will be with one or more of them, so it's quadruple the excitement. Or as I call it, quad excitement.

Before our second show, Craig Taylor, our stage manager, came backstage with an envelope with Matt's name on it. He said it was from two people who Matt had set up with tickets, and even though they knew he wasn't there, it was important that we read the letter. To paraphrase, the letter said that this guy was here with a girl he wanted to ask to the prom, and would we help him? Now normally, we don't do things like that, but because it seemed to be someone Matt knew and because it was already a pretty surreal night, we decided to do it at the top of the set. The following is a transcript of what happened.

Cast:
Molly (M)
Maribeth (MB)
Ross the prom asker (R)
Whitney the prom askee (W)


M: Thanks for joining us for our improv set. Tonight we're actually going to start with an audience participation game, which we do a lot.* Could we get two volunteers?

MB goes into the audience and retrieves R and W

MB: Thanks so much for volunteering. What are your names?

R: Ross

W: Whitney

M: Ok Ross and Whitney, we're going to play a game that we do a lot here. It's called questions. What happens is that one of you can only ask questions, and one of you can only answer them. Maribeth, why don't we show them?

MB: Ok.

M & MB play 3 rounds of questions, ending with "How are my...eyes?" "Yes."

MB: So, Ross, why don't you ask the questions, and Whitney, you answer.

M: All right, and...begin.

R: Will you go to the prom with me?

W: Yes.

M: All right! Weren't they great?

General merriment/bewilderment continues as R & W return to their seats.


Fin


Epilogue: Ross and Whitney then left because Whitney was sleepy and/or wasted.

So that's what kept our Saturday night exciting this week. Please don't get any ideas about using us to ask your important life questions or actively help celebrate milestones. We recently got an email request with a fully written sketch about us interviewing a guy whose birthday it was, and it was even suggested that we have a two-man horse costume ready to go, "just in case."

And finally, I was in Banana Republic yesterday and was approached by an employee who recognized me from Sonic and asked me to autograph the back of a receipt. Which I did.


*We never do that

Slack cutting

I don't much care for Katie Couric, but I was reading the Red Eye yesterday and the Tribune today and was pretty dumbfounded as to why there's a question whether she can "handle" doing the CBS evening news. If anything we're safer now that she's behind a desk and reading everything she says. And even for a non-supporter such as myself, I think it's terribly sexist and insulting to say she's too "perky" for the job. She tends to be perky on the Today show because it's a morning show that has segments like "Eye shadow trends for 'tweens." Also, who watches the CBS evening news?

Blogging: like TV, but quieter

Well well well, DirecTV, it seems we are at odds once again. Due to high winds or solar flares or who knows what, our DirecTV is out. This comes just as I am spending the week by myself as Rich goes off to spread the word of Yahoo DSL to the good people of Riverside, California. I have a handful of Tivo'd shows waiting for me, but I'm saving them for moments of utter dispair and boredom. Ok, ok, so the DirecTV guys are coming out Friday morning and it's already almost the end of the day Monday, but you know by now how much I like TV, even just as background noise. In fact, it's eerily quiet here right now. Maybe I'll put on some of this "music" I hear so much about.

More importantly than my TV woes (I know, hard to believe) is the fact that my dear friends Heidi and David just welcomed their second baby early Sunday morning. His name is Graham. Nice work, you guys.

And one other thing. I watched "The Family Stone" on the flight back from Hawaii. It wasn't good, but it served its purpose as an airplane movie. I would like to applaud the writer who decided to tackle just about every social issue out there in the character of the gay, deaf son who's adopting a baby with his partner of a different race. Way to go, Hollywood!

Catching up

It's been awhile and I apologize. There's been quite a bit going on lately. For starters, my grandfather passed away earlier last month. Again I'm so grateful that I was able to see both of my grandparents when I went to Dallas for Christmas. Even though my grandfather had Alzheimers, I think he must have known that my grandmother was gone. My grandfather was in the Air Force and often helped calm my fear of flying by explaining to me how planes worked. I remember family gatherings where between him and my uncles someone would always end up getting out the encyclopedia to verify some fact in dispute. It's a weird feeling to no longer have any living grandparents. My father's father, Grandpa George, died just before I was born, and his mother, Grandma Helen, died in 1999. I haven't attended that many funerals in my life, so it seems like I've lost a disproportionate amount of people in my life this year.

In happier news, the mainstage will be going into rehearsals to write a new show on May 2. Our director will be Marc Warzecha, who was my first touring company director. I'm really looking forward to working with him again and to writing a new show. Sadly, my castmate Matt has decided not to stick around for another show. I'll miss him, but I know he has good reasons for hanging up his hat. The bright side is that he's being replaced by my former shipmate Joe Canale. He starts at the end of April, just before rehearsals begin.

And in continued happy news, Rich and I took a week-long vacation to Hawaii the last week. We had a wonderful time, despite some clouds and rain. You can see pictures if you go here.

And finally, this week's celebrity encounter features Peter Facinelli, who is perhaps most famous for being married to Jennie Garth. Also, Six Feet Under. And some other stuff, like Celebrity Poker Showdown on Bravo. He came to our second show Friday night but only stayed for the first act because a woman he was with (not Jennie Garth) was very, very drunk.