summer travels

The school year ended, and after a short respite in LA, I took off for the first of three trips this summer.

First, I flew to Minneapolis to rehearse 'The Old Story,' a new play based on the legend of Gilgamesh, with Novi Most, a company based jointly in Minneapolis and St. Petersburg, Russia. I spent a week in workshops with the director, performers, and other designers, eating well, drinking well, and exploring various avenues to dig into the play.

Seven days ago, I flew from Minneapolis to Hartford to design/score High, a new play by Matthew Lombardo. Rob Ruggiero is directing, and Kathleen Turner stars. This project has been a little awkward for me, but once I landed in Hartford, I was able to really push through and generate the first draft of the score in a day and a half. After that, there were some big changes and some little changes, but we're in good shape. We are currently in our third day of tech, and we have our first audience the day after tomorrow.

I'll be spending Independence Day (my favorite holiday) in western Mass with my pal Brad Berridge and his family. Eating, drinking, playing around. On Monday night, we'll be workshopping an improv dance piece with our band, The Night I Found Out I Was Adopted (the iphone symphony I blogged about earlier). The workshop will be at Jacob's Pillow, a dance festival summer stock company.

After my time in New England, I'll head down to DC to see one of Sarah's cousins get married. We'll get some time to wander around DC, which always makes me happy. Then, down to Virginia Beach to see my folks and my sister. Plans in VB include heading to Busch Gardens, lazing about, and seeing all sorts of family.

So, today is the mid-point of my trip. I've been gone 2 weeks, and it's another 2 weeks before I get to head back home.