Star struck

I work at a hotel and yesterday has so far been the best day of work ever and let me tell you why...
First off, our hotel usually has hot fresh cookies for our guests and for months, they have been out of my favorite, sugar cookies. Well, they brought them back! YAY!!!
Ok, now second... I got to see and meet someone who I have admired from a far since I first saw him in Field of Dreams... That's right. "If you build it, he (really!) will come."
AND HE DID COME TO GOOD OLE' ST. GEORGE UTAH!!!



Kevin Costner... how cool is that? I mean who didnt love Dances with Wolves? Or Message in a Bottle? Or Dragonfly, Robinhood, Waterworld or the Guardian right? He is a great actor and although I only got to see him for a few minutes and greet his beautiful family. It sure made my night.


I was so giddy all night. I really don't know what I would do if I ran into another celebrity without warning...


Probably act like a fool. :)

Cork

Due to a canceled flight out of Toronto, I (Ken) missed my connection to Dublin and I ended up staying overnight in Newark. My room had a great view of parking lots with fences topped with razor wire and the freeway beyond. I did get to Cork a day behind Ellen.



The Cork Festival of the Senses is the low budget stop on the tour. The theatre is small (90 seats) and we are staying in a college dorm (we have a private bedroom with bathroom and share the living room and kitchen with other crew members.) There has been some quite creative cooking going on. The dorm is about a 45 minute walk from the city centre and the theatre, with occasional service by city busses.



The play is going well. The switch from having Bob in the cast to Arjon went smoothly. The audiences have been appreciative.

A note about traffic

Unlike in Vancouver, the drivers in Toronto actually stop for red lights, making it safer for pedestrians to cross.

Here in Cork, Ireland, the cars come very fast and the combination of having cars driving on the left and the many intersections that are not right angles make it dangerous crossing without the walk sign, which seems to come very infrequently. Some of the intersections require three cycles of the lights to cross as you go from the curb to an island in the traffic, to another island before getting to the opposite curb.

Toronto again

The cast and crew relaxing at the Berkeley Street Theatre before the show. The discussion was about a 2011 tour that could include Portugal, France and New Zealand.

This is the Toronto City Hall as viewed from our hotel window at night. It looks much the same by daylight, but the colours are different.

For those of you who know Peter, he came to the show last night. We visited with him over a glass of wine (or two) back at the hotel after. He is looking very good, enjoying life and considering working again, possibly in Africa.

The show closes tonight and we are off to Cork, Ireland tomorrow. We, but not the housekeeping staff, will miss the $5 cooked lobsters that we found in a local market. Messy to eat with only a Swiss army knife and a plastic fork, but we managed. Otherwise we are glad to be leaving ahead of next week's hubbub.

In Toronto

After three weeks at home, we are on the road again. My trip to Toronto took me to Houston, where I had a daylong visit with Gabe. I then went to the airport with him as he was going to work and flew to Flint, via Cleveland, for a few days visit with my mom. She is doing very well
On Monday I flew to Toronto, again via Cleveland. This was another case of getting to the airport at 6:00AM in order to try to get on a flight that was listed as full. This turns out to be a good strategy when flying standby. It gives me the best chance of getting on a flight.

Ellen flew here directly from Vancouver, but coordinating 9 people in the company is as much effort as my taking five flights to get here. We are staying in the same hotel that the G20 leaders will be staying next week, but there is little evidence of the billion dollars in security that will come with them. It does seem that one billion is the standard cost for security for any major event these days. I guess the olympics gave the security forces a benchmark that they must live up to.

Yesterday we went to a reception at the Goethe Institut, one of the sponsors of the tour. Their purpose is to promote German culture and the play is produced by Rimini Protokoll, a German organization. Sushi was served.

Tonight is opening night, and Ellen had a rehearsal and technical check this afternoon. Since Bob is in the cast for the run in Toronto, the show reverts to the script used in Vancouver and Seattle. They will be doing this with only this afternoon's rehearsal. Helgard, the producer,insisted that they are professionals now and she is confident that they will handle it in stride.