First Post- Welcome to Our Lives!

Dear World, J

We have embarked on a new adventure! Chris and Rachel are making their way across North America with the National Touring Company of Mamma Mia! Such adventures, while quite exciting, do present certain challenges- namely staying in touch with friends and family. This, along with the unique nature of our situation led us to an idea, “Why not join the information age and start a blog to let people know where we are, what we’re doing, and any interesting stories we have to share along the way?” Sooo… TA-DA! Here we are!

It’s hard to choose where to begin this story so we’ve decided to start with NOW and catch up when we have the opportunities. We are NOW in our 4^th week on the road with Mamma Mia and are currently on a bus that taking us to Canada! We are coming from New Philadelphia, OH and heading to Hamilton, ON. This is definitely one of the longest bus rides (8 hrs!) we will be taking during the tour but not our only visit to Canada (apparently they love their ABBA!) Most of the time if we’re traveling this far it will be a flight but if it’s only a couple hours we will bus. There are certainly pros and cons to both like worrying about baggage, or worrying about potty breaks but we try to make the best of either situation.

This past Sunday, we were in Atlanta and we had our first chance to perform onstage together in Mamma Mia!  It was the end of the third week and already we had what we call, an “all skate” for the swings.  This is when for one reason or another all four swings are in the show at the same time!  This happened because we had two cast members out sick, one on a personal day and one on vacation. How exciting for us! The only time we really got to meet onstage was as dance partners in the closing number of Act I, “Voulez Vous”. Sounds like a nice husband and wife moment to share doesn’t it? Well, Chris was on as a “dad cover” and therefore “Patches” in this particular number. The “Patches”persona, is not a scripted character but rather has to do with the costume Chris was given to wear in this track. It is an amazing collection of pieces. We start off with the denim, bell-bottom jeans that are sprayed gold all over and have silver flames running down the outside of the legs. Did we mention they are so tight, they’re basically painted on?  Next, is the lovely crop-top (yes) in denim and tulle patchwork (thus- Patches). Finish it off with silver, high-top converse and a shark-tooth necklace and it’s time to dance! Clearly, it’s not a choice, “Patches” was born this way.  Anyhow, it was a ton of fun and a dream come true to dance together on a Broadway tour.

Perhaps, you’re wondering what a swing is and what the difference is between that and an understudy or a stand-by.  Well, let us tell you.  A stand-by is someone who is not usually in the show, but is at the theatre and ready to go on at a moment’s notice if the star of the show can’t perform (we don’t have any of those).  An understudy is usually someone who is in the ensemble of show, whose job is to also learn one or two principle roles in case that person is out for any reason.  A swing is someone who doesn’t have a set role in the show, but has to know several different ensemble “tracks” (one person’s show from start to finish) and is ready to go on when an ensemble is out for any reason.  We are both swings.  Rachel covers all 7 female ensemble tracks and Chris covers all 7 male ensemble tracks, plus understudies one role. 

Well now it’s time for us to head to the theatre! We hope you enjoyed this first little slice of our lives and we’ll keep working on filling you in. Soon to come- a tour schedule, pictures, and more stories!!! Stay tuned!

Love,

The Traveling Myers’ J