I love you, Ottawa
Thursday was another two show day, with some yummy seafood on my dinner break with Kyle and Janice, and then it was Friday, our official opening! It went pretty well, and then afterwards we had a party at the Metropolitan, a restaurant nearby. Tons of free flowing food and liquor made for a very happy cast, and spirits were high. Cool weather, lots of parties, good hotels... these things combined to put everyone in a very good mood.
Then on Saturday our review came out. Not that it was bad, it actually complemented everyone heavily, especially the Phantom. That was the problem. The columnist also noticed the fine print in the program saying that John, our Phantom, was going on vacation after a week. Then she wrote the whole review about how the show was good now, but who knew what would happen when we had a Phantom understudy on. She said that people should have been warned, and basically accused the show of being smarmy. It stirred up a whole lot of drama, especially since the same columnist had interviewed John earlier in the week for a press-release and had criticized him then for being "too careful" with his words, and not giving up any good gossip. DUH! We can get fired for gossiping in the press! Anyway, the whole thing made the company a little wary, since now we were hearing rumors that people were trying to return tickets, and we were wondering if quieter audiences were just part of Ottawa or if they hated us.
Luckily we shook it off pretty quickly, thanks to some city lovin' that seems to be contagious. Saturday and Sunday's shows went well, with great groups of us heading to the fantastic ByWard Market area (ten minute walk from the theatre). It's a whole area filled with restaurants, shops, and a great outdoor market that's fun and kind of hippie-ish. It's the perfect place to kill time between shows. With the amazing weather we all just walk and talk and eat outside, and it's wonderful how it keeps your spirits up. The only real additional drama was when one of the pyro effects didn't work during Saturday's matinee, but if that's the worst that happens, we're ok. I ended the week exhausted, but optimistic. Then on Monday, I clinched it!
My friends Emily, Jen, and Triana and I decided to do something uniquely Ottawa, so we met up in the early morning (11:30 am - can you believe they made me get up that early?!) and rented bikes! Ottawa has a giant canal, called the Rideau Canal, that runs down the middle of the city, which I believe was originally built to transport military equipment, aid in defense, and then later to move goods, without having to involve the US. There's a fantastic 8km bike trail starting near the Parliament building and heading South past some of the famous locks that are still in use today. The weather when we arrived at Parliament was unbelievable, so we headed down to rent bikes.
Emily works for company management, Jen is our concertmaster (first violinist), and Triana is a ballerina. Jen is also about 4'11, and hadn't ridden a bike in about 15 years. When we first arrived, I pointed out a kid's bike to Jen, and suggested that she try it out. I was quickly shot down by an actual little girl who said, "it's MY bike!" Luckily there were more bikes, and soon we were all outfitted, including a helmet for the trepidatious Jen. We took off at a pretty slow pace, and the ride was great. Riding along the Eastern side of the canal we could see adorable apartment buildings and houses, with the cutest architecture. There were neat bridges, and lots of greenery. BUT - about fifteen minutes in Jen took a tumble. Luckily we were at a section of the bike path where there was a railing between us and the canal, and she fell into that instead of the water. However, as she's a violinist, we were a little nervous about her bumped elbow and shin. But she was such a trooper that after a break we continued on.
We rode for two and a half hours, covering the 8km trail down the East side and back up the West side of the canal. We ran into one of our crew guys, Dean, along the way, and we took a few short breaks. I rode almost the whole second half standing up, since my butt was majorly sore. The views were great, the flowers were bright and stunning, and we even got some fun photos out of the day. As we slowly pedaled back to return the bikes, we had big smiles on our faces. Just as we were almost there, we ran into our Raoul, Greg. He had just come back from the gym and was on his way to lunch. We were about to eat our hands, so we made plans to meet at the Fairmont Chateau Laurier and get some eating done.
The FCL is a gorgeous hotel that looks like a Disney castle. It's right across from Parliament, and it's very fancy. After we returned our bikes (and got a great discount because the guy "was so glad that we had a good time" - can you believe the niceness of Canadians?) we met up at the Fairmont's outdoor restaurant and had a delicious meal while we overlooked Parliament and the Canal. Originally the day had possibly included facials, but when we called and they were booked, we made new plans. After lunch we headed to Rue Sparks (rue being French for street), a great pedestrian mall with junky shops, restaurants, and eventually a mall. The five of us walked and laughed and stopped to rest our aching feet in Starbucks and wait for our second wind. It came in the idea of hitting up the hot tub at the Extended Stay (my hotel), so we all booked to grab bathing suits, and met up there.
Dean joined us, and we ran into Edgar and Scarlett, two more crew members who had the same idea. It was great on our sore muscles, and after an hour of hot water we were laughed out, tired, and hungry again. We all showered and met back in the lobby around 8:30, before setting out to get some dinner. Jen, Emily, Triana, Greg, Dean and I enjoyed some great pub food before setting out on yet another adventure. This time, we caught a ten o'clock screening of the show on the side of Parliament. It's a laser light show, that basically puts giant projections on the front side of the building. It plays music and tells the story of Canada. It was a little funny, but very educational. Jen and Triana and I were freezing, so we stood in the back and danced around and had a generally great time.
As we walked home, we decided to make it a full 12 hours of hang-out time, so we all stopped at Dunn's, the 24-hour deli between hotels, where we dined on desserts and hot chocolate. Then I stumbled home, full and exhausted, and loooooving this great city!
Then on Saturday our review came out. Not that it was bad, it actually complemented everyone heavily, especially the Phantom. That was the problem. The columnist also noticed the fine print in the program saying that John, our Phantom, was going on vacation after a week. Then she wrote the whole review about how the show was good now, but who knew what would happen when we had a Phantom understudy on. She said that people should have been warned, and basically accused the show of being smarmy. It stirred up a whole lot of drama, especially since the same columnist had interviewed John earlier in the week for a press-release and had criticized him then for being "too careful" with his words, and not giving up any good gossip. DUH! We can get fired for gossiping in the press! Anyway, the whole thing made the company a little wary, since now we were hearing rumors that people were trying to return tickets, and we were wondering if quieter audiences were just part of Ottawa or if they hated us.
Luckily we shook it off pretty quickly, thanks to some city lovin' that seems to be contagious. Saturday and Sunday's shows went well, with great groups of us heading to the fantastic ByWard Market area (ten minute walk from the theatre). It's a whole area filled with restaurants, shops, and a great outdoor market that's fun and kind of hippie-ish. It's the perfect place to kill time between shows. With the amazing weather we all just walk and talk and eat outside, and it's wonderful how it keeps your spirits up. The only real additional drama was when one of the pyro effects didn't work during Saturday's matinee, but if that's the worst that happens, we're ok. I ended the week exhausted, but optimistic. Then on Monday, I clinched it!
My friends Emily, Jen, and Triana and I decided to do something uniquely Ottawa, so we met up in the early morning (11:30 am - can you believe they made me get up that early?!) and rented bikes! Ottawa has a giant canal, called the Rideau Canal, that runs down the middle of the city, which I believe was originally built to transport military equipment, aid in defense, and then later to move goods, without having to involve the US. There's a fantastic 8km bike trail starting near the Parliament building and heading South past some of the famous locks that are still in use today. The weather when we arrived at Parliament was unbelievable, so we headed down to rent bikes.
Emily works for company management, Jen is our concertmaster (first violinist), and Triana is a ballerina. Jen is also about 4'11, and hadn't ridden a bike in about 15 years. When we first arrived, I pointed out a kid's bike to Jen, and suggested that she try it out. I was quickly shot down by an actual little girl who said, "it's MY bike!" Luckily there were more bikes, and soon we were all outfitted, including a helmet for the trepidatious Jen. We took off at a pretty slow pace, and the ride was great. Riding along the Eastern side of the canal we could see adorable apartment buildings and houses, with the cutest architecture. There were neat bridges, and lots of greenery. BUT - about fifteen minutes in Jen took a tumble. Luckily we were at a section of the bike path where there was a railing between us and the canal, and she fell into that instead of the water. However, as she's a violinist, we were a little nervous about her bumped elbow and shin. But she was such a trooper that after a break we continued on.
We rode for two and a half hours, covering the 8km trail down the East side and back up the West side of the canal. We ran into one of our crew guys, Dean, along the way, and we took a few short breaks. I rode almost the whole second half standing up, since my butt was majorly sore. The views were great, the flowers were bright and stunning, and we even got some fun photos out of the day. As we slowly pedaled back to return the bikes, we had big smiles on our faces. Just as we were almost there, we ran into our Raoul, Greg. He had just come back from the gym and was on his way to lunch. We were about to eat our hands, so we made plans to meet at the Fairmont Chateau Laurier and get some eating done.
The FCL is a gorgeous hotel that looks like a Disney castle. It's right across from Parliament, and it's very fancy. After we returned our bikes (and got a great discount because the guy "was so glad that we had a good time" - can you believe the niceness of Canadians?) we met up at the Fairmont's outdoor restaurant and had a delicious meal while we overlooked Parliament and the Canal. Originally the day had possibly included facials, but when we called and they were booked, we made new plans. After lunch we headed to Rue Sparks (rue being French for street), a great pedestrian mall with junky shops, restaurants, and eventually a mall. The five of us walked and laughed and stopped to rest our aching feet in Starbucks and wait for our second wind. It came in the idea of hitting up the hot tub at the Extended Stay (my hotel), so we all booked to grab bathing suits, and met up there.
Dean joined us, and we ran into Edgar and Scarlett, two more crew members who had the same idea. It was great on our sore muscles, and after an hour of hot water we were laughed out, tired, and hungry again. We all showered and met back in the lobby around 8:30, before setting out to get some dinner. Jen, Emily, Triana, Greg, Dean and I enjoyed some great pub food before setting out on yet another adventure. This time, we caught a ten o'clock screening of the show on the side of Parliament. It's a laser light show, that basically puts giant projections on the front side of the building. It plays music and tells the story of Canada. It was a little funny, but very educational. Jen and Triana and I were freezing, so we stood in the back and danced around and had a generally great time.
As we walked home, we decided to make it a full 12 hours of hang-out time, so we all stopped at Dunn's, the 24-hour deli between hotels, where we dined on desserts and hot chocolate. Then I stumbled home, full and exhausted, and loooooving this great city!
posted by Beth at 12:32 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home