I am prone to bouts of nostalgia. I get fragile meeting school-mates for the first time in more than a decade; my vision blurs at the sight of childhood photos; I become teary when my mum mentions a long-dead family pet. So it was inevitable that the last of four 8bb trips to University of Michigan would be fraught with “last times”: last time at Arbor Brewing; last time being driven around by our sassy, UMS-provided driver; last time receiving a free New York Times at our hotel (a very rare treat!); last time working with UMich’s fantastically talented students.
Due to technical difficulties, and after much delicate negotiation, the venue for our performance of The Only Moving Thing was changed to Mendelssohn Theater, a playhouse of moderate (700 seat) capacity. Due to the small size of the new venue, we agreed to play two shows back-to-back; one at 7pm and one at 9.30pm. Crazy, right? It was definitely one of 8bb’s many it-seemed-like-a-good-idea-at-the-time decisions.
Our day of hell would be the model for successive TOMT performance days: 9am load-in, everyone present; 10am tech setup, with Stage Manager Barbara Whitney, the Mac and the venue’s tech guys; 1pm general setup; 2pm sound check and Reich rehearsal; 4pm lighting setup then cue-to-cue rehearsal; general last minute freakout as concert time rushed towards us.
We made it off the stage 45 minutes before our first show. Apart from an intermission during each performance (which essentially gave us time to prepare the stage for the complex second half), we had only one 45-minute-long break during the next four long hours. This was 8bb’s Tristan (except with less sex and death) or Meistersinger (except with less insufferably pompous nationalistic bombast), and it brought to mind and old Birgit Nilsson comment, that the secret to singing Isolde was “comfortable shoes.”
Below, a final shot of 8bb with our tolerant chauffeur Mary Roeder:
Below, the University of Michigan’s incredibly sophisticated theft-aversion tactic: cause thieves such guilt that they return the music stand to its rightful place:
Replacing sand in the TOMT show were different sorts of grain: barley, quinua, millet. These make a whole lot less mess, and encouraged a lot of 8bb comments:
“New music that truly is wholesome!”
“Keepin’ you regular in 07-08!”
Below, UMich bribery at work. The university’s development office traded free popcorn for student signatures:
Below, an infamous intersection on State street. As on most college campuses, students drift across the road, totally oblivious to the law, safety, a sense of propriety…
“We should just run them down.”
“Great idea.”
“Nobody’d miss them. You just have to wash the blood out of the fender, then ‘bob’s your uncle’!”
Below, just another night out during an 8bb tour. The Mac and I each enjoy Michigan brewpub Grizzly Peak’s 9-beer(!) sampler. The verdict? “Meh… Pale imitation of good beer.”
Below, the Kap was feeling artistic during our dress rehearsal…
Below, evidence of how exhausted we all were during our double-bill in Michigan. Notice three bizarre spelling’s of “tomato” while writing our orders from Potbelly Sandwiches: tomatoe (the Duv), to-mah-to (the Aussie trying to be funny), tomatio (the Ing).
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