thirteen ways

Well, technically this is not a letter “from Australia,” but from the cramped, unpleasant United Airlines terminal at LAX during an interminable, pizza-stuffed, caffeine-fueled 7-hour layover on the way to Tempe, Arizona. Despite this my thoughts (and heart) are still in Australia.

We were in Melbourne for two performances at the Melbourne International Arts Festival, and although reviews aren’t yet in, our Aussie debut seems to have been a small but significant success. Our appearance received little press coverage, and there were lots of spare seats in an already intimate space (just 300 seats), but the reaction was very positive.

8bb’s reactions to the city: clean, clean, clean, amazing coffee, great food, clean, beautiful weather, clean. All members, despite some pretty stupefying jet-lag, appear to have had a great time. I was a pretty unsuccessful tour guide, getting everyone lost on several occasions, but we managed to eat eggs in the CBD, St Kilda, Fitzroy and South Melbourne; buy ridiculous fluffy toys; sip lattes and flat whites in Flinders Lane; gorge ourselves in Chinatown (”Choinatoin”); jog through the Botanical Gardens; go to a (bloody awful) show at the Arts Centre; schmooze officials from the American Consulate; see bogans in their natural habitat; drink Aussie beer, lots of Aussie beer; eat Golden Gaytimes and Cheesymite Scrolls.

Below, Melbourne’s somewhat humble answer to NYC’s Grand Central Station, the iconic Flinders Station:

8bb-ers talking to Melbs Festival director, passionate American Kristy Edmunds (second from right), after our first night performance. She was enthusiastic about our show, and positive for future Oz bookings (apparently some 20 presenters from around the country heard our NY minimalism-fest).

Some photos from the dress rehearsal at the amazing-looking, atrocious-sounding BMW Edge theater in Federation Square:

With views of the Yarra River visible through the glass stage backdrop, the space is a beautiful place to see a show, but our inability to do a daytime rehearsal with lights had some last-minute, ulcer-causing stress for our fabulous Production Manager, Emily, who was still dealing with lighting issues until minutes before the show:

Me, taking a photo of the Phot, taking a photo of the beer. Much Aussie beer of widely varying quality was consumed at our new favorite local watering hole, Beer Deluxe, in Federation Square:

“You owe me $22.50.”

“Here…well, you didn’t say that it had to be in ONE currency.”