Leaving Tokyo is such sweet sorrow.....

The excitement continues!!!!  Our trip to Japan has been a whirlwind, but an amazing one.  It’s hard to believe we’ve only been here two weeks; I think most of us could be here for a month or more with no problem.  But, without further ado, on to the events of the second week in Tokyo!

Things started off strong on Monday.  After a very late night bowling and singing, we woke up very early and made the trek on the train out to watch Grand Sumo at Ryogoku Kokugikan.  What an amazing experience!  There were very few people there, but that allowed us the ability to sit together as a large group and witness a sport that we know very little about and talk about it together.  They also had the most amazing soft serve ice cream any of us have ever had…..vanilla and mocha swirl.  That was my lunch. 

After watching for a few hours, the majority of us headed home to rest a bit.  I went to lunch with David at my favorite Ramen place, and we headed to find a chopstick store that Rie had told us about.  Only one stop away on the train, it was pretty easy to find….eventually.  We took a bit of a wrong turn (my fault) and stumbled upon this amazing dessert place.  I noticed it because the façade had a large candelabra with what looked like donuts dripping icing hanging from it….mmmm…..donuts…..David and I sure like donuts, so we stopped by the place; Live Sweets.  We found that though they LOOKED like donuts, they were actually custard.  Regardless, it was amazing.  We back tracked and found the chopstick store, Ginza Natsuno.  With a huge array of chopsticks in various sizes, materials, colors and prices, David and I shopped for over an hour.  Following our shopping spree we headed home so that I could do some laundry and rest a bit; only to find out that I would be going on for Johnny Cash that evening!!!  My Japan debut!  It’s hard to describe how I felt that night.  I was on stage in Japan for the first time, and it had been almost 2 months since last I had performed.  I got to perform with all of my buddies in the cast, with the addition of Levi Kreiss, who won the Tony for his portrayal of Jerry Lee Lewis on Broadway.  That was enough to make it a special evening….add to that the fact that I went out to greet our fans with Eddie (our Elvis), and it just happened to all be on the eve of the 1 year anniversary of us starting rehearsals for tour.  It was truly an exceptional night.  Though, I could tell I was starting to get sick….

Tuesday was our day off, so we all met very early and headed out to Tokyo Disney Sea!  There is so much to tell about this park, but it’s so hard to describe.  The sheer scale of the park is what is so amazing.  It’s just so huge.  And all of the buildings are actual size.  The park is so clean and so detailed.  The food is fantastic, and the rides were so much fun.  My favorites were certainly 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea, Storm Riders, The Tower Of Terror and Indiana Jones.  I took more pictures there than I have ever taken at an amusement park.  I walked around in awe all day.  I just couldn’t believe what I was seeing!  I felt about 5 years old again, and it was great.  We had a long, tiring but fantastic day, and headed back home to rest up for more adventures. 

By Wednesday morning I had a full-on cold.  But, I wasn’t going to let that stop me from having fun.  I had a hot bowl of Ramen before the matinee, and after the show David, Jam, Austin, Katie, Kelly and I went to a place called Nabezo for Shabu-Shabu and sukiyaki; similar to yakiniku, you cook your meat yourself.  However, it is boiled in either a soup-like broth, or in a sweet soy mixture.  It was fantastic.  Though, it took us a while to figure out what we were doing because we didn’t have Rie to help us this time.  Later, we visited the Tokyo Tower, where we were able to ride an elevator up the highest observatory…..250 meters in the air.  You cannot imagine how expansive Tokyo is.  I mean, we all knew it was a big city, but we didn’t realize it was THAT big.  It took as many pictures as I could, though some didn’t come out all that well because we were there at night. 

Thursday came, and I still wasn’t feeling much better.  After a hot bowl of soup and the matinee, I took a nap before a small group of us headed to the ACT Theatre to see the tour of Chicago.  I had a few friends in the show, so it was great to see a show I had never seen, and to hang out with them afterward.  It was a great night, overall. 

I slept in a bit on Friday and met Jam, Kelly, Katie and Lee for breakfast in our building at a place called Jean Francois; a nice little French bakery with delicious pastries and iced coffee.  Once we were fueled and ready to go, we took the Ginza line train all the way to the last stop: Asakusa. 

There we shopped for a while on historic Nakamise Street, and visited the Senso-ji Temple, one of the oldest and most important in Tokyo.  Once again I took a million pictures and got my pilgrimage book stamped.  It was a very warm day, but totally worth it to see the temple and the HUGE pagoda nearby.  And, to get some gifts for family and friends.  On our way back home, we stopped at the chopstick store again, AND, I got to get a couple of pins to add to my tour jacket from the Hard Rock Café in Roppongi!!!!

After the show that evening, the Thunderstudies and I were asked to take part in what became not only one of the highlights of tour, but also a truly lifechanging event.  We were asked to speak to a group of 70 students who are learning English.  They had all seen the show that evening, and were so excited to meet us.  We sat on a small stage and introduced ourselves, and then mingled through the crowd, talking to large groups of people, and getting to know one another.  Within moments, the language barrier completely broke down.  They were excited to use their English when speaking to us, and we were excited to use what little Japanese we know to speak to them!  They offered us pizza and Kirin beer…..but, most of us didn’t even care to eat or drink because we were having so much fun talking.  We posed for a bunch of pictures, and were even given a gift: pigeon cookies (see the picture here of one of the students presenting me mine).  Very famous in Tokyo, and they come from Kamakura, where we had been only a few days before.  Eventually we had to leave, but none of us really wanted to.  It was so nice to connect with these people, and to see the pure excitement on their faces that we had taken the time to come and talk to them.  Just incredible. 

 

Time was growing short in Tokyo, and we were all starting to realize how much we really didn’t want to leave.  On Saturday, Billy got the chance to go on as Elvis at the matinee, and the theatre was nice enough to provide us with some amazing pork cutlet sandwiches from Maisen, another popular place in Tokyo.  Following the eveing show, we were invited to try a few different varieties of sake. 

In between shows on Sunday, we were cooked an amazing meal.  Noodles, octopus, dumplings, and even some KFC.  And yes, even THAT is better here.  They also made us an MDQ cake!

 

 Before the evening show we all gathered on stage and were presented a series of gifts from our presenters and the theatre staff.  Most important of which, is an MDQ t-shirt with the names of every single cast and crew member, including the local crew!  It’s something I will treasure for a very long time. 

Well, we just finished our final show here in Tokyo, and our final night awaits.  Tomorrow we will be heading to Osaka on the bullet train, and though we are excited for a new adventure, it’s hard to leave Tokyo.  These people have given us so much, and there’s no way to repay all of the kindness they have shown us. 

I hope you enjoy the updates from the road, and please stay tuned for more news from Osaka!!!

 

 

Our amazing first week in Tokyo

Hello, all!  It’s been a long time since I’ve posted, but I’m going to try to pack a lot into these next few blogs.  Currently we are in Tokyo, Japan, and we are seeing so much that I’ve been having to keep track of what I do on a daily basis in order to report back what it is that we’ve been seeing!  But first, I will start with our brief time in New York City for rehearsals…..

Since it had been almost a full year since I had been in NYC, I made it a point to see a few shows while I was there.  We were only in town for 4 nights, and I saw 3 shows; not a bad average.  We rehearsed in a dance studio (Gibney Dance Studio) during the day on Wednesday and Thursday after arriving in town on Tuesday.  It was a bit of a whirlwind, but I had a great time.  Rehearsals were quick, painless and productive, leaving me the evenings to catch up on seeing some theatre.  I got tickets to see Once on Wednesday….and let me tell you, it was worth the wait.  John Michael, Austin and I all went up on stage before the show started to grab a beer at the bar onstage.  And then, I stood mere feet away from my friend Mike Zygo as he and the cast played some amazing “pre show” Irish folk songs.  We were completely blown away by the show.  And I couldn’t have been more proud of Mike.  After the show he took us backstage for a little tour.  I got to hang out quite a bit with him and his wife Jill over my time in NYC, and it was really awesome to see them again.  On Thursday night I had the pleasure of seeing Into The Woods at the Delacorte Theatre in Central Park.  Tickets are very hard to come by; you basically have to camp out in the park and wait until the box office opens the following day.  Tickets are free, but go very quickly.  So, my friend Robin camped out, and we headed to the show that evening.  An amazing concept, and a fantastic production overall.  And it was a real treat to be able to see Dennis O’hare, Amy Adams and most importantly, Donna Murphy in person.  On Friday morning, I took a trek out to Brooklyn to get my hair cut at Tomcats, a rockabilly barber shop.  I was in need of a trim, and what a rad little place.  It was well worth the trip out there.  I got a few errands done during the day, and chose to see something completely different that evening: Silence! The Musical.  A ridiculously bawdy and hilarious spoof on the movie Silence Of The Lambs.  I haven’t laughed that hard in a long time.  Completely ridiculous, but brilliant and very entertaining. 

The next morning, Saturday, we began our trek to Japan.  Vans picked us up at our hotel on 40th between 8th and 9th, and drove us to LaGuardia.  I was REALLY not looking forward to the 14 hour flight ahead….but I have to say, it really wasn’t that bad.  We got dinner, breakfast, a couple of snacks, hot tea, water, coffee, free drinks, AND, I watched three movies on board.  Most people feel that you should try and stay up for a few hours on the plane, sleep close to a normal night’s sleep, and then be awake for the last couple of hours on the plane; in the hopes that you will be more acclimated to the time change.  After leaving at 12:30 PM on Saturday, and a 14 hour flight, we arrived in Tokyo where it was 3:35 PM on Sunday…..yes, that’s right.  Tokyo is 13 hours ahead of EST.  That night was kind of a blur.  A group of us walked around a bit to find food, and then most of us crashed very early.  But for the next few days, of course, we woke up extremely early, feeling groggy and not quite adjusted. 

 On our first full day in Tokyo, a group of us ventured out on our first adventure in Tokyo, and our first use of the subway system.  It is quite impressive.  It may be big and confusing at times, but it is also extremely clean and efficient.  We took the Ginza Line to Ouen station, where we planned to walk around Ouen park.  It was quite beautiful.  Acres and acres of green jungle-like forest in the middle of skyscrapers.  We visited two Buddhist temples while we were there.  The first was the Kiyomizo Kannon-do, and the second was Bentendo.  These temples sell what are called “pilgrimage books”, that you can have stamped by monks there, as well as have them do a page of personalized calligraphy for you for a small fee.  I bought my book and had my first two pages done that day.  They are quite amazing, and something I will cherish long after this trip is over.  We walked the grounds of the park taking tons of pictures and exploring some of what it had to offer.  There was a zoo and a 5 story pagota there, but both were closed to the public on that Monday.  We had one of our first meals within the confines of the park, and we were all quite impressed.  Ordering was a bit of a challenge at first, but we’ve certainly gotten the hang of it. 

We left the park and walked around a shopping area not far from the train station, taking in all of the sights and smells that area had to offer.  It became very clear right away that we were not in Kansas anymore……

On Tuesday I went to lunch with Chuck and a few other people at a Ramen place called Kuorokuaen.  I’ve been back several times for their inexpensive yet delicious Ramen and pork dumplings.  A bit later in the day, the entire cast met in the lobby with all of our interpreters and presenters and trekked to our first Shinto shrine, Mitake Shrine.  To see this age old shrine juxtaposed against skyscrapers was a pretty amazing sight.  They invited us to take part in the blessing, and even gave us an offering afterward.  A small rake that symbolizes money, fame and “raking it in”. 

We then had some time to rest, and headed to the theatre for our first tech run.  The building is quite amazing.  The theatre itself (Tokyo Theatre ORB) is in the middle of a skyscraper, about 15 stories up.  We are surrounded by a shopping mall and quite a few restaurants.  The theatre is quite new, so most everything is automated.  It’s really a pleasure to be here.  After rehearsal, a few of us went to a very American looking pub called the Abbot House, where we met a new friend, Pokke who took very good care of us. 

Wednesday was opening day, so it was pretty darn busy.  A small group of us headed out for breakfast and on Jam’s suggestion stopped at a place called Choco Cro.  They had great, strong iced coffee, chocolate croissants, and some French toast-like breakfast sandwiches.  At 12:30 we attended a Shinto blessing of our stage, performed by one of the same priests as the day before.  Later, we took the elevator down to the delicatessen below the theatre and wandered around looking at all of the enormous fruit, beautiful displays, and smelling the sweet smells.  Most of us got sushi and brought it back to the theatre to enjoy during the invited dress rehearsal.  After a break, we came back to open the show.  We were excited and nervous to see how the crowd would react to our show….but we were surprised to find that they were really quite vocal!  They were clapping along to almost every song, and really getting into it.  Following the performance, the entire cast and crew were escorted to the lobby to take part in the opening night festivities.  There were a series of speeches made by the people sponsoring the show, and our hosts at the Tokyo Theatre ORB.  Interestingly enough, the biggest sponsor was Suntori, known for multiple products, but made famous by Bill Murray in Lost In Translation, when he was selling their Suntori beer.  They also distribute Orangina, and strangely enough, Glen Fydich.  In fact, that is how they came to sponsor our show.  Because they are the Japanese distributor for Glen, and because it is so prominently displayed in our show, they found it to be a win win situation.  Following the party a few of us headed to an Irish bar, the Dubliner.  Nearby was a clothing store called….Moreau.  Yes, I took a ton of pictures. 

On Thursday, I ventured out to buy socks.  Yes, socks.  I only packed so many long socks, and I had already gone through them all.  I was unsuccessful.  Oh well.  I did, however get a great burger at Freshness Burger.  Then, following the matinee, Jam and I walked around the Harajuku area.  We went to Pink Dragon, a store with a bunch of Japanese rockabilly clothing and accessories.  We also got some amazing French toast a la mode at Pain Petit Pas.  We stopped by one of the biggest and craziest toy stores I have ever seen, Kiddie Land.  Everything you could ever imagine might be in a Japanese toy store was there.  And more.  That evening, the cast of the Chicago tour came to see our show, and a bunch of us hung out afterward at a place called 82 Alehouse. 

Friday was an epic journey to Kamakura.  A vast area of temples, shrines, oceanfront, and rolling green hills.  Our first stop was to the see the Great Buddha, or Amita Buddha Daibatsu.  An awe inspiring sight.  Massive, beautiful, and hard to imagine it was built almost 1,000 years ago.  There was of course a temple there to get my pilgrimage book signed at.  After leaving the temple, we sat down at a great Chinese restaurant, and continued our adventure.  We made our way to Hasadera Temple, which houses a huge beautiful statue of Kamakura.  We explored the grounds for quite some time, taking in the sights, and the view of the ocean from our high vantage point.  We made our way down to the beach, and after walking for a bit, decided it was time to head home and rest before the show that evening.  The walk wouldn’t have been complete without a stop for a frozen treat though…..I got some white peach ice cream.  MMM.  We have not had ANYTHING to eat here that was less than spectacular. 

On Saturday I went back to my “Japanese Denny’s”, Kourakuen, for Ramen.  Following the matinee, Billy, Jam and I went to Tokyo Hands; a massive craft store with more things to see than you can possibly imagine.  We made our way back to the theatre early because the people selling our merchandise in the lobby were nice enough to set up a display for us to be able to order some to take home.  Billy took us to Pepper Lunch for a sizzling plate of cook it yourself beef, creamed corn soup and potato salad.  After the evening show ended, we went back to the hotel to enjoy a free drink at the hotel bar.  Then, Rosie, Billy, Jam and I decided to bar hop a bit.  We started at Abbot House, and then on a recommendation from our buddy Pokke, we went to Shot Bar Garasha, run by his friend Jum.  It was a bit awkward at first….but once he realized why we were there, the cultural and language differences melted away, and we all had an amazing time.  It’s truly interesting to see how people from very different backgrounds and cultures can find a common ground through music, theatre, and experience. 

We had been looking forward to Sunday all week.  Rie planned a very authentic dinner for us, so all we had to do was get through the day!  That afternoon I got sushi and pork dumplings downstairs in the theatre building for the umpteenth time.  When the food is this good everywhere, you really can’t go wrong.  Following the matinee, Katie, Kelly, Austin, Jam and I went to the Disney Store to buy tickets for our upcoming adventure to Tokyo Disney Sea in advance.  Then we met Rie and went to Jayn-ka for some yakiniku style dinner.  We removed our shoes and sat around a large table and were served tray after tray of Japanese vegetables and array of meats that we cooked in front of us over open flame.  It was great to experience something so new and different together, and to have Rie there to help us know what we were supposed to do.  We didn’t miss a beat, and left dinner, heading to a bowling alley with karaoke rooms upstairs.  We bowled with Rie, Yohe and his wife Nou.  Bowling was so much fun!  I always like bowling, but with this group of people it really was a blast.  And, I bowled 5 strikes….so, not too bad!  Then we headed upstairs to sing karaoke in a private room.  Comfy couches, drinks included and good company.  What could be better?? 

Well, that is the conclusion of the blog for my first week.  Trust me…..there is much more excitement to come……

 

Oh, Canada. You crazy, crazy country.

And now I will do my best to relate the events of the past three weeks, in no particular order....

My parents came to visit in the second week with their friends George and Gail.  We embarked on a couple of journeys....the first was to the Canadian side of Niagara Falls; none of us had ever been.  For all the talk of it being prettier than the American side, I would have to disagree.  It was very hard to see the falls due to the spray, and you are really looking across at the water falling from the American side.  Also, I know everyone says that America is based on commerce, and that everything is expensive.  However, on the American side, you don't have to pay to be shuttled from point to point.  And, there are information booths, not just ticket counters.  So, I would have to say that the trip I took with the boys and Rosie when we were in Buffalo was much more fullfilling.  Eventhough it was 20 degrees.....

My second venture with my parents and their friends was to the CN Tower in downtown Toronto.  Located next to the Rogers Center (formally the Sky Dome) where the Blue Jays play (more on that later), it gives an amazing view of the entirety of Toronto.  I got some amazing pictures (see above) and we had a great time up there.  We also headed to Casa Loma, a castle in the middle of downtown.  Stunning architecture, furniture, decorations.  Again, see the pictures above.   

We welcomed 2 new cast members to our show, as I had referenced in my last blog.  Eddie Clendening joined us as Elvis, and Katie Barton joined us as our new Dyanne understudy.  A bunch of us got to see Eddie play a gig downtown....and let me tell you...that boy can pick.  I sat in awe watching him play the what's what of rockabilly.  Damn.  And, we were lucky enough to watch Katie go on as Dyanne.  She is an amazing performer, and a great addition to our team.  In fact, every understudy went on at least once in Toronto.  I had the pleasure of going on as Sam for two performances, and as Cash the following week.  In fact, my second show as Sam was our 300th performance!  It was an honor being onstage for that milestone! And, getting to perform definitely breaks up the monotony of being in a city for 3 weeks when you are an understudy. 

We did a good amount of promotions in Toronto as well.  I got to go on TV with Jam for the first time in a long while, and.....one of the highlights of tour.....me and the Thunderstudy boys were lucky enough to sing the National Anthem and Oh, Canada at a Toronto Blue Jays vs. Oakland A's game (see video below).  Anytime I can mix music and baseball is a dream come true.  And, this time, we were able to sit and watch the game after we sang, which made it even better.  I may be a die hard Red Sox fan, but it was great to see a nail biter of a baseball game.  And, at a place I never thought I would go. 

Hmm.  Trying to think of other highlights.  Mostly, we were all ready to get a nice long break after Toronto.  We got that wish.....we are off for 5 weeks before we head to our second and final international stop....Tokyo.  I am excited and a bit nervous about being all the way over there....but I'm sure we will have a great time and see things that many of us will never see again.  In this break, I am going to do my best to relax, get a lot better at guitar, learn a little Japanese, and hit the gym. 

So, for now, I will be saying goodbye for a bit.  But, please tune in in a few weeks for news from Tokyo......AND, perhaps in the next couple of weeks I will unvail my tour jacket with all of the pins I have collected these last 11 months, as well as my guitar case covered with stickers from the road.  More news, and excitement to come.  Enjoy the summer! 

"Remember, dear readers, you heard it here first. Off the record, on the QT, and very Hush-Hush"

Ah, La La Land.  Well, folks, this blog marks the end of an era.  We said goodbye to two members of our original cast on closing night.  Cody Slaughter, our Elvis, and Alyssa Marie, our Dyanne understudy both have left us, but we keep trucking on.  Eddie Clendening, original Chicago/Broadway/Off-Broadway Elvis, joins us in Toronto through Tokyo and Katie Barton is on as our new Dyanne understudy for quite a while.  Though we welcome them with open arms, we will miss our original cast (see the picture of the full company on our last day together above). 

Los Angeles was full of adventures, drama, mystery, intrigue....everything you would expect from Hollywood.  So, it true Hollywood style, ala Quentin Tarantino, I will relate my experiences from the City of the Angels in no particular order.....since I can't seem to remember the exact order of things....which is why I never wait this long to write my blog.  Ce la vie. 

Our opening night was full of glitz and glitter.  Quite a few stars showed up to the historic Pantages Theatre to see our show.  Most notabley, Pricilla Presley was there....and boy howdy did she love Cody.  She came backstage to take pictures with the cast, and praised Cody and the rest of the boys and m'am.  Pretty amazing. 

The boys and m'am did quite a bit of promotion for the show in our two weeks in LA; the coolest one was that they peformed on Good Morning, LA, AND on Access Hollywood....the latter broadcasting nationwide.  Pretty damn cool, and great exposure for MDQ if you ask me. 

I was only in LA for 6 hours before, and when I was here, I got the BEST 6 hour tour I could've possibly gotten from a buddy of mine, Kyle.  I got to hang out with him for an evening this time, and throughout my time I was able to see a lot of great new things, and revisit some of the places he took me.  The observatory at Griffith Park was a must see for me.  When he took me there, it was under construction, so I could only view it from afar.  This time, I was able to go up there and view the entire property and take pictures of the Hollywood sign, as well as the LA skyline.  The reason I NEEDED to go up there, is that one of my favorite movies, Rebel Without A Cause was mostly shot there.  They even have a statue commemorating James Dean (see the photo above, and the one of me reinacting one of my favorite moments from the film).  So rad. 

I went to probably the biggest record store I have ever seen near our hotel.....Amoeba Music.  Hot damn is that an awesome store.  I of course found some Johnny Cash rarites, a Motorhead record, and most importantly, stickers for my guitar case, and buttons for my tour tribute jacket (when I leave tour, which may be never, I will show you the finished products of each). 

A few of us took the trek to Anaheim to visit Disneyland.  Though I have been to Disney World quite a few times, it was a fantastic experience to visit the place that started it all.  Though they are both obviously very similar, there are quite a few differences between the parks.  Even the rides that are at both parks are markedly different.  And, they have California Adventure....which closed and reopened just before we got there.  The newest, coolest, and most impressive part being Cars Land.  The Radiator Springs ride is supposed to be the best ride in the world.  Having ridden it....I can tell you it is TOTALLY worth the 3 hour wait.  I assure you.  So cool, that I had to buy and watch the movie Cars; the park is EXACTLY as it is in the movie.  Breathtaking, really. 

Above all, it was great to hang out with some old friends, and visit with some new ones.  It definitely lifts my spirits to not only have good people on tour to be around, but to find different and new people to spend time with. 

Well, I left LA and headed home to Maine.  Again, it was great to spend some time with my family and to reconnect with friends.  I went to a birthday party for one of my old coworkers, and it was great to hang out with them outside of work.  And, I got to see a show at Maine State Music Theatre; Legally Blonde, featuring my friend Lara.  Not only was it a great show, but it was awesome to hang out with her and the cast at my favorite brewery, The Seadog in Topsham.  It's a very special theatre to me; it's in the town where my dad taught high school for 40 years, I saw my first shows there, and it was also my first professional theatre job.  Things certainly come full circle. 

Now we are here in Toronto, the first of two international stops on our tour.  So, I'm sure I will have a lot more to talk about in the next few weeks.  Stay tuned for my blog from Canada, eh?

The home of CSI!!! Oh, and I heard there are some shows and gambling here or something....

Hello all!  I hope you are well!  This past week we were in Sin City; Las Vegas.  And, although the week started out strongly, let me tell you.....it is NOT my kind of town. 

First of all, we stepped off the plane into 106 degree weather.  And it was about that temperature the whole week.  That said, it was a pretty good week.  We stayed at the Golden Nugget Casino, on the "old strip" near Fremont St.  There were certainly a lot of things to see.....some of them I wish I hadn't.....but the area we stayed in afforded us the ability to see the most of what Vegas had to offer. 

Our hotel had a fish tank adjacent to the pool....and a 3 floor waterslide that actually went through the tank.....filled with a bunch of different, large fish, and quite a few sharks.  I got the chance to swim a bit and ride the slide on one of our last days in town.  It was pretty awesome....though, you really couldn't see the fish as well as I had hoped while riding the slide. 

I was joined by a very good friend for most of the week, and we were able to see a lot around us.  I tried to make it to the boys and m'am's promo at the Hard Rock on Tuesday, but given that there are 3 Hard Rocks in Vegas.....I not only got lost, but went to the wrong one.  Oh well.  At least I got to see the Hard Rock, and get my pins!

I watched the show opening night.....the theatre we played, the Smith Center, was magnificent.  A brand new space, costing more than $500,000,000 (see pictures above).  Other than a few kinks that I'm sure they will work out, the theatre is stunning. The sound and space are wonderful, and I hope that the people of Las Vegas know what a jewel they have in that theatre. 

Among other stops, I had to hit Hash House A Go Go.  Famous for their chicken and waffles, I got one of the biggest blueberry pancakes I have ever seen in my life.  It was so good I had to go back the next day to get something else. 

I got to walk around the Flamingo hotel a bit, and most importantly Caesar's Palace.  What a beautiful place.  John Michael had been there before, so he brought me to the Forum shops there, and all over the complex to take pictures (see above). 

Vastly different from Caesar's was Circus Circus.  Much different than I expected.....it's very much oriented to children and families, with rides and midway style games everywhere.  It was a fun day there, but I'm certainly glad we weren't staying at that hotel. 

On Friday, I drove the boys and Rosie to the Stratosphere.  Similar to Seattle's Space Needle, it offers amazing views of the entire area....with visibilty for miles and miles.  The highest observation deck sits just under 900 feet.  But that's not the only reason we were up there.....we went up so that the boys could ride the ridiculous rides up there.  I would try to explain, but I would much rather have you watch the video below.....

One of the highlights of the cast's week was heading to the Neon Museum.  Not far from the hotel, it is a collection and preservation of some of the classic signs from Vegas' history.  I took hundreds of pictures.  The downside was, at 106 degrees, it was more like 115 in the sun with no shade.  But, it was worth it. 

I also got to go on twice in Las Vegas.  The first time on Friday for the entire creative staff and producers as Sam Phillips, and Sunday's matinee as Johnny Cash.  It was great to go on as always, and I loved being able to perform in such a brand new space. 

However, by the end of the week I was very much ready to leave.  An expensive pair of headphones were stolen out of my bag in my dressing room, and the heat and prices really started to get to me.  As one person in our group said, "Vegas is the type of place you want to stay for 2 days.  Not a week". 

So, we're here in Los Angeles for the next two weeks before we get a week off for July 4th.  With tons of friends out here, some visiting, and lots of sights to see, I'm sure i'll have much more to report next week.  Enjoy!