On Saturday, June 21, 2008 Rob and I left San Francisco on our summer road-trip to Chattanooga, Tennessee (our new home). Before we left, we said farewell to in^significant others at Pier 39. The show was fantastic. The cast and the band were in top form and it was truly a great show. At the end of the night (after the bows) Jay brought me up on stage to present me with a photo of the entire company signed by everyone (which is sitting across the room from me now in Chattanooga). in^significant others has been a part of my life since early, early 2006 so there were a few tears shed that night, too. Lots of changes will be taking place now in that show as it nears its 100th performance later this month (July 19th, I think it is - check out the website at www.isomusical.com).
By Sunday evening, July 22, we rolled in to Santa Fe and stayed with our friend Alexander Shaia. It was a lovely visit and my first time to Santa Fe. He's got a great place there and we toured a little bit of the town in the day and a half that we were there.
Tuesday we headed off to Denton, Texas - the new home for my parents - and met up with my younger sister, Ida and here youngest daughter, Becky; my parents and my oldest sister, Jenny and her youngest daughter, Gaby. A good time was had by all as we stayed in Denton and Ft. Worth and our other sister, Ruth met up with us the next day. We all got to hang out for a couple of days at my parents' place in Denton and mostly at my sister Ida's pool in Flower Mound. We had a ball, it was great to have a sort of impromptu family reunion.
After Texas, we headed to Memphis for our first Tennessee stop. Our friends Vince and Ray were gracious hosts for another day and a half and we got to see Beale street and some other places of interest in Memphis and where they live outside of Memphis in Olive Branch, Mississippi. We had authentic pork barbecue and even some Rotelle with Velveta. Yum.
Then we were off to Chattanooga! We arrived here on the evening of June 30, safe and sound. Our hosts Jerry and Adam have been so kind and generous. On Wednesday the 2nd we were able to drive up to Nashville to visit with Rob's brother, Billy, his wife Jean and son Justin. That was lots of fun. Billy's barbershop choir was competing in a large competition there and we got to hear them rehearse and spend a good afternoon together.
July 3rd was the star spangled supper at CTC (Chattanooga Theatre Centre) followed by the symphony concert in Coolidge park and the beautiful fireworks over the Tennessee River. What a gorgeous evening. We had the honor of meeting the conductor of the symphony during dinner and the pleasure of listening to them afterwards. The concert, the park, the balloons, the people, the fireworks... everything was idyllic. What a welcome to such a magical little city. Sitting on the banks of the river and watching the boats on the water and the fireworks in the air was really special.
On July 4 we headed down to Blairsville, Georgia with our hosts and a couple of other friends for a relaxing weekend in the mountains before starting in the new job on Monday July 7. We really got to relax there and the locals had some fun fireworks of their own around the lake, too. Plus a lightning show on the 5th that was just as fun as the fireworks.
Now that it is the evening of July 9, I've had three days working as the incoming Producing Director at Chattanooga Theatre Centre and I know I'm going to love it there. Jeffrey Brown (the outgoing Producing Director) has been showing me the ropes and everyone there has been terrific. I keep meeting new people and learning new things every day. Big weekend this weekend with Ken Ludwig's Leading Ladies opening Friday and Pearl Cleage's Bourbon At The Border closing on Saturday. Jeffrey's swan song as director is David Lindsay Abaire's Wonder of the World which will open August 1st. It is all lots of fun and exciting and I'll be posting here often about it once we get all settled.
