24 Random Hours in Whitewater, WI

The past 24 hours are sort of an interesting microcosm of life on the road so here are little snippets of what went on during our most recent stop.

We headed out of Appleton straight for Whitewater, WI  - about 3 hours south.  Got to town and checked into our hotel with a little spare time so I went across the street to a Walmart to try to find a microphone and USB cable.  I'm going to be doing some interviews on the road that Evalyn Baron may use on "Theater Matters", her radio show on Emory and Henry's radio station.  I didn't find either one but I did find Vince McGill who was also doing a little shopping.

Made it back to the hotel and spent some time reading then it was time to go to the theatre.  We were performing in the Young Auditorium on the campus of the University of Wisconsin - Whitewater and the theater is less than a mile from our hotel, so Gannon McHale and I walked over there.

My camera is not working so I've been borrowing one of Mike O's cameras to get shots.  But when Gannon and I were starting out for the campus I couldn't find the camera.  I looked all over my room but no luck.  I knew that I brought it from Appleton, so I just figured I'd find it Thursday morning before the matinee.

Had a good show with nearly a 1000 in the audience Wednesday night and several of us attended a brief and informal reception in the lobby after the show.  Again we found the folks of Wisconsin to be delightful hosts. UWW is a school of about 10,000 students and it is primarily a business school although it has a beautiful theater that any performing arts program would love to have.

After a good night's sleep we got up to head back to the theater at about 8:45.  We had to check out before leaving since we would be at UWW until well after noon.  I had searched my room again for the camera but still couldn't find it so I scoured the bus for it.  No luck.

As I turned in my room keys to the front desk I took one last shot and asked if anyone had turned in a camera case and - hallelujah! - someone had found it in the lobby and turned it in.  (The people in Wisconsin are obviously also very honest.)

We got to the theater and I had a little time so I headed out to get a few shots.

Young Auditorium at the University of Wisconsin - Whitewater

After I got the shots inside the theater I headed to the lobby to go outside to get some photos.  I'm not proud of what happened next, but in the interest of full disclosure I will admit to it.  I was walking down a corridor that had full-length glass panels that ran down one wall.  The glass side looked out over the lawn in front of the theater and  I was headed toward the door leading outside.  As I walked to the door I was looking out the glass to find a good spot from which to shoot.  I was hurrying because I wanted to get the shot and get back to the dressing room to get ready for the show, so my focus was outside and not in the hallway.  I was almost at the door when - BAM! - I ran headfirst into a thick glass panel which ran perpendicular to the outside glass and that separated the hallway from the actual door.

The impact busted my upper lip which immediately ballooned to twice it's normal size plus there was a healthy amount of blood running down my face.  My eye and cheekbone also were swelling.  I headed back to the dressing room to clean off the blood and put ice on my face.  Fortunately the Boss in Of Mice and Men can have a black eye and swollen lip if he wants to (he's a tough guy) as long as the audience didn't know that it happened because the Boss was too dumb to watch where he was going.  So I figured everything would be fine.  And it was.

Again a great audience of around 1000 people and a great show.

But I never got my shots outside the theater because during the show it had started to rain and it rained the rest of the afternoon.  Mike O was teaching a Master Class on the business of acting to a classroom of students after the matinee, so most of the rest of us headed downtown via the bus to get some lunch.  And finally around 3 PM we left Whitewater on our way to Wausau.

So you see how things work.  And no, I don't have any animosity toward Mike O, even though it was his camera that he let me borrow that was the motivating factor in me busting my lip and eye.  And no hard feeling for the folks at the front desk who found the camera and returned it to me, either.   Nor do I blame the people at UWW who have such a beautiful campus that I wanted to get some photos of it.   Nope.  No hard feelings at all.   Nope.   I don't blame any of them.  Nope.

Now please excuse me while I go ice my face.