Kansas: The State So Nice, We Played It Twice

Nebraska may have hip boutiques and sweet running trails, but Salina, Kansas delivered us a terrific audience of kids tonight. From the moment Barney stepped out onstage to the final notes we sang in the finale, these kids sang, danced and cheered their hearts out for Barney and his friends. They waved to us from all sides of the stage, calling Barney's name and dancing to every beat. We could not have asked for a better crowd.

Enthusiastic audience aside, Salina has also given us 29 degree weather, 40 mile an hour wind and a not so fresh diner experience. However, Salina is home to the beautiful Sunset Park and War Memorial. The park is a short run from our hotel, and filled with trees, planted flowers, a stone waterfall that flows throughout the entire park, tennis courts, basketball courts and about a million horseshoe pits. Right in the center of the park is a memorial to the fallen men and women of Salina and Saline County who died in battle up through the Persian Gulf War. Running in the wind may have been rough, but seeing the park was well worth it.

Tomorrow will be our first longer bus ride - about six hours - but I've got a new book and my iPod ready to go. I finished the first Harry Potter book today, and I'm hoping to find a bookstore soon to pick up the next one. I've set out to read the entire series and see all the movies by the end of this tour. And when I do, my sister and I plan to visit the Harry Potter theme park at Universal Studios. But that's a ways off. Tomorrow we head to Oklahoma City (big city, hooray!) for a couple days and a few shows. Here's hoping for some good running, a bookstore and another great audience!

Cornhuskers

In Lincoln, Nebraska, there is a Cornhuskers football team, a Cornhuskers Bank, and perhaps, most importantly, a Cornhuskers shot. The latter consists of Southern Comfort, cranberry juice and lemonade. Hopefully, I'll be tasting one before we leave.

Lincoln also has an incredible thrift store and boutique shopping scene, as well as a very active running community. Our hotel is within walking distance of a Goodwill, a Family Thrift Center, a radical antique store which tragically was far larger than my attention span, and best of all, a high end consignment shop called The Black Market. I only disclose this delightful bit of information based on the assumption that few of you will ever visit Lincoln, and therefore won't be fighting me for the $10 pair of Guess Jeans. Needless to say, some fabulous purchases were made, and I'm ashamed to say my roommate and I are heading back again today.

As for the running community, I went out this morning for a run and saw herds of people already running, so I naturally decided to follow them. There are two trails that go between two YMCA locations - one is 5 miles, the other is 7 - and the runners ranged in age from 20's to 60's and were all super friendly. The trail I took had some beautiful views of the trees (it's still fall here, but cold), and a "sunken garden" which was really pretty. And the warm glow of the sun just rising on the capital building was lovely.

Our shows - ah,yes! that's why we're here! - today went well, and we've got one more tomorrow. The shows today were back to back, so luckily we discovered a good coffee place called Lincoln Espresso with holiday specials like the Candy Cane Mocha and Pumpkin Pie Latte to get us energized for the second show. The logo is just like Starbucks, but the place definitely has its own vibe which is way hipper.

Off to The Black Market and then some cornhusker shots!!!

Happy Turkey-less Day!

Happy Thanksgiving! The cast and crew of Barney celebrated our first holiday together, and I have to say it was one of the least drama-filled Thanksgivings I have ever attended. First off, the meal was held in our hotel, so we didn't need to leave the building (thankfully, because it is like 19 degrees here). We had a little pre-meal bubbly and took some pictures of everyone dressed up all nice. Except for me. I was in my "cool aunt who doesn't know how to dress for Thanksgiving" attire of a tank top, skinny jeans, bright scarf and big earrings. You'll see the pictures. Don't blame me - my family never ordained Thanksgiving a dress-up holiday. But I digress. The buffet was exclusively ours, so we didn't need to introduce ourselves to strangers or make uncomfortable small talk, or ask new faces to please pass the mashed potatoes or not hog all the gravy. My vegetarian menu was limited, but I will say the mashed potatoes and corn and ambrosia salad were all great! And the pumpkin pie? Also good. Well, good enough that we felt the need to stash leftovers in our hotel room for a late night snack.

And then, not surprisingly, after my double dose of mashed potatoes, corn and ambrosia, I was exhausted and took a traditional holiday nap.

This evening, post-nap, we all braved the cold (at least to the parking lot) and went to see Burlesque. A perfect holiday treat, I would say. Tacky and predictable, sure, but glittery, addictive and warm fuzzy feelings all the way. Like a distant and possibly inbred cousin of Moulin Rouge. Which, by the way, is my all-time favorite movie, so while that may not seem like a compliment, trust me, it is.

By the way, last night was another tacky fun-filled evening of rollerskating at the Sk8Away's Turkey Late Skate, a couple blocks from our hotel. We got decked out in our best 80's attire, but were tragically greeted with early 2000's reject hip hop. Seriously, we requested "Don't Stop Believin'" and they did not have it. If that's not cause to revoke their roller license, I don't know what is. Nevertheless, a good time was had by all. Wait for the pictures.

Right now, I'm settling in for an early night, as we leave tomorrow morning at 7:30am for Lincoln, Nebraska. And I will be loading luggage onto the bus, so I need all the energy I can get. Yikes...

Marathon Day

I have always dreamed of running a marathon. The New York City Marathon, to be specific. I have only ever run about ten miles at any one time, but I feel confident that when the day comes, I'll be able to run the 26.1.

Today was not that day.

Today was the day I crashed my first marathon. The Route 66 Marathon in Tulsa, Oklahoma, to be specific. When I woke up today and looked outside, I had no intention of running, because it's a pretty cloudy, gloomy day. But then I saw all the runners and the fans cheering them on outside my hotel, and I knew what I had to do. I ran. I started running a little before Mile 13 and didn't stop. Spectators all along the sidewalks yelled words of encouragement, traffic cops murmured, "Nice going, keep it up," and volunteers every mile or so held out paper cups of water and Gatorade for runners to grab. I got caught up in a herd of runners carrying yellow balloons that boasted 3:30 as their expected finish time (they quickly passed me). We ran past the river which was quite beautiful, and we ran over highways that were completely blocked off for the marathon. After about three and a half miles, I had to turn around to make already existing brunch plans, bringing my marathon total to about 7 miles. No 26, but not bad considering I still had to do a show this afternoon.

Brunch at the Blue Dome Diner was delicious (that sentence, by the way, is one of our diction warmups) and thoroughly necessary after my mini-marathon. The BDD happens to be both the best and only dining solution here in Tulsa.

Our Sunday afternoon show was great! And after a week of tech and two shows yesterday, doing one show feels like a breeze. We had a very responsive crowd, and I think we all had a good energy since it was our last show before we hit the road tomorrow.

Tonight's agenda: Pack, Netflix date with my honey, then off to Topeka, Kansas, tomorrow!

Opening Night...

What fun! What a blast! We finally performed the show for an audience of actual children! And it was a hit. They loved it, we loved performing for them, a good time was had by all.

The moment the music started up, the crowd went wild. And it was an incredible surge of energy for all of us. And once we got out there and started dancing in the house, the kids were none too shy about dancing with us. There's one part of the show where I bring up one child to the stage to give a birthday card to Barney. Well, this special treat was offered to one little girl, and the girl sitting behind her (or rather, I suppose, her mother), requested that she, too, perform this special task. So I had the privilege of bringing two small girls up to the stage to present Barney with his card, face them front for pictures and escort them off the stage in a timely fashion. Well, these girls were completely awestruck by Barney and did not quite want to leave when that sad moment came. But they did. And the show went on, we rocked out the finale and it was fabulous.

And now let's talk about the party we had afterwards. Full dinner buffet, awesome bartender who made delicious drinks with very dirty names and a DJ playing all our favorite hits from high school (well, the 90's, so I guess middle school for some, college for others?). Anyhoo, at 11pm the Party Suite at the Tulsa Convention Center closed, but we did not end our festivities there. We hit the hotel bar and stayed until they closed down. Ok, that was only another half hour, and we were (mostly) all in bed by 1am because it's Tulsa, but still. It's impressive. The company also gave us very cute Barney's Birthday Bash t-shirts (black and hot pink!) and pillowcases which will come in handy on the long bus days that await us.

Two show day today, the first at 11am. Topeca coffee and tea shop, here we come!

Let's Play Catch-Up!

Things have been busy on the big purple bus, and the opening night of "Barney Live in Concert! Birthday Bash" is just a few days away.

We spent two weeks rehearsing in Minneapolis, getting fitted for costumes, running the show in costume at the Energy Center Arena in St. Paul...and spending some free time exploring the Twin Cities. This time of year is really beautiful in the cities. It is considered "early fall" and the sidewalks are covered in red, yellow and orange leaves, and we were lucky enough to have sunny days in the 50's and 60's.

For Halloween, we were able to go see Illusion Theatre's production of "Evil Dead," which was a lot of fun and very well done. We also found some eccentric nightspots with plenty of characters boasting rather intriguing costumes.

Just below the Hennepin bridge is a beautiful bike and pedestrian path that runs along the river. I ran down there the day of the New York City marathon and had my own personal marathon, if you will, somewhere in the ballpark of 7 miles.

The Nicollet Mall area is a nice outdoor length of shops and restaurants with some fun outdoor sculptures to check out (one of Mary Tyler Moore!) and musicians playing their instruments along the sidewalks for passersby.

I also ran through the Cancer Survivor's Park which is a vast lawn with inspirational plaques and a sculpture of cancer patients and their families and friends walking together through gates that are meant to symbolize treatment. I thought it was a very uplifting memorial to those who have survived and are surviving.

Another noteworthy park I came across was the Charles Schulz Park in St. Paul. It's fairly small, but it has bronze statues of the main Peanuts characters which made for cute pictures and a nice lunchtime diversion.

And our final hurrah in Minneapolis, before flying out during Saturday's blizzard, was the Shout House Dueling Pianos Bar. The place was packed, but the drinks were delicious and the pianists were not only talented musicians but hilarious performers. One highlight of the evening was a performance of "Tiny Dancer," when one of the more oaf-like wait staff attempted to perform some classic ballet moves atop one of the pianos. Another was "Baby Got Back," during which all the women felt compelled to demonstrate the "back" that they, in fact, "got." And another was "Shook Me All Night Long," because, well, I requested it.

And that brings us to Tulsa, Oklahoma, where we are currently tech'ing and then opening the show this Friday. So far, it's been alright. Not a whole lot to do, but we found a couple cute shopping areas uptown - in Utica Square - and then also along Cherry Street. There's not much open on Sunday besides church and sports bars, but we did find a killer pizza place that goes by the name of Joe Momma's...