Continuing Adventures: Day One: A Long Journey To Opening Night

Church Of St. Nicholas, in the heart of Lesser Town outside our theater in Prague.

Monday, May 26 / Tuesday, May 27

Following the wedding weekend, which was really tremendous, I had another of my long travel days. This one ended up going some 38 hours, but I've found it's amazing what your body can do when you put your mind to staying awake and you spend a large amount of that time sitting and resting, even when you're not sleeping.

First up, I bussed out of Philly at 10AM. I got back to my apartment in New York around 12:30PM, and I realized I'd left my rain jacket in Philadelphia, so I ran over to REI and picked one up on sale. I'd read the forecast, and it appeared that it would be rainy a good chunk of the week in Prague, so this was definitely a priority. Around 2:15 I rode the subway out to JFK airport, cruising through the check-in and security, leaving me some two and a half hours to wait before boarding my flight.

I'd intentionally wanted to arrive well in advance because traveling with a guitar is always a bit of a burden. I was able to speak to the desk attendants before the flight though, and they told me I could get on during pre-board. I was the first one on, and the flight attendants were generous in accommodating my instrument by letting me stow it in the closet at the front of the plane. The overhead compartments were, as I feared, too small.

Save for the scant 10 inches or so of leg room, the flight was easy. We arrived at 9:55AM in Prague, twenty minutes before our anticipated 10:15 arrival. Customs asked no questions and let me right though. Luggage was already on the conveyer belt from my flight when I reached it, and I soon hopped in a cab to the apartment where the company was staying.

If there was a hiccup, it was that I forgot to write down the apartment number, so once I got in the building I had no idea which door to knock on. I hung out in the empty lobby for about five minutes hoping to hear signs of English indicating where the company was staying. Eventually a man who only spoke Czech came out and we tried to reconcile our languages until I heard him say something along the lines of "comme si comme ça," which I understood to be, "some here some there." We then knocked on the doors he seemed to indicate, and the second one opened to our company manager, Samantha.

After putting down my things in the apartment, Samantha walked with me to the grocery store, and I was able to get some food. I bought some Kielbasa and chips, which I ate back at the apartment and then took a nap a much-needed for about 90 minutes. We then walked through the rain–where my new jacket did a better job than my old one would have–to the theater for seven hours of tech rehearsal, dress run, and the first performance. It was tiring, and I was ready to fall asleep before we started our first run, but with each show I got more and more energy. Adrenaline is a wonderful thing. In fact, by the time we got to the bar after the show and started dancing, I had as much energy as I had all day.

The show itself got an extended standing ovation. The audience applauded for a good long while before the rest of the cast got that they were supposed to come out for a second bow. We all felt there was room for improvement, but it was a great first show and wonderful welcome to Prague.

Peering into the theater, Studio Rubin, from the bar outside.

Samantha looks over the stage while it is being set up for the first time prior to our tech rehearsal.

Rehearsing a scene during tech: Dalí (left) and Lorca (right), played by Jake Lasser and Frankie Alicea have one of their many arguments on stage, while Sofia, the dancer looks on.

I got a few minutes to walk around near the theater in between runs. I went over to the Karluv Most (Charles Bridge.) This is looking up the Vltava towards the Most Legii, the bridge right outside our apartment.