Tags
A Christmas Carol, Beaver Moon, Charles Dickens, Courtyard by Marriott, Ebenezer Scrooge, Gerald Dickens: My Life on the Road With A Christmas Carol, Nashua Center for Arts
After a very hectic start to this trip, with double performing days on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, Monday saw me wake with the knowledge that I had a day off. I did have a couple of interviews to do, and a short drive ahead of me, but I fully intended to embrace the luxury of inactivity.
For breakfast I chose a continental platter, with meats, cheeses and a hard boiled egg, which was delicious, washed down with fresh orange juice and, of course, coffee. Back in my room I watched a bit of TV, and packed my cases until 10.00 arrived and I called Erin, a journalist who would be writing a feature about my forthcoming show in Nashua, New Hampshire. We talked for around thirty minutes, as I paced around the room, and it was a fun chat. Erin is involved with writing musical theatre, so was very interested in the theatrical aspect of what I do, although we did discuss the Dickens family, and Charles’ work too.
The interview done, I finished packing and checked out of room 210 and descended to the parking garage to load up the car. Once the driver’s seat had slid into place, I selected reverse and looked at the video monitor, and remembered that the rear-facing camera was very dirty and I couldn’t see anything at all. I jumped out to clean the lens, but couldn’t immediately see it, so decided to set off anyway, and deal with the problem later.
The other issue with my Mitsubishi was the navigation system, I found it very difficult to find my way through city streets, it not being clear which turn I should be taking, so the first part of my journey, getting out of Worcester, was a little longer than I had hoped for.
I was only driving to Nashua, a journey of less than an hour, and the roads were relatively clear, and the weather was beautiful. I sped past signs to the various New England towns that share their names with old England ones, and gradually found settings on the navigation system that gave me a much clearer sense of where I was going (complete with intersection numbers, which had been lacking before). I also tried to look at other cars, as I passed them or they passed me, to see if I could find the location of those pesky reversing cameras, but had no luck.
Soon I was passing Lowell, and on towards Nashua where I pulled up outside the Courtyard at Marriott which would be my home for the next three nights. Before going in, I did an internet search on my phone and at last discovered where the camera was located,hidden under a sculptured part of the boot (trunk) door. A single wipe with my fingertip, and I would be able to reverse out of the parking place later in safety.
I took my cases into the lobby, It was 12pm, but there was a room available. Indeed, I was given a choice as to whether I wanted a low room or a high one, but as the hotel only had 4 floors it didn’t seem to make too much difference.
My first job was to effect repairs to my frock coat and waistcoat by re-attaching the buttons that had failed during my performances of the day before. The stitching on a few other buttons (probably previous amateur repairs by me) was looking a little suspect too, so I pre-emptively strengthened them, before hanging the costumes up in the small wardrobe..
For the rest of the afternoon I did nothing. I stayed in the room and rested. I did have a video call to home, and chatted to Liz and the girls just before their bedtime, which was lovely, and at 2.30 had another interview call, but basically Mr Dickens was VERY lazy.
I had been invited to dinner with Sandy Belknap, so at around 6 I had a shower to wake myself up. attached to the wall were three plastic bottles, presumably containing shower-gel, shampoo and conditioner, but the product details were printed in pale green, against on an ever so slightly darker olive green background, so I have no idea as to which product I was using!
Sandy has not only looked after the PR for most of my shows in Nashua over the years, and assisted me and Bob Byers with the production and distribution of my film version of the show, but she has also become an invaluable and close friend. Sandy’s house was only a 10 minute drive away and it was lovely to see her and catch up with our respective news from two years (I didn’t manage to have a performance in Nashua last year, due to my bout of Covid 19). We also talked about the show on Tuesday evening, which was due to be held in the brand new Nashua Performing Arts Centre, and for which ticket sales have soared, over 600 currently booked!
Sandy had prepared a delicious chicken dish, with mashed potatoes and green beans, as well as some leftover cranberry sauce from Thanksgiving. When we had cleared our plates Sandy suggested that we take a stroll around the neighbourhood to look at the Christmas lights that were appearing, before returning for dessert. Outside the sky was clear and a bright full moon shone, apparently in America it is known as the Beaver Moon because it is at this time of year that the nocturnal creatures are particularly active in building their dams in preparation for the winter hibernation.
Back to the house and we ate a spiced pear cake with ice cream and I had a coffee, before saying goodbye, and heading back to The Marriot for an early night.
It is strange preparing for a show as big as the Nashua one is going to be, for the fact that it is a large venue and audience doesn’t actually make any difference to the performance itself: physically it is the same challenge, it begins with ‘Marley was dead, to begin with’, it ends with ‘God bless us every one!’ and it lasts around 75 minutes, but there is a sense of responsibility for the occasion and the audience, which brings with it an extra layer of anticipation and excitement. I enjoy all of the spaces that I am fortunate enough to play, the intimacy of a stage like that at Vaillancourts, the history and friendship at Burlington, and the large spaces of stage to roam about on, in a purpose-built auditorium such as I will have at my disposal at Nashua.
I am a lucky boy to have so many opportunities to indulge a passion that has been present within me since childhood and to show off my craft.