Flying Fun, the Aquarium and Science Museum

What a week!!! Started out with a “day off” on Monday that turned out to be really action-filled and at mid-week, granddaughter Taylor Bera let me tag along with her school class for a day at the Minnesota Science Museum.

The tour is wrapping up two weeks in St. Paul, MN, this weekend with matinees today and Sunday and evening performances both days.

At 8 a.m. on Monday, we’ll load up with the cast and head for a week in Nashville, TN. Thank God—they can stop making fun of my accent (somewhat Southern, they say, left over from my days in the hills of Southern Illinois). Pretty soon, everyone will have a southern twang and mine will be forgotten.

But we can’t leave Minnesota without recapping our last week here.

While on location for more than a week, Mondays are a “real day off” for the cast. There’s no school, no travel and no practices.

So we headed for the Mall of America that I wrote about earlier. This time Taylor and Carly Sonenclar from the cast and one of her schoolmates, headed for the MOA “bright and early”—well I have to admit that 11 a.m. is bright and early for “theater-folk.” Helen and Carly’s mother, Terri (not to be confused with Taylor’s aunt, Terri, our daughter) went too.

I’ve heard the aquarium at the Mall was good but I was really more interested in tackling the amusement park rides that I spotted during an expedition there the previous week.

But, I was talked into going to the aquarium first and as it turned out I was glad that they did. You’ll see in the pictures accompanying this blog that we saw some really interesting fish and the setup of the place is really fantastic. You don’t just walk by and look into fish tanks. The fish literally swim over, under and around you as you walk through the exhibit.

Taylor said it was really, real cool and it wasn’t long before I wore out the battery on my camera and had to rely my phone’s camera the rest of the day. Tip for future visitors—“Always recharge your camera the night before!”

The aquarium was so good that Taylor and I visited it a second time to see if we missed anything the first time through.

It was a great day to be at the mall. Most of the school age children in Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington area were in school, so we had the place to ourselves for most of the day.

Taylor and Carly’s enjoyed many of the roller coasters and I have to admit that I did too except I got soaked on the Log Flume ride. Helen and Terri meanwhile looked on or shopped.

Around 4 p.m., we left the MOA and headed for a cast party a nearby condo hosted by the parents of one of the cast members.

All of the “”kids (and I’ll include the cast members in that group) had a great time playing Beatles’ Rock Band. Taylor was right in the middle playing the drums or the guitar or singing.

Helen and I just ate and sat and talked with the parents and the rest of the chaperones.

The host then surprised us all by giving us all the opportunity to sit in the pilot’s seat controlling an Airbus 320 aircraft on takeoff and landing. That’s the same plane that landed safely in the Hudson River a few months ago. Of course, we only were in a flight simulator, but, it was amazing. Taylor’s a real pro and if theater doesn’t work out, maybe she can be the next Amelia Earhart. I didn’t see her in action directly because I was in a different simulator, but I’m told she landed right on line at San Francisco Airport after flying over the Golden Gate Bridge.

I, on the other hand, landed a little rougher at the Minneapolis airport after veering off onto the grass for a bit. I thought I did pretty well but the navigator sitting behind me said she’d had enough and got off before trying her hand on the joystick control.

Wednesday was a bit more controlled excitement for Taylor and her classmates and teacher. We all went to the Science Museum, saw a film on the IMAX dome screen about a Russian crew who explored the Titanic that sank in 1912 and then toured the Titanic exhibit. Besides the artifacts from the sunken pleasure ship, everyone gets assigned the name of a passenger who sailed on that fatal voyage. There were three classes of passengers on the ship and during the tour you get the see and hear about the types of accommodations and experiences your passenger experienced onboard.

At the end, you learn whether your passenger survived or perished. Taylor and her teacher, Carolyn, both had first class passengers. Carly’s passenger traveled in 3rd class. All three survived the sinking. Michael Boxleitner, Melissa Gilbert’s 14 year old son who in the cast and goes to school with Taylor and Carly, and I also had 3rd class passengers who didn’t make through the ordeal. We surmised that they spent their last moments together in the bar having a beer.

Here are some pictures from the MOA, Aquarium and the Science Museum (we were not allowed to take pictures inside the Titanic exhibit:

http://www.kodakgallery.com/gallery/creativeapps/slideShow/Main.jsp?token=513096058703%3A1416684581

So far, so good. Next stop is Nashville for a week of performances.

The Mall of America & the Little House Cast Party

The kids in the cast of “Little House on the Prairie, the Musical” have to go to school every Tuesday through Friday, but the chaperones get most days off. Helen, Joe, Kelly and I were able to go to the Mall of America while Taylor “cracked the books. What a “place!” Here’s a picture of Helen and Kelly heading into the mall.

It has three levels of shops (some sections of the mall have four floors) –grounded by four major stores on each corner—Macy’s, Nordstroms, Sears and Bloomingdales. So what’s so unique about that? IT’S THE CENTER OF THE MALL!

It’s a real, big time amusement park with rides that accommodate young and “older kids” alike. The rides include several versions of roller coasters, a Ferris wheel, merry-go-round, a three-story skywalk—enough to keep you busy for a full day.

Movie matinees are only $6 for all ages and they have a free show on Saturday morning. There’s a full scale Aquarium located under the mall. What a place to spend a day!

Here are some pictures from the Mall and the opening night party at the Ordway Center for the Performing Arts:

http://www.kodakgallery.com/gallery/creativeapps/slideShow/Main.jsp?token=188628238703%3A1193848231

The three show kids finally get a day off on Monday (one cast member from the Minneapolis area is holding a house party for the cast.)

On Wednesday, the kids and some of the chaperones are going on a class trip to the Science Museum of Minnesota with an IMAX show and Titanic exhibit. I don’t know about the kids, but I’m looking forward to it!

Little House got a great review in the St. Paul Pioneer-Press. Here it is:

http://www.tcdailyplanet.net/news/2009/10/16/theater-classy-little-house-prairie-musical-ordway

On the Road in St. Paul, MN

Our adventure is well underway. We’ve traveled 1,200 miles to the Midwest with the cast of “Little House on the Prairie, The Musical.” They had a preview performance last night at the Ordway Center for the Performing Arts in St. Paul, Mn, and the opening night show with a cast party afterwards is on tap for tonight.

The Ordway is a beautiful venue for performances, the cast tells us. Our granddaughter, Taylor Bera, has a huge dressing room that she shares with Carly Rose Sonenclar, who is the regular Carrie in the play. Taylor is her understudy besides appearing with the ensemble and as Ruby, one of the Brewster school children. Taylor’s bright face seems in be there in most of scenes. There’s a picture of the dressing room in the slideshow of pictures found at:

http://www.kodakgallery.com/gallery/creativeapps/slideShow/Main.jsp?token=634147128703%3A2107805754

Everything connected with the show had been packed up after it closed at the Paper Mill Playhouse in Millburn, NJ, last Saturday night and was here when we arrived on Monday evening. We were surprised to learn that included the stage floor used at Paper Mill. It’s a linoleum-type flooring that comes in sections and already has the markings needed to tell the actors were scenery needs to be located and other markings to guide them through the show. They lay the flooring on top of the regular stage. At the end of the two-weeks here, they pick it up and take it to Nashville, our next stop.

It’s cold in the 30s, but, comfortable in St. Paul where the Ordway is located and where we are staying. The snow came and mostly went before Helen and I arrived. Our daughter, Kelly, Taylor’s mom, arrived some hours later because her flight from Newark was delayed by the Midwest storms and the need to get a new crew for her flight. Taylor’s father, Joe, arrived last night. They’ll be here a few days before heading back to New Jersey.

Not much else to report at this point. The school kids (Taylor is one of 3) are locked in a pretty tight schedule. Five hours of school a day—Tuesday through Friday—with one performance each night, then on the weekends-a matinee and evening performance on Saturday and Sunday. They get a school break next Wednesday when they go on a field trip. We’re lucky because we get to go too.

So far, Taylor says she’s having the time of her life while big sister, Maggie, at home is preparing for her opening night this Saturday as the third sister, Chava, in “Fiddler on the Roof,” at Main Street Theater. That play runs for the next three weekends and it’s the first of Maggie’s show that Helen and I will miss. We did get to see some of her rehearsals and will have to be content with only the DVD versions this time.

The Journey is Ready to Begin

Well, we’re finally ready to head off to the Prairie. In some respects it seems like only yesterday that our 11-year-old granddaughter, Taylor Bera (then 10), found out she had been selected to be a member of the ‘Little House on the Prairie, The Musical’ cast and that she would be going on the national tour.

That was in July. Then in August, she had 6 days-a-week practice in New York City with the cast headed up by Melissa Gilbert, who played Laura when the show was a hit in the TV lineup in the 80s and 90s. Melissa plays “Ma” in this musical version of the show.

Taylor was picked to understudy the role of Carrie, the youngest of three daughters. She also has a regular role in the ensemble where she sings and dances in eight performances weekly. The picture above shows her dressed for one of the scenes.

Her schedule has been rather hectic. The show opened September 8 for previews at Paper Mill Playhouse in Millburn, NJ, and had its official opening night September 20 with a party later where they walked the “Red carpet."

Most of the shows have played before sold-out audiences.

Taylor was pre-scheduled to play “Carrie” on September 27 and about 150 friends and family members were there when she took the stage. Here’s a slideshow of pictures from that night:

http://www.kodakgallery.com/gallery/creativeapps/slideShow/Main.jsp?token=972933308703%3A1188547254

Actually, she got in some unexpected “practice” when a traffic jam in the New York area stranded the “regular Carrie” and the stage manager told Taylor 30 minutes from curtain time that she’d be going on as Carrie. That was a “understudies’ dream night.” Shades of ‘42nd Street.’

Besides the 8-times-a-week schedule, Taylor has to “do” school, which means she cracks the books on the weekends too with the other two school age members in the cast-Melissa Gilbert’s son, Michael Boxleitner and Carly Rose Sonenclar, who plays Carrie. A tutor accompanies the show.

The local papers have written about Taylor’s adventure. Here’s a link to one of the stories: http://www.mycentraljersey.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2009910020304

The show closes this Saturday (October 10) at Paper Mill. They’ll pack up the sets, costumes and the rest of the scenery and transport it to St. Paul, MN, the next stop on the 20-plus city tour.

Helen and I will be touring with Taylor. We’ll meet up with the rest of the cast in New York City on Monday (October 11) and fly out that morning. The show is scheduled to open Tuesday night in the Ordway Center for the Performing Arts. We’ll be there for two weeks before repeating the whole pack up and flying process to head for Nashville, TN.

We’re looking forward to a real exciting time the next few months and I’ll try to keep you updated through this Blog and pictures throughout the trip. Since this is my first attempt at a Blog, I’d appreciate any comments.