Little House in Madison, WI

Little House on the Prairie The Musical has moved even further north—this time we’ve crossed the Canadian border for a five-week gig at the Canon Theater in Toronto’s entertainment district.

We all made it through customs and immigration, and pretty skies with just a little overcast greeted us on our first full day in another country.

But first, let’s talk about our last full week in the States. What a week it was!

Some members of the cast talked of the “moon being out of alignment” to explain our week in Madison, WI. We all had a great time in the home of the University of Wisconsin, although some had a hard time at the hotel where we were housed. The internet service left a lot to be desired for us but our room was nice and roomy.

It was an adventure-filled time for nearly everyone in the cast. Sickness and various injuries shook up the lineup on the stage on a nearly daily basis. Almost every major character relied on an understudy a one time or another during the eight-show run. At one point, understudies were called upon at the intermission, which caused a real flurry of activity backstage.

At one point, I even jokingly offered my services (after the show was over; he was too busy to talk at intermission) since I’m well experienced in karaoke but the director said “thanks, I’ll keep you in mind.” I guess when I told him my main claim to fame was singing “Okie from Muskogee” that was a tip off he shouldn’t take my offer seriously.

I certainly could have filled in for one of the guys, who filled in for one of the girls in a long dress, bonnet and shawl covering his face. His male partner on the stage, who had not been let in on the substitution beforehand, nearly broke down on the stage laughing when he realized who his scene partner really was.

I know that it was thrilling for the understudies to go on, but it really a treat for me to hear others take on a different role in the play. I saw most of them in understudy rehearsal while we were in Tempe, AZ, last year; I got to see their hard work pay off last week.

It just happened that I was in the theater when the understudies got to perform, so most of time I was able to watch the show from a variety of venues where we played in Madison, the Overture Center—a four-year-oldvenue that’s part of a three-theater and museum complex within eyeshot of the State Capitol Building. It really helps to get to know the people working in the complex during the week so I can have a little freedom to explore the house during show time.

The show’s main director and main choreographer joined us for a few days in Madison to “tweak the show” prior to our venture across the Canadian Border.

Even with the staging issues taking priority during the week, we were still able to focus on other things away from the Overture Center.

Here are some pictures from our time in Madison:
http://www.kodakgallery.com/gallery/creativeapps/slideShow/Main.jsp?token=308228412803%3A333309973

The school kids had a room inside the hotel where they could focus on their studies without much distraction.

They even got in a school trip. I got to go with granddaughter, Taylor Bera, and her classmates and teacher, Carolyn Dunning, on a tour of the Wisconsin State Capitol Building. Our guide wasn’t just an intern or rookie in the statehouse. House Assemblyman Marlin Schneider, who is the longest seated representative in Wisconsin, conducted our tour,

I always assumed tours were relegated to junior members of the assembly. Our tour guide has been elected to serve the 72nd Assembly District 20 times. What an honor for the kids and teacher, me and a couple of our cast members who joined us!

We got to learn some about history of the State of Wisconsin. We got to sit in the presiding officers’ seats in both the House and Senate but only made to the spectator section in the Wisconsin Supreme Court room (it wasn’t in session and access the justices’ chairs can only be given by one of the seven members of the court.)

But we did get into the actual office of Wisconsin Governor Jim Doyle to look around and sit in his chair. He’s a two-term Democrat who has decided not to re-run this year even though Wisconsin is only one of 14 states that do not have term limits on Governors.

It was a worthwhile trip for kids and grownups alike.

A dozen of us also spent a morning at a Habitat for Humanity “build” in Madison. The kids got to take part in this one, which was a remodeling of an existing structure to make it livable for a single mom. The Little House kids got to decorate stepping stones that will remind the new homeowner of our work and the older “kids” in the cast got to do some insulting work inside the house. Have you ever tried to stretch and keep an 8 ft by 30 ft piece of insulating plastic barrier taunt while it is nailed to a ceiling? Four of us, including this writer, were assigned this task in the living room of the house.

Believe it took us a while to get the technique down and it wasn’t pretty during the learning process. We started over several times. The idea was to put it up without air bubbles between the plastic and the drywall. It helped to have tall Steve Blanchard, who plays “Pa” in the Little House, on your team.

We had lots of snow on the ground in Madison, and the temps fell below freezing at night. We had some rain on the last day there which melted some of it, but, it froze at night making some of the walking treacherous. At least one crew member came away with some injuries after taking a tumble on the ice.

So far, Toronto has been great and we’re looking forward to the next five weeks north of the Border.