The Last Week with Little House

I’ve spent the last week trying to think of a word to describe the experiences that granddaughter Taylor Bera had during her eight months surrounded by the folks from the “Little House on the Prairie The Musical.” I thought it should be something spectacular like “Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious” but then even that word is not appropriate.

The word sounds spectacular but according to the Disney film in 1964 it means "something to say when you have nothing to say". That doesn’t apply here.

That’s certainly not the case for Taylor’s adventures since last August when she walked into a practice room on 42nd Street in New York City and met the director and the cast for the first time.

I’ve been fortunate to be able to be a part of this adventure that took us all over the country from Tempe in southwest Arizona to across the northeast border to Toronto. Helen was also able to make about two and a half months of the tour too.

I feel compelled to recap it all but that’s something for a later time particularly since I’ve been writing a regular blog about our adventures along the way. For me, this is blog #20 and I’ll focus on our last stop on the tour in Spokane, WA—which followed a 10-day break at home for the holidays.

As usual, getting there was another adventure---nothing is simple when you’re going from the EDT to PDT in a day. Our flight from JFK seemed simple, 4 ½ hours to Salt Lake City then a short 1 ½ hour hop to Spokane. The plane was we’d be in Spokane about 8:30pm local time.

Unfortunately, the plane to carry a major section of the play’s cast and crew started its day in Denver and some foreign diplomat (?) there apparently didn’t know you can’t smoke in the restroom on planes. So planes in and out of Denver and flights around the country were delayed, etc. Guess it wasn’t too serious an incident though because he was let go without charges. If it was you or I, we’d be doing “hard time” right now. Does seem fair!

Our connecting flight was 2 hours late and, of course, the 35-minute connecting window we had in SLC was gone. The plane left without us and we were prepared to spend the night at a hotel near the airport. The last plane to Spokane only had five seats left. We had our hotel vouchers and meal vouchers in hand when the “gods look down on us.”
Because of all the flight delays that day, 20 or so people who had been booked on that last flight could make their connections and our “stand-by ducats” were honored.

We arrived at the Spokane at 11pm local time tired but grateful we were there. Fortunately, we had a good selection of takeout restaurants that deliver to the hotels at that hour.

The pizza was good—of course, our only other food along the way came from a Cinnabon that I persuaded to stay open long enough to give us two before we hoped a flight in SLC. Oh, I forgot the couple of bags of pretzels who got as snacks.

Even though we were on a short week—only six performances instead of the normal eight—school was still on Taylor’s schedule and noon came quickly the next day after a our long travel day.

Taylor was up to the task and even arrived a little early for her last week with tutor Carolyn Dunning and fellow original cast member, Michael Boxleitner. Two new members of the LHOTP cast-Anastasia Korbal and Camille Mancuso-had already joined the classroom at a tour stop in Appleton, WS, following a couple of weeks of practice to learn their show parts.

The four became close in their three weeks or so together and did have some good times besides those in school.

Spokane was a fun place for the kids and the “bigger kids” in the cast and crew and I include myself, and other guardians for kids on the tour. I have to say that Scott Engh, Bruce Boxleitner and I had some fun times too away from the hustle and bustle of the daily tour grind.

Us two Bruce’s got to sit in the music pit for one of the shows just yards away from the Taylor and Michael performing on the stage above us. I’ve done it before a few times but it was a first for Michael’s father. For those of you who don’t know by now, Michael is Melissa Gilbert’s son and Bruce is the one who has appeared in many TV series and movies. His newest film will be out in December—Tron Legacy—the 3D update of the movie from the 80s that he made with Jeff Bridges.

It was kinda fun to be around someone who shares my same first name---not many Bruces around anymore—although it was confusing at time when someone called out for one of us—we both answered.

Little House played before enthusiastic crowds at the INB Performing Arts Center, a great venue that was built for the Spokane World’s Fair in 1974. It used to known as the Spokane Opera House before the city’s Public Facilities District partnered with Inland Northwest Bank to do some remodeling of the 2,700 seat facility.

It was hard for Taylor and me to say goodbye for now to the cast and crew members we grew to be good friends with during the months of being on the road together.

They gave Taylor a rousing sendoff on the night of her final performance as Ruby. It was show #210. That counts the regular performances at Paper Mill in Millburn, NJ, in September. The first performance on the real road was #24 in St. Paul, MN, on October 13.

The kids in the cast—including 17-year-old Kurt Engh, who does his school work through the Minnesota online school facility—put together a montage of photos from her time on tour. Just about everyone in the cast and crew is pictured at various times with Taylor. There’s quite a bit of change in all of the “kids” in the cast over the eight month period.

Melissa Gilbert, “Ma” in the show wasn’t in Spokane because of her injured back required some repair, but she sent along a package of gifts with Michael, who gave them to Taylor. So between the gold Dolce & Gabanna dress that she got from her Secret Santa (Melissa) at Christmas while we were in Denver and the collection of gifts from Kitsons of LA, Taylor is pretty well decked out.

All of those gifts are pretty but I know that Taylor will also have some special memories of being able to work so closely and dance with the original Laura of TV’s “Little House on the Prairie” along with the rest of the superb cast.

I won’t try to list everyone who has been special to Taylor during the tour but I hope the attached picture collection from our time in Spokane will include everyone. I know that one picture includes almost everyone when we climbed into the monster Radio Flyer Wagon that sits in Riverfront Park next to the INB PAC.

Check out these picures from our time in Spokane:

http://www.kodakgallery.com/gallery/creativeapps/slideShow/Main.jsp?token=477883735803%3A213505603&sourceId=533754321803&cm_mmc=eMail-_-Share-_-Photos-_-Sharee

The last week had some sad times because it was the last on the tour, but there were plenty of fun ones too. We got to attend a performance of “Walking with Dinosaurs” at the Spokane Arena which tells the story of 200 million years when dinosaurs inhabited the earth. They tell the story using 15 life-size dinosaurs created through the magic of technology. I’m told that this show will be at Madison Square Garden in July. It was based on a BBC television series.

The kids also got to ride a 100-year-old carousel that features one of only three “creeping tigers” ever carved for use on a carousel. The other two are in private collections. We all tried our hand at plucking a colored ring from the holder as we made each revolution on the carousel. The kids were much better than me in this task. Guess it was because their hands are smaller.

Everyone got to feed trash to the resident goat in the park—this one is a mechanical tin creature connected to a trash compactor that sucks up anything put near its mouth.

Overall it was a great experience but an end has to come to even a “great experience.” I guess those two simple words pretty much sums it up pretty well.

Taylor's Odyssey Has One More Stop

Granddaughter Taylor Bera’s odyssey, which started in August last year when she walked into a rehearsal hall in New York City, is near an end. She joins the cast of “Little House on the Prairie The Musical” for one last trip on the trail this week.

But first, she gets an answer to the question that she asked her stage parents when playing the littlest Ingalls sister Carrie. Nightly, before the family packed up the wagon train and started their trek, Carrie asked them, “Where is West?”

On Wednesday, we’ll head almost as far Northwest as the continental United States allows, when we go to Spokane, WA, for six shows.

Then we’ll head back to New Jersey and Taylor will return to family and friends and local activities. Who would have thought eight months ago that out “little” Taylor would have grown too tall to play the littlest Ingalls sister?

But it’s true! When she took the stage last week in Appleton, WI, she was nearly as tall as Laura, so it was time to move on even though the producers wanted her to complete the tour in her original role as Ruby and a member of the ensemble. But she was missed at home –eight months is a long time to be away-and her parents didn’t renew her contract.

It’s been a real trip though to get to this point and Little House’s time in Appleton was absolutely great for everyone including Helen and myself.

For those of you who don’t know, Appleton was the boyhood home of magician Harry Houdini then known as Ehrich Weiss. I didn’t know that even though I was a “boy magician” in my youth and dreamed at one time of doing the feats of magic that he and other famous magicians performed. His father was the local Rabbi before the family moved to Milwaukee and then New York City.

Taylor and her classmate, Michael Boxleitner, got to tour the Houdini museum while we were in Appleton as part of their schoolwork. Don’t know who had a better time—me or the kids or their tutor Carolyn Dunning! The kids got to try their hand at some of Houdini’s tricks and escapes including the straitjacket escape that Houdini made famous. Of course, this version used Velcro strips, so Michael had no trouble breaking free. Taylor tried to follow the instructions on how Houdini did it and but was not successful.

The exhibit is housed in Appleton’s History Museum At the Castle which includes exhibits about the works of Edna Ferber, a Pulitzer prize-winning author who grew up in the town and the infamous Sen. Joe McCarthy, who was also born and raised in Appleton. The city’s organized sports were also highlighted in an exhibit. A little known fact is that the Yankees’ current third baseman, Alex Rodriguez, didn’t sit out the 1994 strike—he played for the minor league Appleton Foxes. A portrait of him and a bat he broke while playing are on display in the Castle.

Downtown in Houdini Square is a plaque noting the night when Ehrich and his older brother “pranked” the town by unlocking all of the businesses on College Avenue, the main street in Appleton. The plaque didn’t note the punishment they received but I’m sure the business owners weren’t very happy with the youngsters.

The cast and crew also took a morning to work with the local Habitat for Humanity project. Habitat leaders this time took us to a ReStore outlet—something I had never heard of. ReStore is a retail outlet that accepts donations of new and gently used building materials, which are in turn sold to the public at greatly discounted prices. All of the profits then go to the local Habitat for Humanity’s effort to eliminate substandard housing.

At the Appleton ReStore location, we constructed the floors, walls and roof sections for sheds that will be sold to the public. We did this work inside because it was too cold and windy to work outside at a Habitat construction site where the shed would be built onsite.

Overall the weather in Appleton was much better than anticipated before we got there from the southern climate we had basked in Florida and North Carolina. We had to use winter wear for a couple of the days but the hotel where we stayed was right across the street from the Fox Cities Performing Arts Center where Little House played for the week to large and enthusiastic crowds.

The Arts Center is about 10 years old and was a “performer friendly environment” with large and spacious dressing rooms on the same level as the stage and permitted easy crossover between scenes for the cast. This is not something the cast has been able to enjoy at the other 19 stops so far on the tour.

All of the “kids”—old and young alike-- in the cast and crew got to partake in the indoor pool and hot tub that the hotel offered. The area included ping pong tables and a full workout area that was open all hours of the days and night. It was not something we’ve really had at any other stop.

Overall, Appleton gets an A+ as a tour stop in my book.

Photos from our time in Appleton can be found at:

http://www.kodakgallery.com/gallery/creativeapps/slideShow/Main.jsp?token=563815674803%3A348337530&sourceId=533754321803&cm_mmc=eMail-_-Share-_-Photos-_-Sharer

We’re now enjoying a 10-day break and as I noted earlier, we’ll pack up and head back to the prairie on Wednesday for one last set of performances. I know we’ll come back with lots of memories from the last eight months.