Our five week layoff has finally arrived!
I went on for Mark for the first time in Cincinnati for Saturday night’s performance. The cast and the fans were incredibly supportive making my first time playing Mark Cohen way too much fun. However, I would like to clear up a misunderstanding. Some people seem to think I skipped the line “And Maureen Johnson back from her spectacular one night engagement at the 11th street lot…” On the contrary, those lines have been replaced with: “And Roger…” followed by several measures of awkward silence. Harley has been messing that up since Melbourne, FL.
I arrived in Denver Monday morning after sharing breakfast/Bloody Mary’s with Jen Talton (I’m gonna miss her) and Mitch Dean at the Cincinnati airport. The Bloody Mary was supposed to curb my hangover from our “End of the Leg” party in A-ron’s (Aaron Lavigne) suite Thanks for nothing Mary.
Tuesday night, I had the privilege of meeting up with some old friends who I used to do RENT with. Newlyweds Erin Pepin (formerly Erin Greiner and ex Mrs. Cohen) and Dave Pepin (former music director for RENT) along with the talented Mr. Joe Parker (former guitar player for RENT) are in Denver playing “All Shook Up" at the Buell. We met at Hamburger Mary’s downtown and shared drinks and laughs. How lucky am I that I get to see the Pepin’s twice in one month! I was just at their wedding in Cleveland two weeks ago. I look forward to joining the musicians in the pit next week!
As you may have heard, we have just experienced the 4th most snow accumulation in Denver's history, in the form of a hefty blizzard! Downtown has just reported 25" and it's still snowing! My parents live about 30 minutes southwest of Denver in the mountains, so we got it even worse. My dad stuck a yard stick in the ground before we went to bed, and when we woke up it was almost completely covered. Last I checked we're up to 35"! That's almost 3 feet. We have drifts that are 5 feet deep! There are 4,700 folks stranded at the Denver International Airport. The Governor has declared a State of Emergency, and the National Guard has been called in to rescue people stranded in their cars on the streets. The major highways are closed (including I-25 and I-70) across the entire state!
Needless to say we are completely snowed in. My parents’ cabin is up a 2 mile dirt road. My dad, my dog, and I tried to go on a snow plowing mission and failed miserably when we backed into a ditch and a tree. Oops!! With that, it's looking like I won't be going anywhere for a while, which isn't so bad. Lot's of time for reading, watching Christmas movies, and writing boring e-mails! My mom made the best chili in the world last night! We're not too worried. The only problem would be if we lost electricity because everything up here runs off power lines...we even need power to flush the toilet and shower! I’m getting a little stir crazy, but I suppose it’s good to relax.
I hope this finds you happy and full of Christmas cookies!
Merry Christmas!
Joe
I just walked into my hotel after finishing a show to a sold out audience in Lincoln, NE! It was crazy invigorating to perform for such a huge house, so I thought I'd sit down and blog while I have all this energy still pumping.
We've had some long travel days the past couple of weeks, but it's been nothing that a drinking game won't fix (can I say that?) I'm remembering how the tour bus grows to be a comfort for me. It's the only constant place we have, so it sorta becomes home. We all pile into the bus wearing sweats and pj's and the majority of the cast sleeps until lunch. Harley provides gum or candy, then we vote on a movie and we just vege out. My goals for next week on the bus are to make sure Sheila gets her damn shoes before it's time to load off, and to teach Declan how to play Texas Hold 'Em. He'll be learning from the best. I have the shirt to prove it, thanks to the lovely Mimi Jimenez who bought me a "Joe Hold 'Em" shirt with Snoopy on it!!
Lincoln has been awesome. I never thought I could respect a city that has so much love for the Cornhuskers, but hey, I try to keep an open mind! Today I even got a massage (great idea Jared)! Plus, the entire cast and crew got to go see a movie for free. I went with Warren, Mimi, Mitch, and Kristin to see The Grudge 2 (bad idea). Tomorrow I am forced to get a haircut. They want me to loose the foehawk during La Vie Boheme (the waiter is very sad).
Ah the touring life...
Keep checking for updates!
No Day But Today!!!!
Joe