Performance Time!

What an exciting couple of days we've had! We had a wonderful day of shows after I last wrote - actually, everything we've seen has been really interesting and/or fabulous. After the shows, we spent time on "The Mile" advertising the show with our postcards and water bottles (huge hit). "The Mile" is a pedestrian-only cobble stone street where performers advertise their shows and visitors have coffee or shop. We love The Mile! We've been able to find lots of affordable places to eat but the kids are pretty surprised by the high cost of the shopping.

Yesterday, we attended another show from AHSTF which was very good, came back and rehearsed, ate and got into costume and make-up for our first show. They really do run the theater as a professional space and they expect a lot from the kids. Cathy said that she felt like she was in a scene from Mission Impossible as we got into the theater and put together our set, props, drum kit, all in under 10 minutes. But we did it and as I raced down to the lobby to say we were ready to open the house, I was stunned to see a fully lobby. I had told the kids to expect 5 in the audience (there are over 2000 shows here!) and we had 146 in attendance (200 is a full house). The kids were awesome - so charged up and full of energy. And, they got a standing ovation at the end! We still had plenty to do today in terms of fixes as the performance (although very good) was also our first and rather frentic. After the show, we didn't have time to change before we were heading to Sweeny Todd so we went to another part of town and 'sold the show' in costume, grabbed dinner and headed to the show! Great fun.

After a long nights sleep and a relaxed morning, we again donned costumes and headed for The Mile for our time on the stage, promoting the show (see Chris's pictures). I really didn't know what to expect but I was delighted to see that the cast drew very large crowds all 3 times that they did their 'performance'. They were really adorable as they did a bit from the beginning of the show and then a bit from Run Freedom. DJ and Lauren really got the crowd into it, doing their opening dialogue from the show! After, they all yelled out the show name, venue and times and then handed out our stuff in character. Very successful! The kids changed and then we ate lunch, some shopped, some had hot chocolate (VERY rainy day!) and some went to a show. Now, we are back at the dorm with over 2 hours of DOWN TIME - amazing for us. Then, costumes/make-up and we have the Saturday night 8pm slot at Churchill. I'll be very interested to see how many people we get today after yesterday's show buzz. Word of mouth is the biggest way that a house fills.

Tomorrow we see another AHSTF show (we really like seeing what other high schools are up to) and then we have an open afternoon. We are considering abandoning our plans and letting the kids hang at the dorms, swim in the indoor pool, workout, play cards...we have been moving SO fast that an after noon off might be a good thing. At night we are being treated to a Ceilidh (traditional Scottish dance)! Should be fun.

The kids are doing great - nobody seems homesick and the LOVE Scotland. We've had a few allergy attacks - I think from the smoking which is so prevalent here. Other than that - we are great!

More when I can
Laura