2 shows 1 day

[fbhjr]

Yesterday we had a lunch show for a wedding and a dinner show for a fund
raiser. Five years ago this two shows a day happened more often. But,
since things slowed down in 2008, this is the first time.

The first one was at “The Castle Restaurant”. I’ve driven by the place
plenty of times, but never been in. In May we drove past it coming home
from the Ren Center show, and I said to my wife “There is a Castle
Restaurant less than 20 miles from where we live, and in 10 years of
running the sword troupe, we’ve never performed there.”
The next week this couple called us to perform at their wedding there. I
guess, much like metaphors, I’ve just got to speak this stuff more often.

Maybe it is the name of the place, but I always pictured it as being big on
the inside.
Boy, was I wrong.
The ceiling of my apartment has more clearance.
The room we were in was small. The chandeliers were only about 6 ½ feet
off the ground. As I’m six ¼ feet off the ground that’s too close for
comfort.
The “carpeted space on the side” that we were promised as a performance
area was full of the tables they weren’t using for the wedding.
Tables for the guests were right against the dance floor that was the only
space left for the sword fighting.
And, the bathrooms were on the opposite side of the dance floor. So, a
couple of times in the 20 minute show, we had to stop to let people go
through to the bathroom.
It was not the worst conditions we’ve had to do a sword fight show. But,
it is in the top 5, maybe even the top 3.

We did get there early to scope out the place, and I’m very glad we did.
If we hadn’t had time to check it out and practice some before the wedding
folks got there it would have been much harder.
Of course, we got there before they even opened up the place. So, we were
practicing in the parking lot. It was very scenic being by a lake in the
fall in New England. But, after we had been swinging swords in the parking
lot for a while, the police came by to scope us out. I don’t know if they
liked the show or what, but they set up a speed trap there and waited while
we practiced.
Once they opened the doors of the place we got to see what we were dealing
with and had enough time to practice and put everything away again before
the wedding people got there.

The bride and groom wanted us to mix with the other party guests and have
the sword fighting as a surprise. The bride said she had lived in 4
different states, so we should just pick on and no one would know. So, blue_micha picked New Jersey for us. It worked out perfectly as
the table where we were placed was going to have some people from there who
ended up not making it.

The way we planned it is morgan_lafaye would go to the gift
table and start breaking things and we’d all fight about that. So, she
made up some fake give bags with things we thought would be breakable to
use. But, it turns out dollar glasses bonce on carpeted floor and don’t
break well. Ah well, live and learn.

I was very happy with John, one of our two new members. It was his very
first show and he went through it like it was a normal day. Even when we
had to switch what sword he was going to use because the long swords
wouldn’t fit under the ceiling.
The rest of us did OK too.
The audience seemed to like it. The bride and groom certainly liked it.
We got paid. We got fed.

We were also doing our sword lessons for the kids, and we got the weakest
response I’ve ever seen.
I went up to the kids table after we did our show.
“Any of you want to try a sword lesson with our swords?” I asked. Normally
this is the time I am mobbed by the kids.
“No,” one of them dressed in plastic armor with a big sword in front of him
said. “Not our thing.”
The groom’s daughter and two of the younger kids did go for it. But, for a
bunch of kids dressed as knights, that wasn’t the reaction I expected.

Then, we packed it all up and headed west.
Our evening show was at the University of Massachusetts. Their Renaissance
Center was having a fund raising dinner and we were one of the
entertainments there.
We picked up the other new member, “we have an art museum”, and headed
over. The folks from CT also joined us and Snoozewadler, so there were ten
of us at this show.
It went well enough.
We were good guys vs bad guys. The bad guys were trying to steal “the
great hall fund” which were some pillows blue_micha made with
$$ on them.
It was on the 11th floor of the campus center.
I’m pretty sure it is the highest we’ve ever performed above ground level.
We’ve been at a higher altitude when we performed in the mountains of
Vermont. But, that was on the ground. We’ve done second or third floor
shows at science fiction conventions at hotels in Boston.

It was a very nice view. And, Amherst MA is a very pretty area. It’s in
the Connecticut river valley, but has mountains to either side.
The banquet room was the full width of the top floor, so you could see out
both north and south as the sun went down.
Not a bad backdrop at all.
Our show went well enough.
We will get paid. (The invoice must be processed.) We were fed.
We went on at 6:30, and the event lasted until 9:30.
The food they served all comes from renaissance recipes. A lot of it I
couldn’t eat due to the milk, but there was plenty I could eat.
The entertainment did run a bit late as one musician waited to eat before
he played, even if that wasn’t how he was scheduled. Our folks who sat at
his table had some interesting things to say on his attitude about it.
One of our CT people had to be at work at 3 the next morning. So, they
bugged out right after desert. “Art museum” seemed to be falling asleep
during the music and didn’t want to wait for the madrigal singing. So, I
asked the CT people to drop her off on their way out.

We stayed until the end and then dropped off our other new guy. So, we
didn’t get home until just before midnight.
But, the shows did go well enough. For a year that has been pretty sparse
for shows doing two in one day worked out pretty well.

Comments

[palusbuteo.livejournal.com]

Wow, so the Castle place and performing there has already made it into your top 5 Bad Places List.

does not bode well

And "Not Our Thing" *jaw drop* Oh well, their loss.

Sorry it was a bust, but glad you all were able to adjust to the environment.

Glad to hear UMass was much better.

[fbhjr.livejournal.com]

You have no idea what a busted show is if you think that was one of them.

Yes, the site was bad and the kids weren't into it. But, the people who actually paid were into it, cheered us, fed us and paid us.
Not a busted show.

[palusbuteo.livejournal.com]

True, true, I suppose I read too much into the low points on the performance.

I'm glad to hear the people did like it and all.

And of course Yay for pay and food :D