I had intended to write a post today about the beautifully restored 1870s music hall in Portsmouth, NH that we performed in this morning. However, despite my affinity for all things vaudeville and the theatrically historical (and the awesome tour of the theater’s nineteenth century innards by Zhana, who basically runs the place), the tale that came about today was indeed one for the record books.
We enjoyed a lovely lunch at Flatbread, a fantastic pizza shop right next to the theater, dodged the raindrops and piled into Cargo Cathy and Proud Mary (our cargo and passenger vans, respectively). I was safely snuggled in among the pillows at the back of the Proud Mary while Aaron drove, dreaming of George Cohan tapping across the boards in Portsmouth and pretending that I was in his shoes. Alaina and Claire were guiding us to Springfield, MA in Cargo Cathy, where we had a Super 8 and our pay stubs waiting for us. Everything appeared to be “a-runnin’ smooth.”
I awoke with a start when I heard someone shout “Oh shit!” and the car (which wasn’t going all that fast) stopped quickly. Still gathering my bearings, I roused myself enough to watch us pull off the freeway, right behind Cargo Cathy, which was right behind a guy in a big white pickup. Pickup Guy id guy looked like a rugby player, with a shaved head, cropped beard and huge biceps. And he didn’t look too nice.
As we came to a stop in a truck parking lot, I learned what had transpired. Cargo Cathy had been having some brake problems and, combined with the rain, was unable to stop quickly in the stop-and-go traffic that we had been battling our way through. The white pickup had borne the impact. Yet, even though the van was both going under 10 MPH, something was wrong.
Alaina handled the interaction very professionally. Pickup Guy turned out to be really friendly and helpful and, together, they inspected both vehicles for damage. The pickup hadn’t sustained anything (perhaps a few paint scrapes), but it was a company vehicle, so our new friend needed specific documentation. Cargo Cathy, however, was not in good shape:
Yep. At first glance, all we saw wrong was a busted fender and cracked headlights. Neither seemed to be terribly “life-threatening,” until Pickup Guy noted a strange liquid dripping from the side of the van. “You’re leaking radiator fluid,” he said, in a thick Worchester accent. “You should probably get that looked at before you get going.” So, we grabbed our collection of Blackberries and iPhones and started looking for a vehicle repair shop. The good news: we were in Worchester, MA, which has an auto shop on every corner. The bad news: none of them serviced Sprinters. So, while we could get Cargo Cathy looked at in Worchester, there’d be nobody to repair any damage for miles.
We wheeled into a shop and, in the continuing rain, learned more bad news: Cargo Cathy had suffered internal damage, including a cracked radiator (which needed to be completely replaced), and should not be driven. Yet, we had a show to do the next day, and Springfield, MA was still an hour away. Alaina called Theatreworks, and we received our marching orders: head to UHaul, rent a truck, transfer the set and get moving.
If only it was that easy.
Worchester’s only remaining UHaul rental location is not a pleasant place. The people are fairly grumpy, it smells of something foul and, worst of all, they’re stingy with their vehicles. Despite begging and pleading, Alaina was unable to secure any sort of one-way rental, in any vehicle, anywhere. In fact, UHaul even refused to rent us a truck – all we were offered was a 24-hour, in-town rental on a moving van, which was far too small for our set. After more consultation with Theatreworks, Alaina returned with the details: we were to jettison the roll drop, roof of the barn and my tractor (over a third of our set), pack the passenger van and new UHaul van with as much set, sound and costume equipment as we could, and head off to Springfield. As quickly as possible. In the rain.
So we did:
Wet, tired and shaken after a few slips and slides (both human- and van-related), we tumbled into Proud Mary (whose back two seats were filled with our costume bags and bins) and set a course for Springfield. As we started driving, with Journey’s “Livin’ on a Prayer” playing in the background, Aaron turned to us and smiled: “I hate it, but I love it.”
TO BE CONTINUED
Call tomorrow: 7:40am, parking lot of our Super 8, West Springfield, MA.
Kid Quote of the Day: “What is a granddad with out a granddaughter?” Well, somebody in the front row had the answer: “You’re mean!”
Colleen Tractor Quote of the Day: “Ethan Marc Angelica, I know somebody who won’t be getting any pizza for lunch unless he puts away his tractor!!”
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