The diary of the new girl.
Was Winona Rider named after Winona Lake? We arrived Monday late afternoon, the other 4 went to the nearby Italian restaurant, Papa Vinos, for some pasta, I was so exhausted I opted for pot noodle in bed. Tuesday was rainy and chilly, but by the end of the day the sun was back out and we donned our gladrags to have dinner with the Grace team. The sun set over the lake through the windows of Cerulean as we enjoyed our cheese boards, wine, duck breast and crème brulee, we discussed favourite bands, books & food.
Back at the hotel, Michael introduced us all to the game, Ex Libris, and we played and laughed for a good couple of hours (would highly recommend this game post dinner). Wednesday we teched the little theatre, a sweet, shallow proscenium arch with an intimate, puppet show feel. We made a trip to sit by the lake in the sun for a bit, before exploring Walmart and then heading to Mad Anthony’s brewery in Warsaw.
The shows went well, we played the smaller space with a different energy, trying new things. We had to rethink the washing line moment and used the wings a little more as there was no space behind our chairs on stage, changing it up made it feel fresh and fun. Laughs landed in different places, we stayed on our toes and on the second night had to run back on to bow again.
Friday was a big day for all of us. Anna went Jean shopping (which anyone who’s ever been Jean shopping before will know, is practically a competitive sport) the trip ended in a successful purchase, a picture of the jeans will surely feature in an upcoming blog. Michael, having been a guest on Pat Loebs’ podcast that day, popped into his Block Party Post Show, where he met a man called Jared, who happened to be a custodian of THE Billy Sunday’s house, Michael then managed to sweet talk his way into a private tour of the house on Sunday.
The gang took me for my FIRST EVER drive through experience. Culvers did not disappoint- the woman who took our order through the strange microphone machine was in hysterical laughter, and even asked us “is this real?” (probably due to our English accents), so much so that her colleague had to take over the order, but by this time the car was already laughter infected, and we giggled the rest of the way home, enjoying our burgers, chips & cheese curds in the lobby.
On Saturday morning Sam & I ran around the lake as the sun rose (Sam hit an impressive 10k PB which needs a mention), and Waggy & Anna found proper coffee at the farmers market. Scot came to see the final show and we put the world to rights in the lobby (this lobby has never seen such excitement as it has this week). Sunday was Michael’s house tour, an experience he described as “suspended in time”. Much to the dismay of the hotel staff, the rest of us took chairs from the lobby and sat in the sun beaming down on the car park at the front of the hotel with some snacks I’d picked up from Walmart. Trust the British people to find any sliver of sun and make the most of it.
Once Michael was back, he drove us to Ledge View Brewery, where we sat in the beer garden (Waggy threw a double corn hole, if you don’t know what this is, just trust me – very impressive) until we were chased inside by a swarm of wasps. We tested all the hot sauces they had and rated them, we ate more sweet potato fries than you’d think is humanly possible, we discussed our dream music festivals, we got an early night before a 5am pick up. New York, watch out, five silly actors are coming your way.
