Houghton, MI

Well, It's Happy 100 for the cast. Yup officially the 100th performance. The design team at the venue had made some amazing banners and posters. This time with our cast and kids on it.So how excited were we when he was able to get some for us. The house was so full I had to watch from the Green Room. It was a late show so we were able to get some pool time in the morning actually afternoon. We havent been able to get too much time for that either. We now have embarked on an extremely long 1082 mile ride to Reading, PA with a stop in Elyria, OH again. Yes, again. We were there just a little bit ago. We have a couple of real early bus calls. Might I add a snow storm is following us. We cant wait to see Gail soon. So I will post to you soon.

Love Ya,

John & Q

Merilleville, IN

Hello all, 7 days and counting. Totally enjoying a Golden Day, albeit a very cold day we managed to pick up Quentins Backugans and check out a movie with Sue and Mikey. We later met up with Missy and Colin and went searching for a restaurant "again" and showed off some new puchases. The show today went well and we even got free popcorn and soda with flashing our pass. That never happens! Directly after the show they held a Q & A with the cast and the kids. Who you know truly enjoy doing those.The kids would answer every question if you let them. Being that it was a 3 o' clock show. We returned to the hotel and walked to Red Lobster. Q has been begging to go for a while. He loves his crab legs. We also enjoyed that Rhianon and Chaz joined us for the festivities. Well we are off again in the morning. So I will blog to you soon.

Love Ya,
John & Q

Salisbury, MD

Hello Everyone, Oh Happy Day. Papa Nanny, Grandpa and Grandma all here. Unfortunately we had got into town much later than we had expected due to rain so, Q and I had literally 30 minutes to drop our stuff off and get something to eat. Thank goodness papa ran to Wendy's for us. We had left pretty early from Springfield so Q needed a quick shower. Anyway the hello's went pretty quick and back on the bus to the venue. The show went well and Gail's parents, Papa and Nanny sat there laughing along and getting choked up during "Where is Love" and "Who will Buy".It was fun watching them enjoy what I have been able to see for the past six months. I cant even begin to explain how proud Ive been but that's a story for another time. I truly loved having my little girl Reina sitting beside me during the show. She has also grown so much during this trip. Anyway, we were in an arena so being on the floor sometimes can be tough especially sitting behind tall people but it all worked out. Quentin was also really excited because Eric and Susan had also drove in to see the show. They where staying overnight in the same hotel so we all had planned to meat up there and go to Denny's for a late night breakfast. Unfortunately we had a 8:30am call the next morning for another 783 mile trek to Indiana. So it was short but sweet and nice to have a quick coffee and orange juice with the family before we headed off. It was a little sad saying bye but we are almost going home. With that being said I will blog to you later from Indiana. Check out Picasa Web Albums for new pics.




Love Ya,
John & Q

Springfield, MA

Hello, hope all is going well. We want to thank Cousin Pat and her friend, Melissa and her friend for coming to see the show in Springfield. They truly seemed to enjoy it. Q and myself met up with them in the lobby after the performance and you know Q is always happy to sign some autographs and say hello. Our stay in Springfield was short and sweet not too much to blog on. Although Jen who plays Colin’s understudy as Dodger went on for him today and she did a wonderful job. Colin is fine he just took the night off. She did have some relatives at the show so that was a bonus for her. We will be on our way to Salisbury, MD in the morning and cant wait to see Papa, Nanny, Grandma, Grandpa and of course Reina. We had hoped to hear from some of our friends from Hurrah but being this show is in the middle of the week we understand. Our stay in Maryland will also be a short one but the tour is almost over and oh what a trip it has been. We cant wait to get back home and into our normal routine what ever that may be. We still have quite a bit of miles left on the tour but truly about 7 more performances in 4 more states. Well that is about all I have for today. I will blog to you later.

Love Ya,

John & Q

Lowell, MA

Hello, Hope all are doing well. We would like to thank all our family and friends who came out to see the show. We were all excited for them to see the show. I think it was the first time they got to see Quentin in a show. So Q was extremely enthused to give a great performance and so proud to know he had family and friends in the crowd. Following the show we first met with this incredible little boy who was waiting at stage door and so excited to see the cast and kids he just made our day. We then moved out to the lobby for Q to say hello to the family. It was nice and quick as we are getting accustomed to that. But not for much longer.We were sad to see the family go. They all had to gat back home and we had to get back to a meet and greet up on the third floor. Once we were done it was back to the hotel to drop off our stuff and go to dinner. We had gone to a great little Italian restaurant the night before in which Q was my Valentines date and decided to go back again with Chaz accompanying us this time. After dinner we all walked back to the hotel and watched “Oliver” on TV the non musical version. We will enjoy a golden day then travel to Springfield. I will blog to you soon.

Love Ya,

John& Q

Morganton, NC

Hello again, we got into Morganton on Thursday and enjoyed the evening off. On Friday the kids had school early and I finished our laundry, isn't life grand. The show that evening went very well and Quentin had a couple of visitors come to the show. We would like to thank Georgia and her husband for coming to the show. We were all staying at the same hotel so were able to talk a little after the show. Georgia had been in Hong Kong on Monday and had dinner with Gail. They enjoyed the show and it was great spending some time with them. But as usual we had an early call the next morning and had to retire for the evening. Although we did get to see them again in the morning before our shuttle took us to the airport. Oh, I forgot to tell you that we got a break from the bus. The kids and parents actually were offered to fly into Boston and shuttle to Lowell so we took it. The remainder of the cast has to ride the bus to NJ for a layover then to Lowell. We will blog to you again from Lowell.

Love Ya,

John & Q

Jacksonville, FL

Hello All, hope everyone is doing well. Where do I begin?  Well, from Georgia we enjoyed a stay in Clemson, SC for one night and a performance. Thank goodness the hotel was 100% cleaner and we at least got a decent night sleep. Then off again the next morning. We could now enjoy the next two days off in Florida. Sue’s husband Mike came to visit again and brought Maria with him. Unfortunately she had come down with a bit of a cold. She probably caught it from Mikey who caught it on the bus. We have all had some aggravating cough that we just cant get rid of. Mike had rented a minivan so we all could get around for the couple of days off. Monday we were all able to get on the bus and head to the beach for a few hours which was nice just to sit on the beach and relax. The kids of course loved that they could just run some energy off. After eating down by the beach we all went back to our hotel rooms and pretty much crashed and retired for the evening. On Tuesday we headed to the Museum of Science and History in Jacksonville along with Jeremiah the tutor for a field trip which was a nice change from having class on a bus. Thanks again to Mike for providing the transportation. We then again headed back to the hotel for some r & r. That evening Mike & I took the kids to the movies to see Coraline in 3D which is great movie if I say so myself. Sue had stayed back with little Maria who was still not feeling well trying to fight off a cold.  Today the cast had 2 shows in which the first was a school show at 10am with about 1800 kids showing up with a Question & Answer session after the show.  Needless to say the kids loved the show and all the little girls were going crazy for Oliver and Dodger even asking them if they were available.  Available for what, I ask?  The kids were even more pumped up when the 3 boys started signing autographs. The 7pm show went well but without all the screaming for the boys. That concludes our stop in Florida and it is about that time I say goodnight. We are off in the morning to Morganton, NC I hope to see some of you there. Please give me a call so Q and I will take some time to say hello after the show on Friday.  I am also excited to be seeing my cousin Gerry and his family, Gail’s sister Brenda and Brother Evan and his family in Lowell. I will take tons of pics and post them later. I have added updated all the pics up to this point in Picasa Web links below so check them out. Blog to you soon.

P.S. We all hope Maria gets well soon.

 

Love Ya,

John & Q

Statesboro, GA

Hello everyone, Today's news from Georgia. It was actually warmer today here than it was in Florida yesterday. A bit of bad news on the way to the hotel we were supposed to stay at. It so happened that the brand new Ramada Inn had no reservations for us and no space to accommodate the cast. So instead we got to stay at the not so new and pretty shady Howard Johnson. Yuck, and to make a long story short it sucked big time. As for the show that was quite interesting also. The show itself went well, but about fifteen minutes prior to the top of the show the fire alarms went off. It seems that the fog machines had set them off and the fire marshal and trucks had to come out and everyone had to evacuate the building. After about 20 minutes we were able to return and the show went on. When we returned to the hotel most of the cast was hungry so we visited the Sonic next door. If you know Sonic then you know that its a drive thru spot and we do no have vehicles. What a funny picture that was, all of us standing in front of the boards with a few cars in the mix. I wish I had my camera for that one. Anyway we are all excited to leave and 8:30 cant come fast enough. Blog to you soon.

Love Ya,

John & Q

Gainsville, FL

We have arrived, Yeah. What a trip! We psyched ourselves up for the worst and it ended up not being as bad as we had originally thought. Its crazy how at this point we think 500+ mile trips for day for 3 days is not too bad. Another bit of the stomach bug had struck again and Will had to miss a show. Adam stepped in and did a great job in 2 roles as Grimwig and Sowerberrry. We are getting excited to see family and friends in some upcoming venues. It seems like forever since we have seen you all. The cast has about 15 more shows and I think it is starting to sink in that the end is near. Bitter Sweet it is. Blog to you soon.

Love Ya,
John & Q

OH Canada

Hello Again, Last time I blogged we were in Canada just on our way to St. John for weekend performances. I must admit I truly enjoyed staying in one spot for a few days. We truly did not do much, it was cold and we were truly beat. We pretty much stayed in the hotel for dinner and just left for the shows. Sunday was even more enjoyable because it was a day off without travel and Superbowl Sunday. WOW, even though the Cowboys aren't there I still get to watch. No big party or anything like that but, we did have a 50 something inch flat panel TV in our room. Don't be confused though the beds looked like a skate ramp and the hotel looked like it was from the 70's.(not retro, just from the 70's) I guess they got a deal or something on the tv's. Anyway the weekend did not go without a hick up or two. Clare our tour manager got sick, I got and gave bad directions to the theatre and we left a man behind. At the hotel that is not in Canada. We now have a wonderful 3 day 1783 trip back to Gainsville, FL with stops in Norwalk, CT and Fayettville, NC. Half the cast have bought out their rooms and decided to fly home for a few days and meet us in Florida, but Q and I will tough it out and ride. I will post again when we settle somewhere.

Love Ya,
John & Q