Wednesday, February 21, 2007


Dover, Delaware. Actually I'm just back. It was a tight schedule yesterday. Left home at 10 am and arrived in Dover at 1:30 pm. Set up the stage and started the tech at 3:45pm. Show at 7:00pm. This booking was incredible. We had front page coverage in the Dover Post Entertainment section with two color photos. Dover is an unassuming town. You pass through the requisite fast food places and Walmarts and then you are suddenly in the middle of this jaw-dropping old town with cobble streets and cute shops. I missed the theatre twice because a campus map showed it on another street. There is a historic large plaque in front about the Capital Theatre and then a small sign that says "Schwartz Center for the Arts". The Schwartz Center is a remarkably restored old vaudeville house with fantastic acoustics. (I was recovering from a bad cold and did not have to strain myself - even today I have a voice!) The Center was used for vaudeville and then as a movie theatre and then went derelict and only re-opened to the public five years ago. It is now a lush place to play with a star dressing room, lush gold seating, a huge mezanine, red velvet curtain with fringe - it was a treat as Jane Austen to peak out from that curtain at the top of the show. The audience was warm and friendly and many demanded autographs after the show. I always figure they are there for Jane or Aphra so I always sign those names first! Every time I do "Cheer from Chawton" now I have a stronger and stronger desire to do a run. We shall see how and where this might pan out. I am thrilled that I will go back to the Mission Theatre in Bath, England next fall. I will do a short run of Aphra and Jane there. There you have it. I've not even announced that on my website yet!

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