Last Days of Chicago (at least for now)

So David and I are in Berlin (Germany) as I type, packed up to travel back to Hamburg for a couple of days tomorrow... but this is the first moment (at 3AM here) we have had time to post some photos of our Chicago days leading up to the opening.

We very much enjoyed our time in Chicago -- Chicago is a friendly city with beautiful architecture, atmosphere, as well as some impressive restaurants and cultural life. Most of all we loved our US company, had a fantastic time working with the people, and formed some very special friendships and connections we hope to keep for some time to come. The two of us also received great recognition and appreciation for our work on this production, louder and clearer than ever before -- if I may say so myself, the casting was good (ahem) and the dancing was better than ever, exciting, beautiful, emotional, and, of course, dirty/sexy.

David and I have some photos taken by the company we shall post when we receive it, but for now, here are a few snapshots from preview time through the opening:

At the First Preview cocktail party... David and Elsie find a "stage" and perform...


Cheese!

At one of our favorite Chicago restaurants, MK... where one may bring a bottle of wine of their own to drink (for a corkage fee) -- David and I brought out the MAGNUM we purchased in California to celebrate our friend Valerie coming for a weekend visit, to kick off our pre-Opening Night festivities... the wine was FABULOUS and we had some good times (and kudos for Val for going out on the day she arrived from London -- what a rock star)

Me & Val... this time in Chicago! Val flew in from London for the weekend, the night before our Opening Night. She has now been to DD Opening Nights in London, Utrecht and Chicago! x



OPENING NIGHT PARTY!!! David and me with Amber

David and Easton, one of our ensemble dancers... (his wife is in the show, too) He is a wonderful dancer and company member -- he would call David himself for dance notes, which is rare and great (from David's perspective).

FROM LEFT: Jane (our company accountant), Valerie, Davd, me, Tarlan, and Penny

Me and James Powell, the director

We did a spouse-swap photo... me and Easton...

... and David and Haley, Easton's wife. Haley and Easton are THE tallest couple we know.

FROM LEFT: Britta (who plays "Penny"), Eleanor, Michael, me and David

FROM LEFT: James, Amber, Ben Mingay, and me

With the girls of the cast... and a few others...

After-party at Ben Mingay's apartment... me and my favorite girls (Valerie and Tarlan), with John Antony

David and Val get their groove on...

David and Tarlan act "(they're) too hot for the party"...

Farewell to London (for now)... and back to New York City

David and I managed to squeeze in some good social outings (a.k.a. partying) with our London friends before we left the city... one of the more solid night outs of which was Friday, the night before we returned to New York. We had drinks with Valerie, Katie, and Magnus at Bam Bou, joined briefly by David's old dance friend Ryan. I have known Valerie and Katie for 9 years now, and drinks with the two of them on a good night means seemingly endless rounds of cocktails. The rounds go round and round in a deceptively swift fashion, because we have engaging conversation and comic storytellings -- and Friday was no exception. I had a handicap of having had only about 4 hours of sleep that day and generally exhausted from the final week of casting... compounded by yet another handicap of my being stupid enough to think that a vodka martini straight up was the way to go. I felt fine through the cocktails, fine through the wine shared at dinner. Then there was a sly and possibly lethal shot of alcohol David made me and Valerie try after dinner at a near by lounge club, a concoction of tequila, rum and sambuca (Katie and Magnus had smartly gone home by then). And yet I felt well enough to suggest that we go to our apartment for more wine, seeing that London bars close early (which should have been a sign).

We had a good hanging out with Valerie at our place... and then I expired. Like a wind-up toy -- I was finished, and thus turned off and fell asleep on the couch amidst the hanging out. David put me to bed, and Val and David continue to chat, until they decided that they would like to commemorate the evening by taking photos:

The two as***les took this photo with me passed out! Even managed to put the camera on timer so that they could be fully in the shot. (I can't quite understand how perky the two of them can be, having drank all night. Obviously, I am just too delicate to keep up.)

And then the two got artsy, took out my velcro rollers and put it on and around me and on themselves and took this:

I never woke up and didn't know this had taken place until David showed me the photos. (They'd taken 6 of these "Tomoko passed out with velcro rollers and Val and David hovering" pics.)


Very funny, you two.

(These photos *are* really funny, actually. Lucky for them I have a very good sense of humor.)

We had a great night, and will miss Val and the rest of our London friends. Hopefully, we will be back again soon enough.

For those of you wondering, we ended up flying Delta, NOT Silverjet, and the flight was far better and provided plenty of edible food.

Now, we're back in New York, where it is muggy. The weather has been an odd mix, on and off between torrential rain and clear blue skies and sunshine. It's good to be home. We got up early today (jet-lag), went to Whole Foods to buy food, hit the gym, and had a late lunch at Casa Mono, walked around downtown and then came home to unpack. We'll have an early night tonight, as we go back to casting the US Tour tomorrow, bright and early.

And now for our last week in London

(View of London skyline -- including the London Eye -- from the exclusive roofdeck of our friends Laurie and John's apartment...)

David and I have had a wonderful time in London: a good mix of work, "normal" life (consisting of gym, local eats and chill time the two-some way), seeing friends, and enjoying the foggy city. Living in Bloomsbury has worked out fabulously well for us, as it's proved the first time in London that we've felt well-integrated. Much better than "living" in Covent Garden. On the life/gym-front, David has been trying to bulk-up muscle-wise and I have aspired to become more "fit" -- a regime/aspiration we began in New York and have been able to continue and maintain while in London. Of course, there are probably more wine consumed here -- a function of having better access to gorgeous wines and needing it after a long day of casting -- but on the whole we have spent the last 3 weeks in London without having to throw away entirely our more healthful routines we've established and stuck to in New York, which too often happens when we are displaced and live temporarily in a foreign city.

A few snapshots of our last week in London show us...

...at John and Laurie's apartment for a BBQ feast, as well as a treat to the London skyline...

(David and John discuss life and other manly things overlooking the London Eye...)

(Real men BBQ with a cosmopolitan in hand...)

(Happily intoxicated on John and Laurie's roofdeck...)

...at Mon Plaisir, digging into a delicious pear tart before going to watch Sex and the City Movie....

... at Busba Eathai, MANY times over... our favorite Thai restaurant in London, we are truly addicted...

... at Roka, where infused shochu and excellent food reign supreme...

... and the dessert at Roka was one of the best desserts we've ever eaten...


(David in dessert-time heaven at Roka...)

... and we've had a wild night out with Valerie, which started out civilized enough at a dinner at Yauacha...


... but which lead to an interesting outing to a random R&B club... and lots of silly dancing and Valerie, as always, being very popular with the boys...

... to back to Mon Plaisir, where we had a gorgeous rib-eye for two...
We have one more week in London left, and some more hefty bit of casting to do, but we are optimistic and look forward to having a good time... even if it means we have to fly back to New York on Silverjet.

Hopefully it won't jinx us... but we saw this sticker on a sandwich from Pret and thought it was quite appropriate...

DD Utrecht Premiere

Last night was the premiere of Dirty Dancing Utrecht -- and the evening was wonderful. The show was fantastic with high energy, the audience response was excited, eager and extremely positive, and everyone was in fabulous spirits. My friend Abbie and her fiance live in Amsterdam, so they came to the premiere as well. It was great for us to have friends not involved in the theater be there supporting the show and partying with us in celebration of opening. Valerie attended the London premiere as well, so it was interesting to get her reaction and feedback on how much the show has evolved since London.

Here are a few snapshots of the premiere:

(David, Valerie, me, Michael Conlon and producer Kevin Jacobsen in front of the DD photo-op banner)

(Me and Kevin)

(David, Abbie's fiance Derek, and Abbie)

(Abbie, me and Valerie)

(David with the ladies)

(Crazy musicians perform lying down on the floor to get the party started)

(Alice from the London DD office -- without whom I would lose my mind and certainly lose track of time and travel itineraries. She is a star.)
(David rocks out with James, our director)

(David and Michael both sported Paul Smith suits, and were very excited)

(With Penny and Conrad)

(David with Eleanor and Michael)

(Valerie and me)

(Cheesy? For sure... but funny, and priceless)

Party Time!

Really very great day today -- in brief, as we must to bed -- we had a private canal boat ride with the creatives and their families and special others complete with wine, food from one of the top hotels in Amsterdam, a band and a private boat tour guide. Very festive and merry, the ganag's all here.

Our friend Val arrived from London to join in on the festivities with opening night, people are crazily wrapping presents and writing cards all around, there are decisions to be made about outfits and plans about after parties.

It's all happening, very buzzy, but we are all excited and thrilled about the opening. The show is in good shape, at this point the stresses and anxieties have given away to a desire to party as one big rowdy family.

Soon!