Boston doesn't stink

Arrived in Boston two days ago in an attempt to somewhat acclimatize myself to the new environs. I’ll be here through the first week in September and then heading off to Indiana for the first leg of the tour. First thing I noticed was that, in the depths of summer, Boston doesn’t smell like pee. Like New York. Big plus. And it’s clean, like, super clean and un-trashy and un-graffiti. Of course, I’m in a very chi-chi neighborhood, hip, fashionable, but even in, say Williamsburg it still smells and there’s trash all over. So, score one for Boston.

Today, I got to meet most of the other members of the cast, and get fitted for costumes. The meeting thing was, of course, slightly awkward. Actors meeting for the first time, everyone trying to make a good impression, jostling for position in some unspoken pecking order. I, of course, revealed a number of personal, slightly embarrassing things about myself (I like comic books, I’m terribly neurotic about my acting until I’m well into the rehearsal process, I tend to tell long, circuitous stories that have no point), to what end I’m not sure, except perhaps that when people “start getting real” (cue ridiculous MTV “Real World” music) I’ll already have gotten the slightly geeky stuff out of the way. My geek-fu technique is unstoppable! I’m also operating under the assumption that if I’ve already embarrassed myself in front of these people, then I can just be myself. Nothing to lose, as it were. I let you know how that works out.

The costuming thing was fine, but long. The contempt (somewhat playful, somewhat serious) that tech people have for actors was in full effect, at least initially, so I just made sure to be quite polite, keep my mouth shut most of the time, and be as charming as frigging possible when I did have to speak. That seemed to work OK, and by the time we left two and a half hours later, they seemed to think we weren’t as annoying as most actors. The fitting was a little difficult for me, because apparently I’m built weird, and I’m just tall enough to be a bit tough to fit. They took it in stride, and were incredibly professional.

While I'm in Boston, I’m staying in the guest room of a very kind woman. She’s taking great care of me, driving me around to see the city, being generally a sweetheart, and occasionally feeding me ice cream. I’m ridiculously blessed.

Obviously, it’s still very early, but I’m pretty sure that this isn’t going to suck. It may be tough, challenging, whatever, but the staff at the company I’m working at seem very on point and together, and they seem to have the whole tour thing wired – they’ve been doing it for something like 30 years, so I’m guessing they’ve had some practice. Rehearsals start in earnest tomorrow, so I’m looking forward to/apprehensive about that. Eek.