The cast spends the week in Phoenix making the most of everything the city has to offer, even though the heat is kicking us all in the ass. Often times, when I ask if something is within walking distance, the locals will reply, "Sure, you could walk that, it's not too hot today." Around here, 'not too hot' means 104 degrees....clear, cloudless sky, no breeze. I have never taken advantage of a hotel swimming pool so often in my life. I've learned to take advantage of the outdoor seating that offers a ring of cooling misters, small nozzles that create a curtain of fine spray that keeps the area around you cooler.
The audiences in Phoenix gradually improve through the week. They're a funny lot. They really love their live theatre here and, on the whole, are fairly entertainment educated, so they can be choosy about what they laugh at. We also discover that timing here is a little slower. Through the week we learn that letting everything land and sink in for one extra beat makes a huge difference. Strange. By Saturday, we know how to play them and are relieved to find that we're still funny (after the silence of Thousand Oaks and our first few Phoenix crowds).
A full 8 show week (that means wrapping up by doing a marathon 5-show weekend!) in mind-numbing heat, leaves everyone more than ready for a day off. Michael and I make plans to join Duff who has a friend with a ranch and horses in Tombstone. We are invited to stay the night as it is a 3+ hour drive. Sadly, we have to cancel because Michael has to do a load-in to our new venue at 7 a.m. on Tuesday morning. You see, we are now moving the show to Mesa, which is only 20 miles away, so we're not moving hotels, just venues. It's kind of a pain in the ass and we are very disappointed to miss out on riding in the desert. Michael and I make the best of our disappointment by buying him some fabulous clothes at Macy's, going to see the new Star Trek (it's fantastic), enjoying sunset cocktails at the revolving restaurant atop The Hyatt, and dining at the local Thai place which serves up some of the best tasting Thai cuisine I have tasted anywhere in the world (including Thailand).
As we are mere days from coming to the end of the tour, everyone is starting to talk of home, getting back to their lives and their next jobs. In talking with K.K., I admit that home feels like a slightly foreign concept to me at the moment. "What is this 'home' you speak of? What do I do there?" For so long, home has been just another hotel room in another strange city in a country that I am bouncing around in like a rogue racquetball. A strange existence, to be sure. It's no wonder they call us 'gypsies'.
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