Training’s End and Tour’s Beginning
It is now Jan. 14. 1-week blitz training is over, and I survived our first day of tour, which is more than I can say for some cast members. Training day highlights included Fabíola mistaking “pen is stilled” with “penis stilled” during prayers, failed pranking of Koorosh on his birthday, Kai, Fabíola, Vafa and Koorosh enjoying a cake fight on Koorosh’s birthday, and Vafa’s sudden, unexpected cross-dressing. Friday evening we performed for some Nancy Cambellites and a few Stratordians. The response was very good. We had to rework the order of things which added some extra stress but things turned out to be fine. Vafa’s knee was acting up so his Hip-Hop dance as cut, and I got to take his spot in Strut, which was fun because the dance is mostly improvised.
The problems with our first day on tour began in the wee hours of the morning. I was hanging out with Joleh and Vafa in the kitchen when Nicole entered to voice a concern. What had once been a small bruise had flared up until there were veiney lines where it seemed blood had congealed on the underside of her skin. Joleh took Nicole took Nicole to the hospital as I headed to bed.
The next morning, I passed Princess as I was climbing down the stairs with my luggage. She was clutching her ankle, being tended to by Jenna. Once we were all in the van, we confirmed the worst: Princess, who had gone home mid-tour during Sept-Dec had injured her ankle carrying luggage down the stairs. As we drove to Pickering, Jenna and Vafa discussed modifications to the show while the rest of use slept.
During setup, Vafa and I helped Princess to the hospital where she was tended to by a friend who is local to the community. The first show went pretty well in the absence of Princess. Personally, my performance was mediocre. I made a couple of mistakes in Step, Abuse was good, but not great, and Gang featured a few missed moves as well. The audience seemed to enjoy the show, but performing in a mall, much of the sound was lost.
During our lunch break, Melissa and I went on a trek for coloured electrical tape and elastic cord, for spiking the stage and securing Drug/Strut masks, respectively. After getting sidetracked buying a Toblerone, handmade soap and plantaine chips, we at least found the tape. When we stopped to eat Asian cuisine, the two of us discussed our dating pasts. They are reasonably similar. We both had break ups just before joining Wildfire. I told her I was sorry to hear about it (hers break up). “I’m not,” she said. She explained that she was hopeful in the dating department, but self-proclaimed to be, “picky.” Bad news for this tall slice of mediocrity.
Anyway, our medical escapades were not over yet, as of lunch. During our second show, Kai passed out on his way off stage following his segue. When I first saw him, I thought his shoulder was dislocated because his arm was in an unusual position. I practically fainted myself when I found out he’d passed out nearby, and had been dragged to his current position. He was verbally responsive, and the show went on as the mall security guards tended to the medical situation.
That night, we ate in a Pickering home, and I sang Disney songs with the children of the house, along with Fabíola and Melissa. Great fun. When Kai returned to the group, we learned he’d be out of commission for a couple of days; his fainting spell was a result of taking back pain pills in a higher dosage than he was used to on an empty stomach, and hypoglycemia. We were lucky that things worked out well with our slightly sloppy handling of the situation, but Kai, Jeremy and I are going to lead a consultation on first aid Thursday to solidify emergency procedures.