Flying day...oh lord.

First cruise is complete!!!

What a crazy first cruise this has been but before I venture onto that blog, lets start with the LONG LONG LONG days that we had of flying from San Fran to Venice. 

EHHH

We had our last day of rehearsals with a entire run-through of our shows, Motown / High C's / Abba but this time for family and friends. I was lucky to have my mom and grandma come out from Ohio to California for a little vacation but also to send us on our way and to see our shows. It was great having them here for a few days as Zach, my mom, grandma and myself got to sight see around San Fran for one of the days off we had. It was awesome :-) Later that night of our last rehearsals, we had a GREAT farewell party as a cast and creative team. It was a great time that we got to have before we left for the ship. I really enjoy the creative team from Choozi, they all really care about you and care about the experience that you're about to have. What a great group of people. 

Since we had a very early flight, we had decided to stay up that night and not go to bed. We had to be at the curb early in the morning and when I say early, I mean 2:30am. OMG…I have never started a travel day that early in my life. We had all of our bags in front of the hotel, all 13 of them ready to get picked up from the airport in the dead of night haha. Our first issue was getting to the airport because our van that picked us up wasn't big enough for all our bags. We had crammed ourselves into this shuttle van…luggage here, person there…thank the lord it wasn't a long trip to the airport because I can't believe we actually fit everyone and everything haha.  

Once we arrived at the airport, we were dropped off at the international terminal and then we found out that our first flight was coming out of the domestic terminal. We weren't starting this travel day well…since we had to drag all 13 bags all across the airport to the complete opposite side of the terminal…not fun. We were already tired and we hadn't even checked in yet. Checking in was a little bit of an issue since a few bags were overweight and thats expected…we have packed for 8 months…HELLO!!! The lady checking us in was very nice and let a few bags go through a little over weight. She was nice to us or it was too early to deal with that crap. Hopefully it was the first option haha. 

Once we arrived in the gate area, we didn't have long to wait until we got on the flight. Well, it wasn't a long time until we changed gates because the plane that was at our gate, our original plane, had some technical issues. That didn't make me feel very good but I'm thankful that they moved us before we got on the plane. They had to drag the new plane from the hanger, so it was a little delayed but I wasn't worried cause it was a new plane…no problems.  Now, once we got on the next flight, we didn't take off for another hour and 30 mins than we were suppose to. The first reason was because we were on our way, taxiing from the gate and the whole electricity on the plane turned off…which was scary. I have never been on a plane that its happened to me before. It took them an hour to fix the plane, mind you we didn't get off while this happened. So instead of having a 5 hour flight to NYC, we had a 6 hour flight. It made me quite nervous the entire time being on that flight that something might go wrong with the plane, I mean wouldn't you think that way too….but Zach and Jemma were very comforting and they promised me that nothing would go wrong and they were right. I think that I was quite tired and wasn't wanting to deal with that sort of things that early…ehhh.

So we land in JFK's airport about 30 mins late…I guess we picked up some speed in the air, which is nice. Unfortunately, we had missed our second flight to Paris and in turn, would miss our flight to Venice. Luckily, our cruise travel agent had re booked our flight while we were in the air and we all had a direct flight to Venice….maybe our travel day is looking better! The only problem, I was afraid our bags wouldn't meet us in Venice. So I stood in line for 30 mins and made sure that they understood how important it was for us to have our bags show up. They assured me that the bags would be there so I was hoping they were correct.

We eventually got to our second flight. By this time, most of us were tired except Laura who had slept the whole first flight…lucky haha. The second flight was an overnight flight that everyone could sleep during…except ME, of course. I have a very hard time sleeping on planes…I wish I was better at it but I'm not. The second flight was nice, I watched a few movies and had a nice meal…much better than the last time that I had to do an international flight from my last contract. YIKES!!

Once we arrived to Venice, we all headed down to the baggage claim area where we had…NO LUGGAGE. This then began the long process of filling out the proper paperwork for 12 bags, not 13 because our Choozi bag, with all our costumes made it with us…which made us all laugh.  During the time standing in line, we missed our shuttle bus pick up for the ship so we then had to make other arrangements to get on the ship. Now this all happened, you must remember, after already 24+ hours of flying and barely any sleep. Needless to say, none of us felt very good but onto the ship we went. 

Once we got on the shuttle, we started to get excited that we were heading to the ship. Zach was like a little kid that was going to Disneyworld or something because he just lit up when he saw the ship. I am excited for him to have this experience and I'm even more excited to share it with him. 

When we arrived on board the ship, they had been informed about our luggage issue and luckily for us, we weren't leaving until the following evening…we had a little time for our luggage to get here and eventually it all did get here…WHOOSH. We met Brittany, a past Artist on the Wind and she showed us all around the ship and was talking about the do's and don'ts of the ship. During this whole time, I didn't really pay attention because the only thing I kept thinking about was that I wanted to take a shower and a nap…haha. Of course, I couldn't have either yet because we all had to head upstairs and experience our first Muster Drill. Lord, looking back at us, we probably looked quite gross standing there without having a shower after flying so long but we couldn't do anything that and the guests already knew our entire story…guess the news traveled fast haha. I tried my best to socialize with the guests but I don't think I remember what came out of my mouth…I was that tired. 

Needless to say, we had quite the flying experience from San Fran to Venice. One that I hope doesn't happen again. 

Next blog will be about our wonderful first week on the Silver Wind. What a lovely staff thats aboard the ship. Been having a lovely time!!

Until Next Time,

Jason 

Rehearsals...Rehearsals...Rehearsals

Rehearsals…

The most stressful part of any contract is the rehearsal process. Having to memorize lyrics and learning intricate harmonies to learning the choreography all at the same time. Now, the great thing about Choozi Entertainment is that everyone in the production team is so chill that as a performer, we bring our A game knowing that the rehearsal room isn't a panicked…learn this now…you're wrong, sorta place. The entire time of rehearsals either with Chris, our UBER talented director/choreographer or Cesar, our equally talented musical director, who has this incredible knack for languages (thank the lord), they both made us feel comfortable to explore, laugh a little bit but also get the job done that we are all hired to do. That is why I feel so proud of my cast because we all came to this rehearsal process with one thing in our minds…to work hard to get to that polished finished product. What a rehearsal period it has been….

Our first week was spent just going over our music (which there is a lot of music this time around…which I LOVE)…and trying to figure out who would sound best at each vocal part as well as solos. I was placed majority of the time with Tenor 2 which I was happy with. Now don't get me wrong, I sing the occasional bass line or even high falsetto as well..but a lot of the time, Tenor 2 (or the middle male singing line haha). Once the parts had been assigned and solos given out, that was when it was our jobs as musicians to learn our music and to make this process even better. Now the great, but challenging part of these shows with Choozi is the diversity within the shows. Abba, Opera and Motown music. Now, as a performer thats a HUGE variety of music to sing…different techniques that need to be introduced at different times but such a challenge and a rewarding one at that! 

When we weren't rehearsing throughout the day, we would all hang out as a cast at night have dinners together…which is so nice. Great to have a cast that is already bonding together and really enjoy each others company. Redwood City (which is where we are rehearsing) offers so much to do in such a confined space…which is awesome!! We have 2 groceries stores in walking distance from our hotel, which was nice because eating out all the time can make you feel fat (at least it does me) but its also not too great for the walle..hahat. Right across the parking lot from our hotel, there was a HUGE building that housed a movie theatre, which we all saw The Heat, which was AWESOME and Zach and I saw Despicable Me 2, which we loved…so cute. Also, on the lower level, off of a side street of that building…there were so many nice restaurants to eat a quick meal…chipotle, five guys, a gormet grilled cheese place, seafood place, pizza place and all of our favorites, a frozen yogurt place. The amount of frozen yogurt that we all consumed in these past 3 weeks probably shouldn't be legal…but when its that good, who really cares, right?

While we've been here we also celebrated Fourth of July and what a crazy experience that was. Apparently, Redwood City has the oldest parade in Northern California and they don't joke around. There were over 200 floats and they were so clever with their ordering of the floats (my favorite was these beautiful horses that were followed by a poop scooping company and the city sanitation cleaners…so funny). After the wonderful parade, we all headed over to the town centre for the festival that was going on. So many people were there but it was so fun to see this little town pretty much shut down for the holiday. It was a hot day this day, so we only walked around a little while until we decided to see a movie (The Heat). 

Majority of the rehearsal period is spent memorizing and rehearsing, rehearsing, rehearsing….but this time was so lovely that I kinda don't want to leave…..kinda, cause who would pass up 4 months in the Med and 4 months in Africa…haha. 

So with that, I have to thank everyone at Choozi Entertainment…Chris, David, Michael, Cesar, Soozi and Val for this incredibly rewarding rehearsal period. It has to be, by far my favorite rehearsals EVER….which means a lot cause normally rehearsals and I don't really get along haha.

Next blog will be about my flights over to the ship (yikes) and the first cruise which is: Venice, Italy on July 17 and July 18th / Pula on July 19th / Zadar, Croatia on July 20th / Dubrovnik, Croatia on July 21st / Kotor, Montenegro on July 22nd / Day at Sea on July 23rd / Messina, Italy on July 24 / Sorrento, Italy on July 25 and we end our first cruise in Civitavecchia, Italy on July 26th. 

Hope everyone has had a wonderful July!!!

Until next time, 

Jason

Best Luggage Packer....EVER!!!

Welcome back to the blog everyone!!

Well, what an exciting past month this has been. First, let me catch you up on what happen on my travel day…as you know how much I love to fly...ehh. 

Zach and I flew from our respective hometowns (Hartford, CT for him and Dayton, OH for me) the week of June 24th. Getting to San Fran was going to take a LONG time since its a long distance flight across the country. My day started quite early as I had an early flight (don't they know I'm not a morning person…ehh). The night before I did all my packing (yes, I waited until the night before to pack…oh well haha) and weighed my bags to make sure they weren't over 50 lbs. When I got to the airport, it was early and I wasn't in the right mindset to be traveling yet. The lady at the counter had to ask me 2 times to put my bags up to be weighed, very nicely I might add (thank you nice airport lady…haha). Would you believe that my bags were 49.5 and 50.0 lbs. OH MY GOSH!!! I am the best luggage packer in the WORLD!! My flights were Dayton to Atlanta and Atlanta to San Fran. I knew the Dayton to Atlanta flight wasn't going to be bad…I've done it a million times. The second flight however, I knew was going to be a beast…5 1/2 hour flight…ehh. The airport lady that I talked about earlier was SO nice to me with the luggage AND she even gave me an upgraded seat on my first flight. Needless to say, my morning started off well, but knowing me, my luck wouldn't last long. Oh look, I was right!!! 

My second flight however was delayed 4 hours because of "weather" in San Fran. Now, I checked the weather channel a few times and even talked to people from the San Fran area and there wasn't a thing wrong with the weather. Everyone kept telling me that the planes were delayed because they had to close a runway due to construction but were blaming "weather". EHHHHH…now I have to sit in the airport for 4 hours before my 5 1/2 hour flight!!!

Eventually I got on my flight and had a relaxing time over to the west coast. When I landed in San Fran, I got in touch with two of my cast mates who had also just landed!!! HOOORAY!!! Finally getting to meet the people I'm going to be traveling with on this crazy adventure!!! Brianne and Michael met me in the luggage claim area and what a hassle that was. It took a good 30 mins to get my luggage because it was the LAST piece of luggage to come out onto the machine. Of course!

Once we got all of our luggage we dragged our 3 pieces each up to the elevator, across a busy street to where the Shuttle service pick up area was. Eventually we got on our shuttle and took our 30 min ride to Redwood City. What a cute little city this is…which I'll explain in the next blog about rehearsals. When we arrived at our hotel/hostel, Zach had already arrived and was waiting in our room. It was great to see him and we were both really tired cause we had a long day of traveling. Later on in the evening we got to meet Jemma, our only Brit in the cast. Michael, Bri, Jemma, Zach and myself later went down the street to a little mexican restaurant to get to know each other and have a drink…it was a long day for all of us. Laura unfortunately couldn't make it cause she was finishing up some doctor appointments but after our dinner we had ran into her on the street. Our cast was finally together…all 6 of us. What an incredibly diverse but yet, cohesive cast we are…this is going to be a fun contract. 

Next blog coming soon (like a day or two) will discuss the events of rehearsals. From learning all the music, movie nights in the town square, 4th of July festivities to FRO YO!!! 

Can't believe this adventure is beginning!!! Here we go!!

Until next time, 

Jason