While Jeana will surely update you on the various activities of each day, I’m going to focus on my day visiting Cirque headquarters.  Once Jeana learned how to negotiate the metro she provided absolutely precise instructions for me.  I knew what entrance, exit, stop, bus, etc. to take to deliver me exactly to her dorm.  I was quite proud of my auto-less and successful transition from downtown to my final destination.

Jeana eagerly provided a tour of the general facility.  There are two cafeterias, a very large training room, costume shop, hat/wig making department and their very own shoemaking department.   Since this is the headquarters they are also all other departments needed by a corporation, approximately 2,000 local employees and a dormitory for athletes auditioning and training.

Here are some photos of inside Cirque headquarters – The first is a main area outside the gift shop, the second is the main office for Artists.

Early in the day Jeana had sat for her head mold which will be used to construct her wig and hat to her precise measurements.  We are there when the model is unmolded and it is amazing.  There is a large storeroom filled with heads of all the cast members.  They don’t need the ears so they are removed and there’s an entire wall with ears on it.  I don’t suppose you can keep secrets in that room.

A photo of me with the head mold ladies and Jeana’s head:

Next we visit the training room where several athletes are working on various skill moves.  These athletes are in great shape and there are trainers and fellow athletes working with each other to learn new skills and perfect some the most intricate of moves.  I thought it was very interesting to see how hard they work and how eager they are to show what they can do.

The training room:

Jeana has arranged for me to join her at the costume fitting and as a hobby seamstress I’m more than a little pumped by this.  It was truly impressive.  Every show is grouped together with their seamstresses, designers, fabrics and trims.  They are constantly building costumes, improving designs and repairing costumes.  There are file cabinets with a folder for each costume containing patterns, fabric swatches, and samples of trim, thread and directions.  I saw some truly unique fabrics and creative methods of building the famous “Cirque” designs.

In the dressing room, Jeana begins by putting on the “fat” suit.  It is a marvel of design and very light weight considering that it makes her look about 40 pounds heavier.  Her seamstress is placing the tubes of Styrofoam balls on her boobs, belly, hips and arms and they have to be arranged such so to make the costume looks right.  The “wings” are leather and weigh a lot although Jeana removes those for some of the show.

Some photos from the wardrobe session:

The designer comes in and her job is to make sure that the costume exactly matches the one that the other nanny wears.    I get the complete tour of the costume department and I’m just absolutely fascinated.   What a great way to see the behind the scenes and to celebrate this wonderful opportunity for Jeana.

We ended our day of adventure by returning to downtown Montreal with a plan to visit to the Latin Quarter.  You cannot imagine our surprise when we exited the metro right into the middle of the “Just for Laughs” street festival.

This was our first view of the festival:

But that’s a whole other story best left to Jeana’s skillful writing.  I enjoyed the week with Jeana, the visit to a beautiful city and the insider’s visit to Cirque.  I think I’ll need to rest up a bit before we visit Vegas for the real experience.

Here are some photos of HQ:

This first one is the entrance. You can see the shoe statue and the door is just to the left.

If you’re facing the building, this is the left side then the right side. The entrance area is even further to the right:

I have my first meeting wtih wardrobe at 10 and I end up with plenty of time to grab a chocolate croissant, a cafe au lait and a banana from one of two cafeterias. I eat out in a beautiful courtyard and enjoy the refreshingly good weather. In the 70’s, blue skies – I’m very glad now that I’m not in Vegas.

I find my way to wardrobe, which would be a complicated task in this place if there weren’t signs, and meet the costume people – Mireille, Mario & Tania. Mario assists Mireille, whose main job it is to measure and construct the costume. Tania is in charge of making sure that the original design concept is maintained. Basically, Mireille can have her team do whatever they want to make it fit and be comfortable so long as Tania approves what the final look is.  Though they can speak English, all three of them are natural French speakers and they prattle on about the costume while pinning me. They speak so fast that I’m only able to catch a few words – mainly oui and non. Still, they are reallly nice and I enjoy being with them.

I get a two hour break so I head back to the residence for a quick nap. Here’s a photo of the Artist Residence (it’s the building with the balconies and this is taken from the HQ entrance:

Finally, I feel fully refreshed. When I get back, I am given a chunk of my week’s salary in Canadian dollars. For my week here, I will be paid directly. I can tell that’s going to tempt me greatly to have so much cash handy. I just keep telling myself – MORTGAGE. The second wardrobe session goes just as well as the first and I’m done early.

At the residence, I get detailed instructions on taking the Metro. I buy a weekly pass from a somewhat surly Metro man then navigate the Metro to arrive downtown. Mom and I go to a Mexican restaurant (and it’s fun to see a Mexican menu in French).  Here’s a photo of my Mom holding the menu:

From there, we walk to Vieux Montreal and Vieux Port (Old Montreal and Old Port). Among several stunning buildings we find the replica of Notre Dame. We decide to return tomorrow for the light show. We reach the water and relax on a bench in a park.

The photos are: An old church, some big ass ships in the port and one of the streets in Old Montreal:

While in the park, I spot a couple eating a treat from a paper pocket labeled BeaverTail and I become obsessed with locating where it came from. We find a small shop called Queues de Castor -

A BeaverTail is a slightly puffy rectangular-shaped piece of fried dough topped with any number of sweet choices.  We get it with chocolate, banana and powdered sugar. It tastes a little like funnel cake. We make a mess of ourselves eating it but OMG is it good.

We continue along streets closed off to cars and there are dozens of restaurants with sidewalk seating areas. The menus look so good I wish I was hungry. Ultimately, we discover a rooftop wine bar that overlooks the port. The weather is phenomenal and the view is even better:

We each have a glass of wine and relax. I’m really happy to have someone to share the city with and I’m glad that my schedule is light enough that I’ll really have time to explore. It’s an hour Metro trip back to the residence and I have an early appointment tomorrow but I do have some time to chat with Scott. I really wish he could’ve come on this trip (and I know that my Mom wishes the same of my Dad). It would be amazing if all of us could’ve been here. Still, I’m grateful to be able to have this time with my Mom. It’s probably the most time we’ve had just the two of us since I left for college and it’s nice.

]]> http://www.jeanablackman.com/?feed=rss2&p=352 8 http://www.jeanablackman.com/?p=343 http://www.jeanablackman.com/?p=343#comments Mon, 20 Jul 2009 06:21:15 +0000 Jeana http://www.jeanablackman.com/?p=343 The trip to Montreal was so stressful, tiring and long that I nearly wanted to head right back to Vegas – or, better yet, Los Angeles. It started badly. I couldn’t sleep all night long and felt like I was getting sick. I finally got up at nine, took a quick shower, grabbed my bag and took a taxi to the airport. I checked in fine but when I went through security, no one told me that I needed to have my boarding pass in my hand (unlike every other flight I’ve taken recently where they don’t want you to have anything in your hands). This was apparently a HUGE problem for them despite the fact that the boarding pass was in my carry-on a foot away from them.

After being checked by a body-scan machine (which is a really cool tube-shaped device that everyone had to step through) I had to be patted down – as if the TOTAL BODY SCAN wouldn’t find a weapon. I guess, like everyone, that it makes me feel safer that security is so strict, but of course, I don’t want it to delay ME. Don’t they know I’m not a terrorist?  I was at the airport way early so this wasn’t a major issue, just an annoyance.

But then, they get my order wrong at Burger King. I’m too far away when I discover the error and, besides, it was too crowded. So, basically, I’m grumpy and tired. A bad combo that’s aggravated by the fact that we have a 30 min wait on the runway even though we boarded a half hour early.  I really like new places but I’m not a very good traveler.

I have an aisle seat for the flight, which isn’t too bad, but I’m generally fairly afraid of flying and every bump makes me wish I could hold Scott’s hand – or anybody’s hand really. Instead, I do my best to hide my nerves.  A glass of wine helps. I try to rest but really only manage to doze occasionally. The five hour flight seems impossibly long and I even watch the animated film Monsters vs Aliens without sound – because I’m too cheap to buy the headphones.

When we land, it’s another long runway wait to get to the gate – though I am hugely thankful that we landed safely. In a stroke of luck, I breeze through customs and reach my mom, who had arrived a couple of hours earlier. Unfortunately, my mom’s hotel is awful. We had picked a place that was close to Cirque Headquarters thinking it would be easier for us to meet up but Headquarters is ten miles or so from downtown. So she was in a really crappy hotel with nothing around for her to do while I had to be at work.  I’m proud of her for making the decision to just get a different hotel. She gets a room at the Sheraton downtown – which turns out great – but she had to pay for a night at the yucky place and get a 2nd cab to take her downtown.

Meanwhile, I’m still at the airport and I can’t find the Cirque driver at first. When he gets there, I also meet Daniel, a clown in the new Cirque vaudeville show that’s starting its training in Montreal. We end up waiting for a guy on another flight (he’s an acrobat about to start training for Wintuk – Cirque’s seasonal show in New York). He finally arrives and the driver takes the guys to their hotel before taking me to the Artist Residence – which is right across the street from HQ. I throw my bags into my small but tidy room and then quickly grab a cab to meet my mom even though it’s already after 10 pm.  I’m exhausted and have to be at HQ by 8:30 tomorrow morning but I feel like we should touch base. Plus, I’m hungry.

After a $25 cab ride, I reach the Sheraton. We get a quick bite and form a loose plan for the week before I turn right back around and take a $25 cab ride back. I’ll use the Metro tomorrow but I didn’t want to do it the first time so late at night. When I finally get back to the room, I literally collapse into bed.

Just because I find it amusing, here’s a photo of Canadian money:

Oh, and in case you’re wondering, the banner above is a statue of a clown shoe that sits at the entrance to Cirque HQ.  I thought it was cool and I’ll use it as a banner for all of the Montreal entries.

I head out to the theatre and jump on the Wall. It’s a hot and humid day and I’m quickly sweating in my multi-layered costume. It’s only scary because, when my palms are sweaty, I don’t feel as secure on the Wall. Gail, who is up on the Wall beside me, lets me wipe my hands on her sweatshirt. Her generosity knows no bounds. I have a chance to rehearse the bit that happens on the Passarelle, before the valets, sister and Nanny get on the Wall, and that works well. I also feel really good about the initial sequence on the Wall that occurs before the attack (which contains the slide).

Once we move into the attack portion of Climb, the pegs fire and the Wall rotates to its next position. Gail walks me through the Nanny track. Track is the term for the sequence of movements any one person does in an act. For the acrobats who don’t play a specific character, their tracks are numbered – track 3, track 8, etc. The valets have the Acro Valet track and the Zany Valet track. Make sense? Good. Cuz track is also used in a larger sense – like the Main Track for Nanny implies a certain set of scenes over the course of the show. Moving on.

In the show, the Wall doesn’t stop rotating from the time of the attack to after the point where the Nanny gets off. In training, the Wall stops at certain angles so that bits can be rehearsed. The hard part about training on the Wall is that we are on it for a really long time (whereas, in the show, I’m on the Wall for less than 10 min.). I’m also doing bits over and over, which gets tiring. It’s hard to get the flow of the Nanny’s whole sequence since we keep stopping. Some of the angles at which I’ll move from one peg to another are slightly different so I’m looking forward to getting to do a run of it at some point. I am happy to learn my basic routine but I just think it will be tricky to do it when pegs are firing in real time and the Wall is rotating. I’m also worried about being able to keep my body at the right angle so that I don’t fall. It will take another few rehearsals before I’m validated for Climb but I’m generally feeling pretty good about the progress made today.

I quickly change out of my costume (well, quick is a relative term when I have a wig and 5 layers of clothing – not to mention a shoe that has 3 parts) and head to the trampoline. I’m still working on the cradle (back drop, twist in the air to back drop facing the other direction) but I’m not too frustrated yet because it’s a hard move to learn. It’s just not natural to land on your back and I can be fairly inconsistent. I also start to work on the cat twist (a back drop where you roll in the air to another backdrop facing the same way). To start, Paul just has me try to bounce solely on my back. It’s really tough because your center of gravity is so different. I’m kinda getting that move down before time is up for the day.

I have been slowly making friends and one of the coolest people I have met here is Erica – the gal who does the Arial Duet dressed as the twin sister. She is also the person I’ll be doing Deep with most often. She’s in my dressing room and she’s been an awesome source of info about pretty much anything Cirque related. It’s nice to have someone of whom you can ask a stupid question without feeling like an ass. Here’s a photo of her near the end of her “getting ready” process:

Before the show, I make a special request to try and see the top part of Refuge. Gail gets hauled up to the top of the Wall but the monitor never shows her getting unhooked, even though that’s something that the audience sees. Gail and Jen have explained to me what happens and we walked through it on the mat but I haven’t seen it since then. I get permission to be up in the catwalk and I end up seeing Climb and Refuge from there. It’s an awesome view and I want to do it again.

I leave for Montreal tomorrow and I’ll be gone a full week. I’m really excited to go (I’ve never been) and I’m even more excited that my mom is flying out to join me for the trip. YAHOOO!!!!!!

I make my way to the airbag in the house and it’s a great session. Though I don’t go up to the second level again, I do the face drop fall from the railing a few times. At the end of it, Paul tells me that I’m officially done with airbag training. He is clearing me!!!!  WOOHOO! I might try to do the second level again at some point but I have to say that it’s a relief to be considered sufficiently competent enough to move on.

I change into my costume as quickly as possible for storm training. I’m happy to discover that the exercises I’ve been doing to strengthen my grip have really paid off. I have no problem gripping the rails and holding on during the “Big Wave”. I learn the routine and we run it a few times. Here are some photos that Gail took of the training session:

And a final close-up:

After training, Paul tells me that he’ll likely try to get me validated for Storm on my next training, which might be the week that I get back from Montreal. It will be a real victory but since I can’t do Storm until I’m validated for Pageant (since we go right onto the boat from the Pageant scene), it won’t mean an immediate appearance in the show. Still, it’s been a good couple of days in terms of feeling like I’ll be in the show soon.

On a side note, I’ve learned that the hard leather boobs on the Nanny’s apron serve a similar function as a good luck talisman in a sports arena. Very few can resist the urge to briefly (or sometimes not so briefly) fondle them. Of course, I’ve got so much padding on that I can’t feel a thing but it’s pretty funny to be greeted this way when I’m in costume.

It would take too much time to take my costume off to make it to stretch class (which is enjoyable but optional) so I decide to practice the fan dance while I’m still in costume. I do better than I expected and am really pleased – though it’s interesting how the costume changes my movement. It’s so bulky and the apron is such a hard leather that I can’t move as freely as I’m used to moving. I do struggle with two of the moves – mainly trying to figure out how not to get tangled up in the long sleeve panels that I only wear in the opening scene. Before the show, Gail is able to show me how she navigates the sleeves for those moves and I’m looking forward to working on it.

I watch the show as normal and don’t ride on the Tatami deck so that I can watch Storm on the monitor. As expected, Gail’s moves become even clearer to me now that I’ve done it.

There is one more “first” worth mentioning. Noami, one of the stage managers, is leaving KA to be an SM for the new Elvis show. Tomorrow is her last night but cast and crew head out after the second show to send her off. I grab a quick bite to eat from home  during the second show then head out to join them at Sedona, a cool bar about eight miles from the Strip. I’m really glad for the chance (my first opportunity) to socialize outside the show and I get several comments about me in a dress. It makes sense. They’ve only seen me in workout clothes (which is an outfit that few of my LA friends have seen me in) or in my Nanny costume (which is not sexy despite the large boobs).

My first item on the agenda was a ballet class at 3. I’m starting to remember some things but it will be a while yet before I feel anywhere near decent. Sadly, I have to leave halfway through to do a make-up session. I have a bit of a perfectionist in me (just a bit) and I struggle not to cry with frustration when I can’t get it. Or at least feel like I can’t get it. The make-up is just tough and I find myself really struggling with the principles behind what I’m doing – which basically means that I’m simply trying to memorize everything. I feel like if I can grasp the concept, it will get easier.

On the plus side, Tisha is awesome and, by the end, she proclaims that it was the best I had done. Though I  like to argue, I’m not one to argue against something like that. Bottom line, she clears me for the show and I take my make-up and brushes to the dressing room. I plan to practice a few more times before I actually go into the show.

For the pageant scene, I get to ride on the back of the Tatami deck again so that’s fun. During the show, I occasionally have time to chill backstage and here’s a shot of my fellow artists doing the same thing: (Queenie is standing, Daniel is grinning at the camera and Nicolle is reading a magazine)

As the show comes to a close, I have some extra time so Paul suggests that we practice the face drop fall on the trampoline again since I have airbag training the following day. I end up feeling pretty good about it and even go off the highest mat a few times without the paralyzing fear that I had last trampoline session.

I stick around after the 1st show for a bit because they have cake to celebrate all of the July birthdays. Yum!

Scott picked me up from the airport Sunday morning and we headed straight to the new place – the first time I’ve been there since we officially became owners on Wed. Scott had gotten up early to get a styrofoam cooler, some ice and some O.J. He had chilled a bottle of champagne that we got at the going away party and we toasted the new place with mimosas. It was wonderful.

We picked out paint samples then got to hang out with Hugh & Rochelle – friends we haven’t had much time to see recently. Here they are in the new place – before any painting, furniture or anything really.

After that, we went to see Spamalot. It was a really fun show and we had great seats – first row mezzanine.  Then we headed to Kendall’s for martinis – PERFECT.

The rest of the days were spent painting, painting and (wait for it), more painting. It was exhausting work but I was glad for it because the place started to feel like ours – even though I won’t be there often for a while. I think my favorite part was getting the new carpeting in the bedrooms and a new bathroom floor. It made a world of difference.

I got to hike on Wed with some of my girlfriends (which was heaven) then Matt & Delphine joined us that night. I so so soooo love being able to see people when I’m back. It makes me feel like I’m still connected to LA.  I wish I could stay to finish up the painting and packing but I have to head back. Fortunately, I’ll be able to come back the last weekend in July to help with the BIG MOVE.

From that, I went to trampoline training. I worked on some tricks but mainly practiced my falls – including doing a face drop from the highest mat above the trampoline. It’s probably only about 8 feet but I really had to work up the nerve to go. The best part of the training is the chance I have to chat with those training with me – Eric, Kelly, & Karl. Maybe it’s just that everyone’s in a good mood because of the upcoming dark but, more likely, it’s just that I’m fitting in more after being here a month.  Regardless, it made the training that much more enjoyable.

I had forgotten my black shirt because I had taken it home to wash. I wasn’t looking forward to driving back in the heat and getting it. SM Jen saved the day. She was able to get me a black KA shirt which is now mine to keep. So figuratively and literally I’m more and more a part of the cast.

When it came time to shadow the Nannies, there was another fun treat. I got to ride out on the Tatami deck, where the wardrobe people sit during the first part of the show to collect items that are discarded during pageant. This includes the Nanny hat and sleeves.  During the attack, the arrows were literally flying directly overhead and I was near one of the fire effects. It was awesome. Still, what was probably most entertaining was that one of the wardrobe gals was reading a book while waiting. There’s nothing for her to do during most of the scene and the stage lights provided plenty of light. Besides, the audience can’t see because it’s behind set pieces.  Just one of the things that could be going on backstage while you’re enjoying the show!

On a final (and bittersweet) note, today was the last regular day for Karl – the guy who filled in as a valet for Bole while Bole had knee surgery. Karl is still on call and will likely do more performances but he won’t be around as much. It’s sad for me because he was one of the first people to befriend me. He made me feel incredibly welcome and he was also a huge encouragement when we were training in trampoline together – particularly when I was frustrated or scared. I’ll miss him being around.

Here’s a photo of Karl in the green room.

Now I’m off to Los Angeles for the dark. I’ll probably wait to summarize the trip when I get back so enjoy catching up on the past posts til I return!

I arrive early (like 3:15ish) to practice the fan dance a bit. I have the throws down pretty well but I still want to work on the timing – when to change up the pace, etc. Still, much of it will likely need some adjusting once I do it in costume.

At 4, I have a massage and it is heavenly. My lower back had been bugging me a bit but not after 20 min of pure bliss. Easily one of the best perks of the job. Love it.

I have some time before the stretch class so I grab DVDs of two of the old shows with different nannies. Every single show is recorded. Coaches can use it as a training tool or artists can wtach to see how things plays out. I will likely watch my first shows in to try and improve as quickly as possible. It’s pretty neat.

I watch much of the show with Teuda in it. She was the original Nanny – 65+ and Brazilian. She’s also much bigger than Gail and myself. As the role got more physical, they cast younger and smaller people. The fun thing about watching the older show is to see what’s different. The big changes involve two acts that are no longer int he show. They’re both pretty cool. One involved pillars that acrobats jumped between. It was a chase scene with thte spearmen and the jester/imperial prince. (A scene that now happens on the passerelle). Apparently, it caused too many injuries. In fact, one of the artists who fought the hardest to keep the act broke his ankle on the last night it was in the show.

The other act was a graceful swinging vine performance in the Forest scene. Again, too many injuries. That was replaced by the arial duet which is really quite beautiful.

The Nanny didn’t originally have a fan dance or even a section in the opening scene (it was a juggling valet). On the other hand, the Refuge scene was longer. Teuda actually blew flame from the campfire. So cool but I like it better now.

The Stretch class was nice but the part that was the most fun was when Alexi had us pull him one by one across the floor using a rope. Grecia – a former strongman who now plays the Chief Archer – got into the game and easily hauled Alexi across the floor. And Alexi is not a weak guy. We were all laughing hysterically and it was a nice bonding moment.

I shadowed Gail again and we had pleasant chats between the scenes but the sameness of the task can be a little wearing. Ah well, patience.

I workout for a bit before the show but I don’t have much time for anything else. I do sign up for a massage tomorrow. My body hurts after all of the activity from yesterday.

Shadowing Gail has become fairly routine but I do still enjoy watching the show on the monitors. That’s got to be a good sign. Not much else to report so I’ll sign off for now.

A bonus picture: Stage manager Wright (on the left, ironically) and Sidney, one of the riggers