Show #3: Detroit Lakes, MN

Historic Holmes Theatre
Saturday, January 28, 2006
Piano du jour: 5’ Yamaha – the action was very stiff… oh, my forearms ached after the show!

After an adventurous 40-minute hike with Susan through knee-deep snow, we all checked out of the hotel and made a quick Target run before heading out on the road.

JenDeen modeling her new Target purchases

It was an easy drive today – only 40 miles. I drove again today and, whew…completed the job without getting us lost (thanks to my expert navigator, Jody). Today’s venue – the 800-seat Historic Holmes Theatre – is by far our favorite so far.

Our name on the marquee!

They provided a crackerjack crew, and for the first time we had actual dressing rooms! If only the venues were all as good as this. It’s a beautifully renovated old school auditorium. It and the adjacent gymnasium were the only parts of the building to survive a huge fire several years ago. What remained of the building sat vacant until a major renovation, including the addition of a huge new fitness center, was completed a few years ago.

Stacey grew up not far from Detroit Lakes in Moorhead, and she had about 40 members of her family and friends in the audience tonight. I also went to college there at what was then called Moorhead State University. During my senior year in 1983, I played Captain Hook in Peter Pan. We just figured out that Stacey’s brother and sister were in the show with me! Oh, what a small world. I met her brother after the show tonight. Apparently, he was afraid of me during Peter Pan. Of me? Oh, come on. Really? I think that I shall choose to think that he was afraid of Captain Hook, not the lovable actor underneath that huge curly black wig.

Word for the day: obiter dictum: an incidental remark

Miles traveled: 50
Hotel: Best Western