An American in [Insert City]: Life on Tour for McGee Maddox
iPhoto caption: An American in Paris Touring Company. Photo by Matthew Murphy
An American in Paris recently stopped in Toronto on its North American tour, which McGee Maddox, who plays lead Jerry Mulligan, has been part of since April 15, 2017—without a break. What is life like on tour, when you’re in a new city, and a new bed, every week? Maddox shares his thoughts, along with some stories from the road.
How audiences differ in different cities
I feel like each region has a different level of enthusiasm. Our strongest audiences are in the Midwest. Des Moines was a wild audience. Omaha… They’re excited to see top-quality musical theatre in their town, and they show it.
[An American in Paris is] a smart script, it’s a smart show. And so it’s interesting to see how different audiences react to the jokes. There are little lines here and there that refer to, like, Oscar Levant. It’s always funny to see if they pick that up. Are they laughing at the Oscar Levant joke? Do they know who Oscar Levant is?Making a new city feel like home
If I’m in a place where I know I’m going to be for maybe a couple weeks, I’ll unpack. If I’m only there for a week, I’m not going to. I set the thermostat to how I like it—cold—so that I can bundle up in my bed and watch Netflix hours on end and catch up on my sleep, and rest my legs, take a hot Epsom-salt bath—if [I’m] lucky enough to get a hotel that has a bath.
I [personalize] my dressing room. I’ve got little pictures I hang up, little knickknacks. I’ll bring a portable speaker and play music off of my iPhone, try to go and visit my colleagues at about the fifteen-minute call, have a little dance party. I tend to get stuck on albums. Last week it was Hall & Oates. And there was a Jamie xx album in there. I think this week it’s going to be Fela Kuti. A couple weeks ago, in Providence, I was listening to a lot of Tina Turner. When we were in St. Paul, I was listening to a lot of Prince. Obviously.
McGee Maddox in An American in Paris. Photo by Matthew Murphy
Taking advantage of visiting cool places on tour
[In St. Paul, I] drove out and visited Paisley Park—even drove to Minneapolis and went to the First Avenue club. Paid homage to the man. In San Diego, I went out to Coronado beach, had my birthday out there. Detroit is having a bit of a renaissance, [it’s] finding its way back. “The ruins proclaim that the building was beautiful…” It’s always fun to go and find new places to explore.We just came from Rochester. Everybody was talking about the garbage plate. It’s disgusting. Providence was a very wonderful little downtown area. A lot of really great restaurants. In Kansas City, you’re seeking out barbecue. In Chicago, of course you’ve gotta seek out the pizza. Des Moines had this really funny pizza place called Fong’s Pizza, and it was this Chinese food–pizza hybrid. If you wanted to do a Kamikaze bomb, they put these blaster helmets on you, and you take shots. I would never have expected that in Des Moines, of all places. Sometimes the little cities can surprise you.
Exploring a city by night
I feel like the days don’t belong to me. But I’ve run into the issue that after the show, I’m up. I’m amped. I don’t fall asleep till four in the morning. So I want to do something.
Google is amazing [for] trying to find a late-night bar, any live music, or something like that. [By the time] you [get] back to the hotel or Airbnb, you’re exhausted, and then you just sleep all day, and then do it again the next night.
Some nights [I’m] like, Oh man I didn’t get enough sleep. How am I going to do this show with this much sleep? But you do it. You find a way to perform every night. You have to. You can’t have a meltdown on stage. You’ve got to find a way to perform.
An American in Paris Touring Company. Photo by Matthew Murphy.
Cancelled shows and impromptu days off
We were just in Providence, Rhode Island two weeks ago. And a nor’easter came in. Big giant snowstorm, about a metre of snow. I thought, Well this is New England, what are they going to do, they’re going to cancel the show? No, they just bring the trucks out and move the snow. People go on with their lives, just like Toronto. They cancelled the show! So we had this impromptu day off for the first time in ten weeks. We partied.
May Antaki
May is the co-founder and former co-editor-in-chief of Intermission. She edits everything from memoirs to cookbooks, loves maple syrup and boy bands, and is a pretty good first baseman.
LEARN MORE
iPhoto caption: Photo by Fabian Hammerl.
In A a | a B : B E N D, choreographer Aszure Barton aims to rebuild dance from the inside out
“It’s so easy to over-intellectualize dance in general, but B E N D is about hearing and moving to cool-ass music together,” says Barton ahead of the show's run at the Bluma Appel Theatre.
iPhoto caption: Elinor Holt and Ellen Close in 'How Patty and Joanne Won High Gold at the Grand Christmas Cup Winter Dance Competition.' Photo by Benjamin Laird.
“We’re living in a world right now where failure is not an option,” says actor Elinor Holt. “And a lot of times people would rather not try anything at all, rather than try something and risk failing at it.”
iPhoto caption: Jane Spidell as Bettye, Kevin Bundy as Jim, and Noah Beemer as Steve in 'Twelve Dinners.' Photo by Dahlia Katz.
With TIFT’s Twelve Dinners, actor Steve Ross makes the leap to playwright-director
"I love sitting with the actors before rehearsals and discussing, especially when they ask questions,” says Ross. “I love the blocking and staging. I love directing my own work, but find it challenging."
iPhoto caption: Manus Halligan in Dan Colley's adaptation of 'A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings'. Photo by Ste Murray.
A contemporary Gabriel García Márquez adaptation touches down in Toronto
A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings has toured internationally since 2022, with a shifting cast of performers. Halligan and Beaman, the original actors and co-adaptors, will reprise their roles for the Toronto premiere.
iPhoto caption: 'Narnia' in rehearsal. Photo by Dahlia Katz.
"What emerged for us was this idea of life cycles,” reflects Narnia adaptor-director Fiona Sauder. “‘What happens when you get stuck in one season [of life], and what happens when that season comes to an end? [What things] have to die and fall away in order for new things to grow?’”
iPhoto caption: Jordan Pettle, Janelle Cooper, and Monique Mojica in CHILD-ish. Photo by Jae Yang.
Tarragon’s upcoming show gives audiences a verbatim taste of children’s wisdom, wit, and weirdness
The first inklings of CHILD-ish came to Drake in 2017. “I got to an age where I started having a lot more kids in my life,” he said. That “got me curious about what adults can learn from kids: playing with and flipping that power dynamic of who’s the learner and who’s the teacher.”
Casting Announcement: The Wolves
The Howland Company has announced the cast for their fall production of The Wolves.
Nomination Announcements: 39th Annual Dora Mavor Moore Awards
The nominees for the 39th Dora Mavor Moore Awards have been announced!
10 Reasons Two Actors Wouldn’t Survive the 1600s
Actors Ghazal Azarbad and Paolo Santalucia each give five reasons they wouldn’t have survived the 1600s.
Teenagers from This Year’s Paprika Festival on What They Want to See More of on Toronto Stages
Six young artists involved in the Paprika Festival tell us what kind of theatre they want to see more of.
Based On and Inspired By: How Artists Work from Real Material
A playwright, an actor, a designer, and two theatre creators/performers talk about what it’s like working on a piece of theatre based, in some way, in reality.
iPhoto caption: A scene from Love and Information. Photo by Dahlia Katz.
What’s a Random Thing You Know a Lot About?
"At the dawn of Thatcherism, a coterie of sexually liberated exhibitionists transformed punk into glorious camp decadence (and I’m sad I missed out)."
Comments