Tortugapalooza is over!!!! - (The first one at least.) It�s two days after and I�ve recovered from the after-party and the after-after-party enough to write this.
What can I say? The show was awesome! Everything went almost perfectly, without a hitch. Those of you that didn�t make it to the show really missed out. Don�t worry I�m not just trying to make you feel bad. We flew in our friends from 3rd Hemisphere productions to do a four-camera shoot to make a DVD of it. It should be out by The Minnesota show.
By the way, the new "Big Bad Wolf Show" DVD was supposed to be out this past April but with all of the hullabaloo surrounding Palooza we just couldn�t get it done in time. So we�re shooting for a July or August release for it as well. That will bring our total to four DVD�s.
Edwina show in retro costumes
Edwina show in retro costumes
Anyway, back to palooza. The show was scheduled to be in three parts with two intermissions. Since we were performing in an historic theater, there was no drinking allowed in the theater itself, only in the lobby. So, we wanted to give our crazy fans as many chances to drink as possible. You know what we say "The more you drink, the funnier we are!" Little did the Palladium know the onslaught that was headed their way. They had the largest beer sales ever for a show at their modest 880 seat theater. They ran out of cold beer after the first intermission and had to send out for more cold beer while they served warm beer in the interim. The lines for beer were so long we had to extend the first intermission to 20+ minutes from 15. That was the first of our show length stumbling blocks.
Now, the first act went without a hitch, even though I was still editing and rendering video at 6:20pm and the show started at 8pm. Believe me, the next time everything is gonna be finished months before the show so I don�t have to go through that hell again. All the opening video spots were well received,�Panty Raid!�were charming and the History tour slide show was a smash! Now all we had to do to finish up with act one was the classic "Edwina" show, a show we haven�t done in 11 years or so. What a great trip down memory lane it was, and the best part was everybody like it! We even remembered all our lines! We very rarely rehearse, you know.
'palooza merchandise, anyone?
'palooza merchandise, anyone? Dad talks to me backstage
Dad talks to me backstage look at all the VIP shirts
look at all the VIP shirts
After the extended 1st intermission we started act two. A few more video spots, then Panty Raid again and then�Hack and Slash�were on deck. Hack and Slash tore the roof off the place... the only problem? They went about 20 minutes over their scheduled time. (Timing problem number two) That�s almost doubled what we planned for their time slot. We finally gave them the wrap it up sign and they finished their show, leading into Panty Raid!�s last number. After the girls last number we did a little surprise bit with H and S. I�m leaving a lot of the real details out �cuz I don�t want to give anything away for those of you that may yet see the show. I say this because there�s a good chance we may do two more markets this year. It�s not for sure yet, but we�re in talks to push the palooza schedule up two years and include the Minneapolis and Charlotte markets this year!
topless during the final sketch
topless during the final sketch
We scooted through the second intermission and started the last act with my favorite sketch. It�s an interactive live/video bit that I dreamed up last July. Again, it went over wonderfully and led into the largest video section of the show, all of our commercial spoofs and the "What�s in your codpiece" segment. After that was another of our more controversial experimental sketch�s... the Baby Sketch. Loosely scripted we�d hoped it would leave us some room to improv and for the audience to see us in another "light". It was probably the sloppiest of the bits. Not so much due to us, but because the tech end was a mess. All of the video timing cues were missed and the audio from the video feed was non-existent. (All due to our lack of tech rehearsal time) It was still funny, but from my standpoint as a perfectionist it really needed help. After that, was our last slew of video spoofs leading up to our final bit... the escalation sketch. Let�s just say it was the messiest, gooiest, sloppiest, half naked thing I�ve ever been a part of. It went on too long and left us in such a mess I didn�t know how we�d make it to the After-Party before it was over. By the time we finished we were over an hour over time. We wanted to finish by about 11pm and it was almost 12:15am.
As we finished the show and ran backstage, I realized the after party door prizes were still at my house. Holy shit! I jumped in my truck and sped home. Once there, I took a record time speed shower, loaded up the prizes and headed to the after party at the Pier. Meanwhile, our crew was striking the stage and props.
When I finally got to the after party it was just after 1am. I walked into the party and was instantly mobbed by fans. It was so cool but kinda scary. I spent all my time signing shirts, programs, body parts and generally meeting and greeting all the loyal fans that had such a good time at our show. It was so gratifying to have hundreds of people singing our praises like that. It gave me a sense of what I imagine real celebs go through every day. I was so busy I only got to have one drink and didn�t even get to take part in the wonderful catered food that Sushi Rock Grill brought to the party.
Painty Raid! looking sexy
Painty Raid! looking sexy Sharon with an Atlanta fan
Sharon with an Atlanta fan Sushi Rock serves up great food
Sushi Rock serves up great food
After the after-party we headed to my house for a little private get together. Little did I know that half of the known world would show up. I was so tired that I could barely keep my eyes open. I hadn�t really slept in days. I was up till 4:30am the night before the show trying to get all the bugs out of the video bits. But that didn�t keep the folks from arriving in droves. I managed to keep myself awake until 5am when people started to leave. Thank God! Stick me with a fork I was done!
All in all, the show was a great success. Thanks to all of our fans, friends, cast, and crew that made this event possible. I really wouldn�t change a thing. But, I will do things a little differently next time...and there will be a next time. We�re overflowing with ideas for the next season of Tortugapalooza. So, look out world, Tortugapalooza is here to stay!
