BWW Blog: Multi-State Road Trip to See a Musical (And What It Taught Me)

It was around eight at night, beginning of January and I get a call from my best friend. She opened the conversation with "my mom got me a ticket to see Love Never Dies with my sister but I really don't want to see it, would you like to come on our road trip so this ticket doesn't go to waste?"

"Uh, absolutely." I sputtered. "When is it?"

"We leave tomorrow morning; my mom is going to come pick you up."

Now, I'm not someone that goes on unplanned adventures a lot. Usually if I'm asked to hangout without being given much notice then I'm not up for it - but instead of saying that I can't go because of such and such excuse, I hung up and immediately started packing.

. . . . next morning, I found out that I had neglected to ask possibly the most important question of how long the road trip would last. My friend told me to pack light, since the AirBNB her mom arranged for had a long flight of stairs, so you didn't want to carry a heavy bag up there. Sadly, she neglected to mention that it was a THREE-DAY trip!

I learned that fact after being picked up and finally being told that we were going to Philadelphia first to catch some museums, stay the night, and then go to the show in Rhode Island and stay the night there at a DIFFERENT AirBNB before driving back.

Sincerely it terrified me. But also it was the most exciting thing that I think I've ever done at that point. There were a lot of rough moments - mainly due to how I did not pack nearly enough warm clothes for a winter trip, but the lack of planning was the key to making it feel adventurous for me.

I'm the type of person that wouldn't go on trips or hangouts if I wasn't made aware of it ahead of time. I dread last minute things and I plan everything that I can. I think that if this were a road trip without the promise of seeing a professional production (which is still the closest to a Broadway production that I've never seen!) it's possible that I would have rejected this trip and stayed comfortably at home. Oh the regret!

Not to dwell too much on the production itself (never mind how FANTASTIC it was), but this trip helped me become someone less tied down by plans, and that is an important trait to have in theater. Not every production will have the important dates told to you ahead of time - it should, and most directors/stage managers try to have everything planned before actors are even considered but it doesn't always work out. The most important part to me when auditioning was always the showdates - and I would be terribly anxious if it were so far in the future.

Not only has this trip helped me be less strict with my plans but it helped me adjust to when they get thrown out the window, sadly another lesson that I had to learn during this situation.

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