August 15-September 12, 2011
Dearest Dolls Fans,
There is no better place to start our first US Tour then in sunny Arizona! I had been in Tucson working at the wonderful Gaslight Theatre in their summer show, Gnatman (spoof on Batman), when the Dolls arrived to Tucson. My lovely parents, Sharon and Michael, were kind enough to house us for our week in AZ. We met up with our band and 2 male guest stars early Monday, Aug. 15, at the theater to rehearse and sound check. It was a busy day with 2 packed shows and great audiences. Mike Yarema, Gaslight favorite and our usual emcee in AZ, made a special guest appearance in “Is You Is Or Is You Ain’t My Baby,” surprising us in a full zuit suit, slicked hair and, to top it off, a toothpick. Classic. David Fanning joined us again as our Sinatra-style soloist singing some beautiful solos as well as some group numbers with us, including a heartfelt “God Bless the USA” which received a standing ovation! David also surprised us for the second show when we came on for “Don’t Fence Me In” wearing head-to-toe white furry chaps. Thanks for that, Fanning. Singing three-part harmony while choking on laughter…not the easiest thing in the world. Totally worth it.
After the second show we headed straight to Chicago Bar, our usual Tucson hang-out after shows, to support our friends The Ronstadts (www.ronstadtgenerations.com) and dance the night away! It was quite a night.
The rest of the week I had double duty Dolls/Gaslight shows which was tiring but a blast. Highlights of the week were dinner with Jeannie and Jason (Jeannie and Heather were college roommates and have been best friends for 15 years), Remember the King Elvis show is Saddlebrooke (Robert Shaw is amazing!), photo shoot with the ridiculously talented Joe Hubbard, pool time, shoe shopping, The Dolls seeing Gnatman and movie nights!
On Wednesday, Aug. 17, we returned to La Cholla Country Club to perform for the lovely folks there and had a wonderful time singing the tunes they remember so fondly. There is nothing quite like seeing somebody in the audience mouthing along with you every single word to every song. We had the pleasure of meeting Bill, a former football player for New Castle FC in England and Hilda, a lovely lady and former singer, moved to tears by our music and performance. It was a very special day.
On Friday night, Aug. 19, we had the pleasure of returning to Canyon Ranch to sing a few a cappella sets during cocktail hour. (or “mocktail hour” as there is no alcohol permitted at CR!) We had a great response and cannot wait to return to perform again at their New Year’s Eve Gala at the end of the year where we will also be debuting our new 50s/60s show!
We packed up the car Sunday afternoon after the closing of Gnatman to start making our way to Texas! I don’t usually like long car rides, but I will admit that traveling with these hilarious Dolls makes the time fly by. From Tucson to Fort Stockton we had a full on car concert of Mariah Carey, Whitney Houston, Brendan James, Shannon Corey (Doll!), Michael Jackson, Casey Abrams, Cee Lo, Adele and more, all in three-part harmony of course. Making a few stops along the way to take pictures with my new original Mike Yarema painting and to switch drivers, we were in Fort Stockton by 2:30am Texas time.
~Heather "Doll"
Now to Sheila "Doll".....
A tour is not a tour by just it's extended stays alone.. It's the bits and pieces in between that help make it complete. After a fantastic visit to Arizona, we headed to Texas! Our first stop was in Stockton where we stayed over night to get some rest before continuing the rest of our journey. We chatted and laughed ourselves to sleep and the next morning was an early one! We got back on the road and headed to Houston, TX.
Our first night in Houston we decided to go out for some dinner and check out the town. We sure did get to see the town on our wild goose hunt to find somewhere that was still serving food. We had cocktail and chatted with a local at the first stop, and at our second stop we were so excited there was jazz music playing at this cute joint, but alas... no food again. We ventured some more and then finally we literally stepped into the TX Monday night dinner jam! We had some great food and the environment was totally cool. After this the exhaustion set in and it was time to hit the sack!
We headed to Nashville and the whole road trip went swimmingly. We listened to disney music, wait...who are we kidding here... we SANG to disney music (in three part harmony, of course.) The trip surprisingly flew by, due to the great company I am sure. We had our system down and we were rocking the roads of the US of A with nothin' but class and a red lipped smile!
When we arrived we enjoyed some wine and just chatted the night away with Sarah's fabulous Aunt and Uncle and continued even after they retired to their room. We had a couple days off and we were officially in Nashville...we were literally, shakin' in our boots... in a good way!
The next day we took a walk and get done some of our own personal stuff and then we were heading into downtown Nashville. We had our flannel on and our dancing feet ready! We went to the first bar where we did JUST that! we ventured around town checking out other fantastic music, dancing, and maybe even some RIBS. The dolls made our mark on those streets and we had an awesome time! Next morning we were off to Cincinnati.. but it seems only right the lovely Sarah share that part of the trip...
~Sheila "Doll
Now to Sarah "Doll"...
Also on Nashville - As we make our way from Houston to Nashville, we run into some intense thunderstorms and Sarah thought there may be a tornado as we pull into a Subway drive thru. In all actuality, there very well could have been one!! But alas, it was merely a HUGE dust cloud. About 45 miles from our Nashville destination, Sheila runs into a truck convention I-40E and in typical Sheila fashion says "excuse me, we are on a sentimental journey. Please move your f@#*?! a@@!!" Ah yes, 12 hour road days brings you to this point.
We arrive at Sarah's aunt and uncles house to a spread of cheese, crackers, wine, beer and homemade chicken pot pie. We enjoyed such food during our entire 48 hour stay!! Thank you, family. Nashville wasn't ready for The Dolls but we were ready for some good music and even better BBQ. A huge thank you to Tootsie's, Jacks, other places on the strip, for making this a night filled with all good things. We arrive in Cincinnati about as tired as one can be but were quickly revived knowing dinner would consist of larosas pizza and a trip to Putz Ice Cream. Yes, food glorious food! We spent this evening and several more with Sarah's family and a huge thank you to her mom who housed three Dolls for almost 2 weeks! While in Cincy, we had several gigs including a WWII event at the CMC, and 2 concerts at Know Theater and McAuley Theater all in one weekend. Whew! Great crowds who loved the music, sang and danced along during the whole show and rave reviews. As our first week in Cincy progressed we made an appearance on Channel 12 WKRC morning show with the hilarious and effervescent Bob Herzog, WMKV radio on a few of their programs, a meet and greet at **** downtown Cincy, took in a Reds vs Phillys game with Sarah's awesome nephews, and somehow made it through 2 gigs that were 3 hours long at Guys and Dolls in Cold Spring, KY and The Avenue Lounge in Covington, KY. We closed our tour through Cincinnati with a donated show at Little Sisters of the Poor senior home. We had a fabulous time at all of these venues and even better time enjoying the food but alas, it was time to venture onward to our next destination, Bloomington, IN.
~Sarah "Doll"
Now back to Sheila "Doll"...
Our next short stay was after the 'nati in St. Charles! We settled in and then met up with Ron, Robert and their lovely ladies for dinner and drinks. They joined us after for some pool playing and good times. We finally had to cut off the fun because we had a show in St. Charles, MO the next day and we had some traveling to do. The show in St. Charles at The Foundry Art Centre was fantastic. The crowd was fun and very appreciative. They were always willing to play along with us and the space was really beautiful.
Our last show in Bloomington, IN was with a stellar band, The Stardusters (www.stardustersmusic.com), and in a very fun venue, The Players Pub. The place was packed and this show was very special for us for many reasons. This was our closing tour performance and on a patriotic note it was the night before the anniversary of 9/11. Being New Yorkers, it is something we know, you should NEVER forget. We were honored to be doing something that honors our active-duty military and our veterans who serve for our county. Everyone danced and enjoyed themselves, so much so that during our last song, Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy, a woman came flying over our monitor amp onto our stage area face first. She and her girlfriend laughed as she slowly got herself up and ya know what, they KEPT dancing! All in all after that, I would say the night was a HIT...literally. We hung out for a while with some people and then headed home because the next day we were heading home. The Dolls can't leave their Manhattan for TOO long or the flowers in their hair might start to wilt. The travel back was full of fun and excitement to see our City family of friends and chaos and I can say that we felt like lucky ladies to have been a part of this journey. The memories in our pockets had us coming back on a high taller than these city lights! As we drove back into New York after a long day of driving, we see the lights where the twin towers used to stand. A perfect homecoming on 9/11.
Until we sing again,
~The Manhattan Dolls
Heather, Sheila & Sarah
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