Anyone else ready for a little Joyful Noise? Me too!

So... I'm sure some of you are bothered that I have been absent for so long. Sorry bout that. I warned you though. And truth be told, it may only get a little worse as the tour ramps up. Especially with me tutoring Gregory on the road. (Hey, maybe I'll have him blog some for me. What a great writing assignment!!)

As I write this, I am sitting on Jaymes Foster's porch at her house here north of Vancouver. It sits on a cliff and over looks a huge bay. All I can see in the distance is the sun setting over a vast expanse of water broken only by desolate mountainous islands. It's nice to have a peacful moment or so before the hectic pace of JNT05 begins. This place is beautiful.

By the way, did anyone see what time the Vancouver show starts?!?! What is that all about? 9:30!?!? Hope I don't put anyone to sleep. But, as you can see, I have no control over what time the show starts.

Speaking of the show... I debated long and hard about whether or not to reveal any elements of the show during my piece on The Insider on last night. I finally decided that we would throw you all a bone and give you a taste of what to expect. You know how much I like to keep things a surprise and not give up secrets. Then today, I have searched HIGH and LOW to see what you guys were saying about what was shown on last night's show. NO ONE HAS MENTIONED IT!! What gives?

At any rate... I'm thrilled that you guys will get a chance to see what we have in store for you starting tomorrow. This literally has been a labor of love. Amy Tinkham (the show's director) really took the script I wrote and made it absolutely magical on stage. She is a genius! Even through 15 or so run-throughs during rehearsals, we all still get chills during the show. It realy is great. I'm sure that you'll like it. Now, to make sure we all get to to enjoy it as much as possible... let me clarify the photo policy.

Truth is, videos and photos of the show seem to be so important to some many people online that I think it would be horrible to take that away. So, if done in moderation, video recording will not be restricted by the folks on our tour staff. Now, that comes with a bunch of "ifs"...

--Please be respectful. If you choose to bring a camera. Please respect those sitting around you. Don't stand throughout the whole show to make sure your "clack" is the steadiest shot and the best quality. Please remember that the folks sitting behind you wanna see some of the stage too.

--Please be discreet. Try to record as if though you were not allowed to. If the venue feels that the recording is a distraction, they may ask you to stop.

--Please be understanding. I can't make rules that trump the rules already in place by the promoter and the venue. If the auditorium, theatre, arena, or promoter already have rules in place that say there is not video recording allowed, the fact that I say that it's okay is not gonna hold water. So if they ask you to stop.. you probably oughta.

-- Please be sensible. If everyone starts showing up with tripods and setting up like it's a Diane Sawyer interview shoot, we will readdress the situation.

As far as still pictures go...I only have one request. NO FLASHES.

There are so many people on the stage during this show. Dancers, actors, band members, etc. The flashes from numerous cameras only cause headaches and hazard for those of us on stage. We can't allow them at this show. Plus, once you see it, you will be able to tell that this is not the type of show that you will want ruined with flash after flash.

Truth is, no matter how good your camera is, the flash doesn't work at all after about 7 or 8 feet. Light like that disperses when it has to travel distances. If you are sitting more than three or four rows back, the only thing that your camera's flash is going to light up is the back of the head of the person in front of you. (Won't that be beautiful?) If you're sitting close to the stage, the beautiful lighting that's been designed by Junior (our lighting designer) will do the trick for you.

If you have a camera that has an automatic flash, chances are that there is a way that you can turn that function off. If there isn't one, or you don't know where it is, take a piece of black electrical tape and tape over the flash. This will keep all of us happy, and make the show as enjoyable as possible for everyone involved.

If we find that we continue to have flash problems, as we did last year, we will have to resort to disallowing cameras in the venue. It's the only way that we can insure the safety of the dancers, actors, and musicians on stage.

Now truth is, I know that I am preaching to the choir here. Most of you are the folks who would NEVER use flashes once you were asked not to. I know that. So I am telling you this because you are the BEST way I know how to get the information out to those who need to hear it. You are so great at that type of effort. Maybe you can gently and politely remind those around you of the importance of not flashing. Maybe you could carry some extra electrical tape and give it to those folks who can't quite figure out how to turn their flashes off. Maybe you can carry a baseball bat and beat them with it if they still won't turn it off! Feel free to be creative! You're great at that.

Now feel free to rip me apart for asking you to help me out on this. I've said my peace! I'm done!

But the most important part is to have fun. This show really is going to be one of my favorites. I can already tell. I sure do hope that it becomes one of your favorites too!

The season is about spending time with those you care about and those who are important to you. I'm so glad we get to spend it together.

See you on the road!