A California Double-Double

Most people look forward to the weekend—it’s a chance to relax and break from the week’s busy routine. But for us, the weekend is the busiest part of the week. And of all the weekends we've encountered this tour, the one spent in Orange County was the most demanding... so far.

It all began on a sunny afternoon when we finished our last show in Vancouver, Canada. The performance had gone well and the hectic packing that followed it was smooth. We were looking forward to a special treat—dinner on a private yacht. I lugged my heavy duffle bag onto the bus and sat down with a sigh of relief—glad the tough part of the day is over!

Dinner on the yacht was fun. We sailed across Vancouver Bay while our tour guide, a short and bubbly guy, introduced us to the many sights. The city's lights looked beautiful from the water, but on the deck the January winds were less welcoming. Soon we were back on our cozy bus making ourselves comfortable when the familiar sound of the microphone rang through the speakers. It was our company manager announcing the next day’s schedule.

After the usual list of times and to-dos came the unexpected news: An added show. Apparently, tickets were selling so well in California that the company added an extra show in Orange County Sunday night. This meant we would be doing four shows in two days.

Well, even if it is a double-double, it can’t be that tiring, right? We’ll have many of these in Taiwan. Plus, I had more important things to worry about—how to kill the 27 hours we were going to spend on the road down the West Coast the next two days.

Everything was normal on the way down and the first three OC shows, so let's fast forward to the last performance. It was 4:30 Sunday afternoon, the curtain went down after two hours of intense performing, and everyone exhaled in relief. It was a beautiful sunny day outside and I was thinking, “Maybe it'll still be bright after we finish packing…”

And then it hit me, there's more. I had almost forgotten about the night show. It was like opening a Christmas present only to find another box. There wasn't much time to prepare. I ate the fastest dinner ever, finishing both getting food and eating within four minutes flat. And the next thing I knew, I was on stage warming up again.

I spun, I jumped, I flipped, and did everything I needed to do to prepare. Then I sat on the platform and watched everyone else spin and jump and flip. It was very enjoyable, like watching our show, condensed.

Then I went back to the dressing room, stuffed a piece of chocolate in my mouth for extra energy, and put on my dress for the first piece. Before I knew it, clouds of dry ice blanketed the stage and the sonorous sound of the gong resonated through the theater. The show has begun... again.

Then came the two hours of dancing and costume changing. Though tiring, it’s always enjoyable—I just love hearing the audience applaud and cheer and laugh. It makes everything worthwhile.

And finally the curtain came down for the last time that day and we gave each other high fives. In the end, the weekend wasn't as hard as I thought it would be. In fact, I was surprised to find how energetic I was even for the last show.

Then again, how could I not be energetic during a show? Anyways, now I feel much more prepared for those Taiwanese double-double weekends. 

Maybe, as one of our emcees suggested, we should try a triple-show day?