Often, people are incredulous that we travel full-time, as a family, on tour with The Lion King. What a logistical nightmare, they say. Where do you live? How do the kids go to school? Where do you call home? Does it ever get lonely?
No, we say. We travel with plenty of people who are not just Mike’s colleagues, but dear friends. Home is them, our road comrades. We eat together, we explore new cities together. We host playdates, we have mama nights out, we take care of one another’s kiddos — just like, well, a non-traveling family — except our collective landscapes change every month or so. But our friendships grow stronger.
That is why we felt confident and comfortable enough to bring another child into our lives and thus, on tour. Our new baby will have plenty of (very talented!) aunts and uncles to take care of her and love her. I mean, take a look at the kicka$$ baby shower they threw us in Nashville back in May! Eva wasn’t even born yet, and she was already so, so loved.
My fellow tour mamas took the reins in organizing our baby shower BBQ on Memorial Day, and what they did was seriously thoughtful, beautiful, and oh-so-fun. Nina (wife of Jamie Schmidt, the associate conductor), Amy (wife of Nick Cordileone, who plays Timon), and Kristine (wife of Reu Weizberg, percussionist) thought of everything.
All photos were taken by my talented gal pal, ensemble dancer Selena Moshell.
(I must add that these ladies are much more than just “wives”; Nina is an opera singer, Amy is a professor of theater education at NYU, and Kristine is an amazing dancer. Now they can add top-notch baby-shower-throwers to their resume!)
The owner of our Nashville vacation rental, Alissa Moreno, graciously got us access to the air-conditioned clubhouse in the condo complex we were living in. Free of charge. It was just perfect, and right next to the pool where folks could jump in to escape the sizzling heat. The theme of the shower? To pay tribute to Nashville, it was southern-style BBQ and rock ‘n roll. Tell me what’s more fun and delicious than that?
Kristine custom-made baby onesies with Mike’s and my favorite musical artists and bands, such as Beck, Mumford & Sons, The Shins, Fleet Foxes…
And she even took it old-school Jersey, just for me. That’s love right there.
For dessert, the gals dreamt up a fantastic S’mores bar. The table was indeed scrumptious.
The food served was just so color-filled …
Delicious ribs, BBQ chicken wings and collard greens were made by Dionne Randolph (Mufasa), and Ben Lipitz (Pumbaa) grilled corn on the cob, burgers, chicken and hot dogs.
The food gets Max’s seal of approval.
Below, Geoff Myers (Resident Dance Supervisor) and Dionne kind of share some greens.
Below, our friend, ensemble singer (and former Fly Girl!) Deidre Lang digs in.
Such wonderful detail, like the little chalkboard labels for the condiments…
Mike thoroughly enjoyed the grub.
Mmmmm…. summer peaches on the grill!
We really do have some gorgeous friends. Here are Geoff, Nina and Kendra.
The tour kiddos are always active. Here, Hero teaches Alisa and Molly how to play the cups…
Stinkin’ cute Liliana!
Mike’s in heaven with these growlers of IPA from Whole Foods.
Selena and Tony Freeman!
Beth Bornstein (stage manager) with her little Becca.
Michelle Sullivan with Kristine’s daughter Ariela.
Maia Fife and her gorgeous family.
Baby Ethan exercises his lungs with his dad Jamie Schmidt.
All up in the Higleys! Melissa, Kevin and Milo.
Sweet Becca, again.
Max gets a LOT of love from our friends. Here, Ben starts smelling Max’s stinky feet.
Mark Kaplan (Zazu) and Max are buddies.
Nick might have a secret to share.
Here’s Tammy Potts-Merritt (hair & makeup artist) and her husband Aubrey!
The guys!
Max received some gifts for being a future big brother, like this awesome guitar shirt from the Cordileones.
We open our cute baby gifts!
Mike says a few words in thanks to our friends who made the party happen. We are beyond grateful and have so much love for our road family.
And I leave you with this squeee! moment: Ariela and Becca tip the scales with their cuteness.
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