The performance itself went really well and was well received by the audience, many of whom stayed to ask lots of questions at the end. The parlor space is a huge, beautiful room that even has a small balcony. We thought the sound system had quit working during rehearsal, but was luckily resurrected when someone who worked there found something unplugged and plugged it in! The fun part of the space is that crossovers from one side of the stage to another side "backstage" happen on the deck overlooking the lake, with us climbing out of and into very large windows. This year they put up signs telling people to stay off the deck. Other years, people have been out in the rocking chairs on the deck while we're performing, and running back and forth through the windows on the deck right behind them!
It's a fantastic place and there's so much to do when we're not rehearsing and performing.
Some thoughts from the company about the trip:
Kay:
I love the view of the whole lake and house and the mountains in the distance from the top of the tower after a hike up!Lauren:
I loved hanging out on the porch every night, rocking chairs and boxed wine. I think that was my favorite. Plus our crossover situation, haha. Also Keri, Z and I had a marvelous rock scramble adventure!
Kate;
I loved my solo walk up to the tower and watching Z paddle board from the top. Also, mineral bath, shower, sauna, hot tea and fluffy robe.
Beth:
The shrubbery maze that I dragged Keri to at night......we were to scared to wander in in the pitch dark, but the next day it was even scarier during Bootcamp class! We had to run up and down as fast as we could for several rotations. Keri wanted me to help her out by pretending I was Jack Nicholson chasing her with an axe.
Also, the rock scramble/labyrinth climb was AMAZING and made me feel like Xena Warrior Princess!! (though not the smartest thing to do day of performance).
Jerylann:
It was dream like to share Mohonk with people I love, admire and delight in. I LOVED the rampant discoveries...watching the glee spread and the bonds build with true enjoyment and ease. I cannot think of many more ideal situations than traveling and experiencing life outside of Atlanta with Gathering Wild.
It's also fun to be celebrities of sorts on the day after the show. At meals the following day, or in the halls, sometimes people would stop to tell us how much they enjoyed the performance, which is of course, very flattering.
And then there was the food! The food is amazing, with an all you can eat buffet at every meal. We would leave stuffed, and saying, "I don't think I'll ever want to eat again" and then everyone would come back for the next meal an say, "oh look, I CAN eat again!" because you just couldn't see all the tasty options and turn it all down. The best part, in my opinion, is eating lunch at The Granary, which is the picnic buffet with barbecue (even though I don't eat meat, the veggie burgers off the grill were yummy!) And the huge bowls of berries! Sally even got a heart-shaped double blackberry. Everyone found their own way to spend the time we had there when we weren't dancing, and there were lots of different ways! I think most of us took the walk up to the top of Sky Top and saw the views from the top of the ridge. The more adventurous of the group did things like going for runs, trying the paddle board on the lake and taking boot camp classes. A bunch did the rock scramble through the "labyrinth". I didn't do that one this time but it's pretty amazing because all these huge boulders are at crazy angles from when the glacier went by thousands of years ago, just tossed around by that huge force. You really do scramble to get through; it's fun and the view on the other side is beautiful.
All of these activities were going on while those of us in the "moms' room" sat on the deck in the evening and went to the spa on our day off. The other options included lake activities like paddle boats and the favorite, which was new, was standing paddle boards. There's also a "beach" and swimming area at the lake. There are all sorts of organized activities, like our performance, there was another evening in the arts festival the night we arrived with a reading by two fairly well-known actors. And I even wanted to try out the trail rides on the horses from the stables, but they were booked and I ran out of time.
