The Art of the Shower

Theater showers are like a box of chocolates...you never know what you're gonna get...

What most people don't know, is that while on tour, the theaters are essentially our hotel rooms 6 days out of the week. All 3 meals of the day are catered, we spend 80% of our day in the dressing room, and we shower at every venue. We play all sorts of venues: small local auditoriums, big arenas, fancy equity theaters, and even ice hockey rinks! With that, comes a variety of dressing and bathroom accommodations. 

Each morning is a scavenger hunt. After I get off the bus, I first must find the stage door. Sometimes this is a lot harder than it seems when it's an unmarked door in an alley way in the city... Once I actually find my way into the building, there are laminated signs posted by production that direct us to all the necessary destinations. Sometimes the layout is easy to navigate, and other times it is a straight up maze. I love the days where the dressing room, catering, green room, production office and stage are all on one level!  More often than not though, everything will be on a different floor and we will have to take multiple flights of stairs or elevators. I get lost VERY easily, and those venues always throw me for a loop.

Anyway... SHOWERS! Just like humans, they come in all shapes, sizes, and hygiene levels! Some of our venues have big dressing rooms with an attached bathroom and one or two individual showers with shower curtains. But others are locker rooms with "prison style" shower rooms, or curtain-less alcoves. No, we do not take group showers, thanks for asking. 

There are 24 cast and crew members that all need to shower everyday (with the work we all do, it's a requirement), so one lukewarm shower in a hundred-year-old theater just doesn't cut it. On these rare occasions, production will provide a couple of day rooms at a nearby hotel. Our bus/truck drivers sleep at these hotels during the day.

Shower shoes are imperative. Some of these showers have been around for a LONG time and either used by A LOT of performers, or none at all. They get dusty, and moldy, hairy and gross. So we wear flip flops! I will admit that I forego the flip flops on days where the showers are very clean. I promise I wash my feet either way! 

Sometimes the water pressure is non-existent. Sometimes the water pressure is too powerful and feels like a fire hose. Sometimes the lights are on a timer and shut off halfway through. Sometimes the shower head is broken and you have to do everything one-handed. Sometimes the water never gets warm. Moral of the story: if the shower is good, take advantage because you never know what the next venue might hold.

My routine: I generally pop into the shower immediately after the show and do a quick cold rinse and soap up the important places. I wash my hair twice a week: once at a good venue and once at our weekly hotel on our off day. If towels are available earlier in the day, sometimes I'll take two showers. And on two-show days, I definitely take at least two showers. 

I give the shower a rating each day. Here are some examples:

Bemidji, MN 7.5/10

Ice Hockey Arena locker room, very clean, took a while to get warm, great water pressure, lights on a timer, cute aesthetic, no privacy curtain.

Ralston, NE 5/10

Ice Hockey Arena bathroom, good water pressure, warm water, gross floor, privacy curtain, ugly aesthetic.

Dubuque, IA 4/10

Arena dressing room, water pressure painfully powerful, privacy curtain, difficult temperature settings.

Chicago, IL 7/10

Old theatre, creepy aesthetic, good pressure, tricky to figure out heat settings, weird stains on the ground, decent privacy.

Minneapolis, MN 8.5/10

Great shower pressure, great privacy, great temperature.

Marion, IL 10/10

Wow! Great pressure, shower storage, clean, TWO privacy curtains, hooks on the wall for towels, above and beyond.

Chicago, IL 11/10

Hotel room, waterfall shower, the most privacy, best towels, provided toilettries, everything you could ever wish for in a shower.