Reset List

T’was the day of the show, y’ins guys!!!  Tuesday arrived and with it a musical montage of getting shit done.  Morning meetings were followed by printing programs, making Reset List magnets (which we neglected to inform our future audience about, and hence, sell), brainstorming sessions, instrument practice and social media diarrhea.

The Pittsburgh Tribune Review had us listed as a HOT PICK for the week and we were also featured in the Program Notes Blog in the Pittsburgh City Paper.  Our show had pre-sold quite a few tickets already and we were hoping that even more people would discover their innate undying love of all things Reset List and purchase tickets at the door. In reality we would have been happy with ANY audience at our show.  What we got was overwhelming.

As showtime approached we donned our finest rock garb, loaded up my car and headed over to the Sing Sing Dueling Piano Bar to load in.  Karl Bailey, a regular performer at Sing Sing, was our technician for the evening and he made us sound REAL good.  Missy and I hid backstage as audience members started to file in and busied ourselves with an epic, albeit private, rap battle to keep warm.

The show began as Pittsburgh Native/Missy’s long-time friend Aaron Kleiber took the stage for a 25 minute set of stand-up comedy.  Dude brought the funny and spread it liberally among the audience.  Aaron tours the country doing stand-up so if he comes to your town you owe it to yourself to see him.  And not only did Aaron perform in the show, but he also set up the gig for us, created posters, and spread the word like wildfire over internets, airwaves and through direct human to human interface.  Plus, his awesome wife worked the door for the show.

Once Aaron left the stage it was time for our grand entrance to the booty thumping melodies of Bell Biv DeVoe’s “Poison”.  Missy and I, clad in our finest “N’at” wear (please see pictures…which will be posted SOON), danced our way to the stage and were greeted by over 170 faces that needed rocking off.  We met that need with a 14 song set.  The aforementioned Karl joined us on a few songs, taking over piano duties for Missy in the middle of a song without missing a beat, and backing us up on drums on another, and even Aaron got in on the action adding lyrics to on of our ditties.

Here’s the set list:

• Love Don’t Live Here Anymore
• I Have No Idea
• That Was My Wife’s Favorite Song
• The Playroom
• I Thought It Would Be Bigger
• Horses Have Bigger Dongs Than Cows
• Time Paradox of the Heart
• What are my Choices
• Whiskey for Breakfast
• I Love You For Your Brains
• Me Love You Long Time
• Spank Me
• I am the Mockingjay
• It’s My Birthday

We had a fantastic time playing for this cornucopia of audience members and we are so grateful to the city of Pittsburgh for making us feel right at home.  Thanks again to Sing Sing, Aaron Kleiber, and Missy’s family for putting us up in a swanky hotel where we lived like conservative rock stars for a few days.

We’ll see you again, Pittsburgh.

Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh… The blue collar San Francisco of the east.  How we love you so.

I arrived in Pittsburgh on April 2, full of hope, saltines and gatorade – my manna after an evening trying unsuccessfully to repress my own vomit – and made my first stop of the trip at Point Park University.  Missy, Pittsburgh native and Point Park alumni, met me there soon afterwards.  The Point Park alumni association had invited us there to interview us about our show, and more specifically about how Missy’s education at Point Park University prepared her for success in Chicago.  Our Interviewer was great and he spliced together this cool video that I think highlights the Point Park Theatre Department and Reset List very well.  Please note, I wore a tie.

After our interview, Missy, myself and my tie toured the building where Missy received her awesome education.  Hugs were given liberally, famous people in pictures were pointed out, stories of faceless strangers flew over heads (mine) like flocks of geese, and I got a better idea of who Missy was in her college years.  We found ourselves at the end of the tour in the Point Park cafe where I enjoyed a quick lunch of Pirates Booty and more Gatorade to ensure that I did not puke during the next act in our adventures in Pittsburgh.

The real reason, or rather, the other reason we were at Point Park was because we were invited to teach an improv workshop to the theatre students currently studying there.  On a Monday afternoon we had 19 students, 1 observer and 3 teachers at our workshop.  The students had varying levels of improv experience but they were all fearless and jumped right into the exercizes we brought to the table.  They yes/anded, heightened emotions and stole focus like pros.  When we reached the musical improv portion of the workshop the students caught on quickly and really shined.  The workshop concluded with the students singing a group number from Hunger Games Zombies (the musical) titled “Love at First Bite.”   It (and they) rocked.

Thank you to the Point Park University Theatre Department for having us.  We would love to come back at any time to teach/play again.

After checking into our hotel and chilling for a moment Missy and I headed back into the streets of Pittsburgh.  Dinner was calling our names and we returned that call with screams of “Primanti Brothers!!!”  For my first real meal in 24 hours it was fitting to try to make myself sick again.  A Priamanti Brother’s sandwich comes with your choice of meat which is then topped with a heaping pile of cole slaw and fries, and served on a piece of wax paper.  You are somehow expected to be able to fit this mountain of a sandwich into your mouth for the purposes of consumption, and we met those expectations with unhinged python jaws.  While I did succeed in eating my entire sandwich I failed to elicit another evening of prayer to the porcelain gods.  Sorry.

And with that Pittsburgh Vol. 1, Chapter 1 comes to a close.