iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

HeadsetChatter @headsetchatter.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

I do a happy dance offstage to the chagrin of the crew, for whom this is all a pain in the ass. Today our carp said, “Yeah and you almost got crushed by your favorite piece last night!” Facts. I was looking at something wrong onstage and I was totally under it when it needed to come in.

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HeadsetChatter @headsetchatter.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

My favorite small-backstage alteration is the double-stack cactus. When there’s no room to put the #3 cactus on the ground it’s flown above the #1 cactus. This benefits me because normally the #1 cactus being flown in traps me onstage for like a minute. When stacked it has to be flown in later.

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HeadsetChatter @headsetchatter.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

Most difficult question I’ve been asked today, by my Uber driver: “What airline, ma’am?” Well… I know we’re connecting through Atlanta, so I just said “Delta” with as much confidence as I could fake.

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HeadsetChatter @headsetchatter.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

I’m a bit behind on paperwork for this move, so today’s airport day is all about finding a nice place to park and get some work done!

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HeadsetChatter @headsetchatter.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

Bye, Pittsburgh! It was fun! Very nice venue. I think the highlight was getting to reconnect with my 1st summer stock ASM who I did 15 shows with, his wife I did maybe 5 shows with, and their kids who are nearly adults and were babies when I last saw them. All cuz they saw my name on the cast board.

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HeadsetChatter @headsetchatter.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

You’ve basically described the Phantom overture and the reason I got into theatre. Apparently it works as a sales pitch.

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HeadsetChatter @headsetchatter.bsky.social · 20/09/2026

I’m calling a matinee. Sort of voluntarily, only because I lost a call earlier in the week due to having to train a new carpenter. It feels like it’s 6AM. So far I’ve only had one complete brain malfunction and it didn’t affect the show.

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HeadsetChatter @headsetchatter.bsky.social · 11/09/2026

No puff piece interview today. I got asked to justify the cost of live theatre, and I was really happy with my answer. I only wish I’d used the words “live musicians.” They need a little love.

static.klipy.com

Pittsburgh Steelers Diontae Johnson

ALT: Pittsburgh Steelers Diontae Johnson

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HeadsetChatter @headsetchatter.bsky.social · 07/09/2026

Not everybody was offered the tags when they arrived, and I heard of one person who received no bags, but overall the system seems to have worked well. Our CM had a spreadsheet of all our bag numbers at the baggage claim and we just had to confirm which # we were missing, no need to file a claim.

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HeadsetChatter @headsetchatter.bsky.social · 07/09/2026

“Big Tour, Tiny Plane” went as well as it’s ever gone today. I wish we’d known we could tag a preferred bag to make it on the plane before I packed, but I did take a few mins at the terminal to swap a few items over to the “good bag,” which helped a lot.

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HeadsetChatter @headsetchatter.bsky.social · 07/09/2026

This week on “Big Tour, Tiny Plane,” we’re on a CRJ-900 with 55 people (keep in mind the traveling company is currently around 120, so even when we’re all on one flight, it’s a minority of the company). The airline let us tag our bags with diff colors to indicate which we care more about getting.

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HeadsetChatter @headsetchatter.bsky.social · 07/09/2026

Airport advance day. While googling house photos, I learned the Benedum Center in Pittsburgh opened in 1928 as the Stanley Theatre, designed by the firm of Hoffman-Henon Co. I’m hoping they made sensible choices, but the Antelope position is absolutely cuckoo-bananas, and will no doubt ruin my day.

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HeadsetChatter @headsetchatter.bsky.social · 06/09/2026

AAAAHHHH! I got my 5-year service pin tonight! I was not expecting this until we returned to the States at least. What a nice surprise!5️⃣🏆

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HeadsetChatter @headsetchatter.bsky.social · 06/09/2026

Early. SR SM: “Places FOH.” Me: “Oooh. How’s the deck?” SL SM: “Well. There is one.” Me: “It’s yellow.”

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HeadsetChatter @headsetchatter.bsky.social · 03/09/2026

It’s Associates Week (the more chill one of the year, not the one where people’s jobs are immediately on the line). Somehow I’ve gotten away with only 2 hours of rehearsal, a nice flat-deck dance brush-up. Last show I called last week was for my 5th anniversary, last night’s was for the associates.

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HeadsetChatter @headsetchatter.bsky.social · 30/08/2026

5 years in the Pridelands today! 🏆

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HeadsetChatter @headsetchatter.bsky.social · 29/08/2026

I only found out early-ish today cause I didn’t get a lot of sleep and was checking the schedule to see if I had to call tonight.

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HeadsetChatter @headsetchatter.bsky.social · 29/08/2026

I’ve been 1st ASM most of the summer due to the PSM and 1st being off for various reasons. On our sched the 1st has an office show when the PSM calls the Saturday matinee. Every single Saturday I say “if I had remembered I had an office show, it would have been easier to get out of bed!”

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HeadsetChatter @headsetchatter.bsky.social · 26/08/2026

When your friend is loading into your theatre the day after you load out.

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HeadsetChatter @headsetchatter.bsky.social · 17/08/2026

They’ve driven the baggage truck away. So far the AirTags haven’t moved, but it’s often really hard to tell until we land in the other city.

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HeadsetChatter @headsetchatter.bsky.social · 17/08/2026

I’m not a creeper so I’m not going to take pictures of actual people, but the baggage handler outside this plane looking like this at her colleagues trying to fit more of our bags is cracking me up. At least I believe she wants the bags to fit.

static.klipy.com

Capisce Owl Tilts Head Curiously

ALT: Capisce Owl Tilts Head Curiously

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HeadsetChatter @headsetchatter.bsky.social · 17/08/2026

This wasn’t one such venue, but given I’d just finished the notes it was good to get on the same page and agree that this one looks pretty simple. 🤞🏻

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HeadsetChatter @headsetchatter.bsky.social · 17/08/2026

Moved over to our gate, and had a chance to grab our dance supervisor and flip through my iPad advance notes. I meet with the resident artistic staff 4 hrs after I arrive, so sometimes it’s nice to look at pics in advance to get an idea what they want, at least as a starting point.

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HeadsetChatter @headsetchatter.bsky.social · 17/08/2026

International travel day🇨🇦Another case of the whole company on a regional jet that won’t fit our bags, so I’m ready to play the luggage lottery! Flight was delayed so I had lots of time to work on my advance, putting together a cheat sheet like this, ready to be marked up on my walkaround tomorrow.

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HeadsetChatter @headsetchatter.bsky.social · 14/08/2026

Went to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame today with a coworker. We realized much of what we know about the rock industry comes from decades of doing musicals about and by rock artists. While admiring Elton John’s bedazzled top hat: Me: I’ve done an Elton John musical. Him: Which one? Me: 😏 Him: Ohhh.🦁

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HeadsetChatter @headsetchatter.bsky.social · 07/08/2026

We have to look out for each other on the road, cause we’re all we’ve got. Case in point: today after completing my first cue of the show with a particular crew member with whom I have an uncompleted Friend Streak: “Hi, did you do your Duolingo?”🦉

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HeadsetChatter @headsetchatter.bsky.social · 06/08/2026

One thing I really wanted to work on was finding time to warn the sound mixer and conductor before stopping, and that went really well. Then we almost had to stop AGAIN, and I took my opportunity to warn the conductor to be ready for me to flash at the next obvious stop point. But thankfully not!

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HeadsetChatter @headsetchatter.bsky.social · 06/08/2026

We had some advance warning of impending doom and then almost all of “Can’t Wait to Be King” knowing for sure we were going to stop after the number (which is not a great number for, like, having time to think or speak, but it’s better than nothing).

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HeadsetChatter @headsetchatter.bsky.social · 06/08/2026

Got to call a show stop tonight. It’s been SO long since I’ve had one as the caller. I don’t even remember what the last one was. I’d guess it was well over a year ago. I’ve actually been starting to worry about going to long without getting to practice. It went very well.

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HeadsetChatter @headsetchatter.bsky.social · 27/07/2026

We’ve decided we’re just going to keep taking this pic every 5 years or so. (Interestingly, we couldn’t match it exactly because my name regularly moves between the 2nd & 3rd columns depending on the alphabetical demographics of the cast, and today it would be blocked if I stood in the same place.)

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HeadsetChatter @headsetchatter.bsky.social · 27/07/2026

“Why did this week just feel SO. HARD?” - The entire Rafiki Company, every single week. But we made it!🙌

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HeadsetChatter @headsetchatter.bsky.social · 24/07/2026

1 hour complete. I have called one automation cue twice, within the first 15 minutes. I was all set to call the rock sequence in the finale but they changed their minds and parked it onstage and are practicing walking up and down it. I expect to run the sequence before the put-in, but who knows.

static.klipy.com

Couch Sofa

ALT: Couch Sofa

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HeadsetChatter @headsetchatter.bsky.social · 24/07/2026

Oh this is so nice. Half the day is more of a work-through with scenery and no lights, and similar to Lighting Day, I’m just parked at the desk waiting for someone to poke me when they’re ready for me to call something.

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HeadsetChatter @headsetchatter.bsky.social · 24/07/2026

We have a mini-put-in today. I keep forgetting that I’m the 1st ASM. My elation this morning when I realized that us always being at “home base” for put-ins and first performances means I’m calling today and tonight was unmatched. Blue jeans are on, ready to sit down all day!

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HeadsetChatter @headsetchatter.bsky.social · 21/07/2026

You know it’s bad when I’m working a Tuesday rehearsal. I have so little interest in doing more work for OT, I would happily *pay* the OT amount to be able to extend my time off. But life happens and we have two simultaneous rehearsals, so I’m making a rare special guest appearance.

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HeadsetChatter @headsetchatter.bsky.social · 19/07/2026

It’s Saturday night in Cleveland. Let’s make a Lion King!

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HeadsetChatter @headsetchatter.bsky.social · 17/07/2026

Hard to tell. I hope we’ll get feedback from the design team, as it’s hard to really know with a lot of these cues, when we watch the whole show through a camera and not human eyes.

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HeadsetChatter @headsetchatter.bsky.social · 17/07/2026

Honored that in a few minutes I’ll be the first person to call LX 218.75 for our company.

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HeadsetChatter @headsetchatter.bsky.social · 16/07/2026

I’ve learned being the caller for Lighting Day can often consist of getting to sit in a very comfy chair not even being spoken to for 2 hours, but for the very last thing on the worklist (Sarabi and Mufasa riding the rock in Circle of Life), I got to call it maybe 6 times. And done an hour early!

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HeadsetChatter @headsetchatter.bsky.social · 16/07/2026

It’s Lighting Week, and more than that it’s our main Lighting Day with the cast, which is basically like a little 4-hour slice of tech for a show that’s been running for 24 years. I love Lighting Day. This year is my first experience with being the caller.

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HeadsetChatter @headsetchatter.bsky.social · 13/07/2026

Final show of what for some reason feels like an especially long opening week. I think it was the extreme humidity for the 1st few days that sucked the energy out of all of us. It feels like since Tuesday has been one interminable day in which we’ve been given a few opportunities to catch a nap.

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HeadsetChatter @headsetchatter.bsky.social · 10/07/2026

Just got back from one of the more full press days I’ve had, expertly run by Playhouse Square’s press team. I lost track of how many interviews I actually did, but every single one was fun to do with interviewers who asked great questions and wanted in-depth content. Worth getting up at 7AM!

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HeadsetChatter @headsetchatter.bsky.social · 07/07/2026

The only surprise was the ol’ “That’s a different railing, isn’t it?” at the back of the elephant aisle. “It… doesn’t look like it comes out… But can it come out?” I don’t know what they had to do, but when I next passed the aisle an hour later, they’d just finished removing it. Phew! 😅

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HeadsetChatter @headsetchatter.bsky.social · 07/07/2026

I had forgotten the house requested a 3:15 instead of the usual 2:00, so I got most of my work done ahead of time assuming nothing would change, and thankfully nothing changed. 😊 Out the door before 5:30.

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HeadsetChatter @headsetchatter.bsky.social · 07/07/2026

It was so awesome to walk back through the doors of the State Theatre. It somehow feels like we were just here, although there were little details my mind had remembered wrong. Had a super quick day and home by 5:30. Would have been comically early if my meetings had been at the regular time.

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HeadsetChatter @headsetchatter.bsky.social · 06/07/2026

That being said, I probably should spend some time doing my advance paperwork. Last night I started preparing some, and joked, “What if I just made all my documents from memory and tried to see how close I came?”

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HeadsetChatter @headsetchatter.bsky.social · 06/07/2026

As I think I’ve mentioned before, returning to Cleveland is a huge deal for many of us, as it’s where the tour rehearsed and re-opened after COVID. And for a few of us like me, it’s where our whole Lion King journey began.

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HeadsetChatter @headsetchatter.bsky.social · 06/07/2026

Again the tour gods have smiled upon us and said, “Thou shalt play Cincinnati, and then Cleveland.” And so the buses line up at the sensible hour of 11:30AM, I’ve grabbed my free bottle of (cold!) water, a pack of fruit snacks, and some Sun Chips, and have settled in to watch the world roll by.🚌🚌🚌

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HeadsetChatter @headsetchatter.bsky.social · 02/07/2026

Getting started early on warning people about our Friday matinee, during our put-in.

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