There are currently 17 members of Pennyfeather Caboose. This may be a problem. It hasn't been an issue until now, until all 17 of us started getting the urge to perform. After a couple of weeks of working together, 16 of us got the urge to get on stage during the week of August 2nd. Our 17th member held out though. Actually he said, "Give me the weekend", to which the other 16 were cool with.
However, when Monday came, and we asked him for his answer, the guy said, "I still don't know." Then we all forgot about it for a week or so, but then I remembered and called the guy, and he finally agreed. Which made it official: All 17 of us were on the same page. Pennyfeather Caboose (PC) needs to start performing.
And, why 17 members you ask? Well that's an interesting story.
As some people may already know, the idea to put PC together stems from a conversation a couple of us had late one night at McManus. It was after class, and we were all still in that “you’re probably a cool person but I can’t 100% confirm that assumption yet” stage, but we were having great conversation, so it was a good time. We were taking turns reminding the table the facts that we all talked about the week before: where we were from, or where we went to college, or what our favorite hobbies are. By 1:00 am, there were only 6 of us left in one of those round booths. And we got more beer.
For some reason we got on the subject of rail travel and then decided to never get off the topic. It was really weird actually. Most of us knew a lot more about the country’s rail history that we thought. So then we started playing a game, which I honestly thought wouldn’t work, but to our surprise, did. The six of us (4 guys, 2 girls) took turns describing our personal favorite Rail Engines (steam, diesel, or electric), and our favorite Rail Line.
I wrote down the answers, although I didn’t document who said what:
Favorite Engines: 2-10-2 1915 Baldwin, 4-6-4 Hudson Banner, Altoona 2-8-2 (The Zephyr), L & O Hammer 2-6-6-2, Erie John-Bull 4-6-6-4 (I do remember that was Becky’s), and mine: the 4-8-8-4 Allegheny Big Boy. It was tons of fun. Then someone asked, probably Becky, if there really was a Rock Island Line, and I assured her there most certainly was.
The next day we started emailing each other back and forth, and again, rail travel dominated our email banter. Then someone brought up the story about the time, in 1912, a single Southern Pacific Limited 3-2-3 attempted to pull a 17 coalcar load up Norwalk Mountain. Needless to say it was a near impossible stunt, and after of a two-hour struggle, the SPL 323 wrecked around a narrow stretch of track. The tragedy is now referred to as The Wreck of the Ole 17.
Anyway, we started thinking about what it takes to get a job done (whether in practice or during a performance), and the fact that no one can do much on their own. As a single engine. And perhaps if the SP Limited had used some of its friends, and perhaps many SP Limiteds linked their power together, they would have made it up to the top of that mountain. And then we had some more lame conversation.
And then we just all decided that Pennyfeather Caboose needs to be a 17-member team. Yeah, we know. It’s not going to be easy, and its going to be a lot of work and much determination is needed, but if we all work hard together, we will eventually reach the top. Of something. Perhaps an improv mountain.
After the six of us had the same group vision, we all set out to recruit new Pennyfeather Caboose members. Rule one: be picky. Don’t just invite anyone into the group. Be smart, selective. Choose friends who you think are talented and cool. Or go to new team and talk to the players who made you laugh after their show. Rule two: don’t rush the invite. If you find someone you like, have a drink with that person. Or at least a brief email conversation. Rule three: A usually dormant love of railroad nostalgia is great, but it’s not a requirement to be accepted into the group. We just want committed, dedicated people.
Three weeks after our Pennyfeather search, we finally settled on the “final” 17. And again, we arranged to meet at McManus on a Monday, for a group bonding over beer and burgers. Then we quickly arranged a full group rehearsal on Wednesday. And amazingly, all 17 of us made it. We warmed up and jumped into 2 person scenes. We went for about 45 minutes and honestly, I think we were all a bit stunned at the instant chemistry. It wasn’t great chemistry, but it was a recognizable form of chemistry. Sure, there were problems. There was a lot of talking over each other, and stepping on each other’s walk-ons, I mean, HELL, we had 17 people in a tiny $15-an-hour studio in midtown, most of whom had never worked with anyone else in the room.
Three months and roughly 11 full-member practices later, all 17 of us are eager to hit the stage. Which we will hopefully be doing in the near future. Although now is where the problem lies. Stage space. Most of the venue options we have at hand right now offer very tiny stages. I mean, lets be honest, it's going to take some extra planning and research to find venues that can appropriately accommodate us. Thus the problems. Thus the Pennyfeather Caboose debut may be delayed a couple of weeks. Oh well- postitive outlook: more practice time.
More on our practices later...
However, when Monday came, and we asked him for his answer, the guy said, "I still don't know." Then we all forgot about it for a week or so, but then I remembered and called the guy, and he finally agreed. Which made it official: All 17 of us were on the same page. Pennyfeather Caboose (PC) needs to start performing.
And, why 17 members you ask? Well that's an interesting story.
As some people may already know, the idea to put PC together stems from a conversation a couple of us had late one night at McManus. It was after class, and we were all still in that “you’re probably a cool person but I can’t 100% confirm that assumption yet” stage, but we were having great conversation, so it was a good time. We were taking turns reminding the table the facts that we all talked about the week before: where we were from, or where we went to college, or what our favorite hobbies are. By 1:00 am, there were only 6 of us left in one of those round booths. And we got more beer.
For some reason we got on the subject of rail travel and then decided to never get off the topic. It was really weird actually. Most of us knew a lot more about the country’s rail history that we thought. So then we started playing a game, which I honestly thought wouldn’t work, but to our surprise, did. The six of us (4 guys, 2 girls) took turns describing our personal favorite Rail Engines (steam, diesel, or electric), and our favorite Rail Line.
I wrote down the answers, although I didn’t document who said what:
Favorite Engines: 2-10-2 1915 Baldwin, 4-6-4 Hudson Banner, Altoona 2-8-2 (The Zephyr), L & O Hammer 2-6-6-2, Erie John-Bull 4-6-6-4 (I do remember that was Becky’s), and mine: the 4-8-8-4 Allegheny Big Boy. It was tons of fun. Then someone asked, probably Becky, if there really was a Rock Island Line, and I assured her there most certainly was.
The next day we started emailing each other back and forth, and again, rail travel dominated our email banter. Then someone brought up the story about the time, in 1912, a single Southern Pacific Limited 3-2-3 attempted to pull a 17 coalcar load up Norwalk Mountain. Needless to say it was a near impossible stunt, and after of a two-hour struggle, the SPL 323 wrecked around a narrow stretch of track. The tragedy is now referred to as The Wreck of the Ole 17.
Anyway, we started thinking about what it takes to get a job done (whether in practice or during a performance), and the fact that no one can do much on their own. As a single engine. And perhaps if the SP Limited had used some of its friends, and perhaps many SP Limiteds linked their power together, they would have made it up to the top of that mountain. And then we had some more lame conversation.
And then we just all decided that Pennyfeather Caboose needs to be a 17-member team. Yeah, we know. It’s not going to be easy, and its going to be a lot of work and much determination is needed, but if we all work hard together, we will eventually reach the top. Of something. Perhaps an improv mountain.
After the six of us had the same group vision, we all set out to recruit new Pennyfeather Caboose members. Rule one: be picky. Don’t just invite anyone into the group. Be smart, selective. Choose friends who you think are talented and cool. Or go to new team and talk to the players who made you laugh after their show. Rule two: don’t rush the invite. If you find someone you like, have a drink with that person. Or at least a brief email conversation. Rule three: A usually dormant love of railroad nostalgia is great, but it’s not a requirement to be accepted into the group. We just want committed, dedicated people.
Three weeks after our Pennyfeather search, we finally settled on the “final” 17. And again, we arranged to meet at McManus on a Monday, for a group bonding over beer and burgers. Then we quickly arranged a full group rehearsal on Wednesday. And amazingly, all 17 of us made it. We warmed up and jumped into 2 person scenes. We went for about 45 minutes and honestly, I think we were all a bit stunned at the instant chemistry. It wasn’t great chemistry, but it was a recognizable form of chemistry. Sure, there were problems. There was a lot of talking over each other, and stepping on each other’s walk-ons, I mean, HELL, we had 17 people in a tiny $15-an-hour studio in midtown, most of whom had never worked with anyone else in the room.
Three months and roughly 11 full-member practices later, all 17 of us are eager to hit the stage. Which we will hopefully be doing in the near future. Although now is where the problem lies. Stage space. Most of the venue options we have at hand right now offer very tiny stages. I mean, lets be honest, it's going to take some extra planning and research to find venues that can appropriately accommodate us. Thus the problems. Thus the Pennyfeather Caboose debut may be delayed a couple of weeks. Oh well- postitive outlook: more practice time.
More on our practices later...
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