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Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania - United States of America
The town of Wilkes-Barre which seems to be prounounced both as "berri" or "bare" is the opening American city for the production of "How To Train Your Dragon: Live Spectacular" from DreamWorks. A small, unassuming city in the middle of the Pocono Mountains in the state of Pennsylvania.
I don't think anyone is all to certain as to why this is the opening location for the largest touring production in the world. A technical marvel or nightmare [depending on whether you're a creative or a member of the crew]. Not to slight the city, which on more than one occasion has added another story and experience to my collection of tales to tell but it certainly isn't a bustling concrete jungle painted with the brush strokes of capitalism. Something I would expect for an opening of this magnitude, or is that just my craving for the bright neon lights and plastic fantastic lifestyle of a big bustling city? What can I say? I'm a child of commercialism.
Perhaps its nicer this way? A quiet opening for a show that requires such innovative thinking and technological awareness and runs the risk in its infancy to fall down upon the shoulders of human error due to the simple fact that what these people are building is revolutionary in terms of live entertainment. Nevertheless here we are, on the cusp of the first city in the North American tour.
It's lush here. Dense green on the Pocono mountain range, while the actual downtown area of Wilkes-Barre is a drive away from the green giants it is easy to feel you are lost in a pocket of North America reserved for log cabins and Bears. Looking around at any point your clear sky is obscured by these natural monoliths.
On June 11th [my birthday] a selection of us travelled up to the Seven Tubs National Reserve, named for seven distinct sandstone tubs that form a series of small waterfalls down the side of a mountain. Formed because of glacial meltwater the actual tubs are surrounded by thick bush. Rough trails have been carved through the reserve, we diverged from the path a couple of times but discovered the foliage is crawling with ticks. Rule number one, stick to the designated path.Thankfully none of our party were burrowed into.
Local residents were kind enough to become unofficial tour guides, showing us the best places in the reserve includiing a mini-cliffface where people jumped into the icy pool of water below. Free-flowing streams of clean natural water snaking its way down the mountain was bitingly refreshing. The escape into the wilderness was a welcome change from the arena basement where we spend most of our days working, rehearsing & training animatronic dragons.
Apart from seven tubs and the Mohegan Sun Arena, we've seen very little of Wilkes-Barre, probably because there is very little to see within our immediate vicinity without hiring a car.
It is a quaint city that seems to have a kind centre giving us spectacular weather though I admit at times the air is so thick with moisture that, that unpleasant hot, suffocating sticky feeling sets in.
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