Marc T. Engberg working the Red Carpet in Germantown, MD
Note: Once a month a company member shares with us unique experiences on the road. This month, it's emcee Marc T. Engberg telling us about Germantown, MD,
What can I say about Germantown, MD that hasn’t already been said? Everything. Precisely everything.
Let’s start with our visit, en route, to Chaps Pit Beef, a celebrated barbecue dive on the unvarnished outskirts of Baltimore, where several of us cast members stopped for a beefy pre-pre-show déjeuner. When he's not tickling the ivories with gusto and brilliance, pianist Eric March is scouring the nation for unique and unforgettable hole-in-the-wall eateries. As Deb Rabbai, our eventual Germantown winner, pointed out, Eric has demonstrated a particular knack for uncovering these sorts of places, and he always delivers. Chaps Pit Beef did not disappoint, and we were all delighted to gorge ourselves on hearty sandwiches and obscene gobs of delicious sauce. Everyone knows that of all the food groups, sauce is the most essential. What's more, we scored the perfect window table with a nice view of the Pulaski Highway and the neighboring strip club. Imagine enjoying the best Reuben of your life on the set of The Wire. That's Chaps.
A sandwich from Chaps Pit Beef.
Germantown, which is situated about 15 miles outside the Beltway, is perhaps best known for being Maryland’s second largest city and the hometown of two of the members of Hootie & the Blowfish. The people of Germantown were an amiable lot, which you wouldn’t necessarily expect based on the name, and the BlackRock Center for the Arts is a beautiful, intimate venue – ideal for comedy. Not a bad seat in the joint! The audience was warm, welcoming, and on board from the first note, and we all had a fun time traveling back to 18th century England for a one-time-only production of the musical "Almost Like Love" featuring the hit song "I Love You, Brian." As we all know, Brian is one of the great names to come out of 18th century England - right up there with Trevor, Jason, and Stacy.
Most of the comedy venues in New York City are total dumps. But when you go out on the road, you get to perform in these beautiful, gleaming performance spaces, and the BlackRock Center was no exception. What a gem. We met some great folks after the show, and it seemed like they wanted us back. Hey, it’s a different show every time! We’d love to come back.
The next day, fellow cast member, Matt Giroveanu, and I drove back up to NYC doing impressions and characters the whole way. It was a whole back and forth. I spent four hours in the car with Matt and still don’t know what his real voice sounds like.
Thank you, Germantown!
