A Live Rhapsode Tour

I am planning a live rhapsode tour in the spring semester of 2015. It is a part of my sabbatical, for which I had to submit a proposal of activity to be vetted by the Faculty Development Committee at my university. It's quite ambitious, at least for me. I plan to perform 2 to 4 solo rhapsodies each month during January, February, March, April, and May in Florida, Georgia, Connecticut, and Wisconsin. I plan to perform -- or at least offer -- four separate solo shows to the venues I contact: one centering on Shakespeare, one on Whitman, one on Coleridge's The Rime of the Ancient Mariner, and one a medley (or rhapsody) of several classic poets. I plan to offer these to theaters, schools, libraries, museums, and virtually any place that can provide me with a performance space and a potential audience. I have not done a full-length live rhapsodic performance since fall 2010 and it's time to go back in front of a live audience.

One of my purposes is to accelerate the Rhapsodize initiative that has stalled a bit because of my involvement in academic matters for at least the past year, if not more. I'm really as or more interested in starting a movement of rhapsodic performance than in just performing myself. But perhaps I can get some momentum going by going on the road, as limited a tour as this may turn out to be.

I know NOTHING about touring and booking tours, so I have purchased a couple books to get me started, but I admit I have been procrastinating because this entire venture really frightens me. I don't like travel at all, so I need to face and overcome this. Additionally, I see the booking process as somewhat tedious, but I need to see it rather as an adventure. I have been researching and getting in contact with others solo touring theatre performers, particularly Tim Mooney and Elaine Bromka, and hope to learn much from them when I meet them in person.

Here's are links to Tim Mooney's Website,  Tim Mooney's Blog and Tim Mooney's YouTube page.

Here is a link to Elaine Bromka's Tea for Three clip and a link to one of her Demo Reels.