o what do actors do, anyway, during their off-performance hours when they're out on tour for months at a time, away from the fa- miliarity and comforts of home? If you're Donny Osmond, you have a hefty enough paycheck as a result of being a four-year-plus technicolor Joseph with recording residuals up the wazoo to fly home to Utah every week- end to see your wife and four kids. If you're a 20-something single woman in Beehive, here last year for a six-month run at the Gem Theatre, you get a health- club membership at the Omni Hotel downtown, shop for bar- gains at thrift shops and party 'til the wee morning hours amidst the Detroit nightlife. If you're a full-figured Lovely Liebowitz Sister, you're an intrepid tourist, ex- ploring Windsor, Charlevoix, Belle Isle, the Detroit Zoo and the outlet mall at Birch Run. Plus, you like to eat out — a lot. Especially at Frankenmuth. But, if you're a hang-out-kind-of-guy like 24-year-old Dan Sklar, who plays Lefou in Beauty and the Beast, you take a more low-key approach to what can be a grueling life out on the road. Sklar's been on tour with Beauty since November '95, in far from tropical lo- cales, including Minneapolis, St. Louis and, for a little over two months through May 26, here in Detroit at the Masonic Temple. Because the rent was cheaper than many of the corporate apartments tour- ing companies use in the Southfield area, Sklar rented a two-bedroom, furnished townhouse on the outskirts of Dearborn with his friend and co-cast member Chris Monteleone. Monteleone is featured in the ensemble and also understudies both the Gaston and Beast roles, going from 6-feet to 6-feet 5-inches in his Beast costume. (For more about Sklar and Monteleone, make sure to read the Profile story in JN Entertainment.) "We're a very unmotivated group," Sklar jokes about some of his fellow cast members who have only Mondays off and an occasional Tuesday, if there's a scheduled Wednesday matinee instead of a Tuesday night show; the Actors' Eq- uity union allows performers an eight-show week, with strict guidelines for ex- tra rehears a ls, publicity appearances and two-show days (Saturdays, Sundays and sometimes Wednesdays). So, to get them motivated, we played Sklar's and Monteleone's personal tour guides — on the only sunny day this year — and headed to Royal Oak for an afternoon of serious chowing, browsing and shopping. What follows is a semi- typical day in the life of Dan Sklar and Beauty and the Beast. 12 p.m. — Arrival at Sklar and Mon- teleone's townhouse. "We'll have to return the Blockbuster tapes later — (Babe and Seven)." 1 p.m. — Lunch at Mongolian Barbeque. 2:30 p.m. — Clothes shopping at Cin- derella's Attic, Incognito, Noir Leather ("Sorry, we won't have brown suede pants in until fall") and Patti Smith, where Sklar purchased his one item of the day — a base- ball hat. "I like the simplicity of it, the fit of it and the look of it. It's cool." (Why base- ball hats? See today's Profile story.) A stroll down memory lane at Deco Doug's, Decades and Dave's Comics. "I love The Simpsons'; it's a brilliant show. The references are so artsy and obscure. I've got about 40 episodes on tape," says Sklar, who also owns all the re- productions of Weird Fantasy com- ic books (1953). Music browsing at Repeat the Beat. Sklar favors jazz and female vocalists. 4:30 p.m. — Rest for the weary with a quick break at Brazil coffeehouse before tak- ing Woodward south to the Masonic Tem- ple. How else do Beauty and the Beast cast members pass the time on tour? See page 92. A dual major in voice and electronic music from Oberlin College, Sklar plays some quiet jazz at Brazil coffeehouse during our Royal Oak expedition. Above: 7 p.m. — Immediately following Kim Huber's (Belle) wig appointment, Sklar is in the hands of tour hairstylist Dale Isaacs, one of eight hairdressers on the show. Before the 7:30 p.m. curtain, Isaacs will have coifed 14 people. Left: At 6:30 p.m. during weekday show nights, Sklar arrives to his second home-away-from home: Dressing Room No. 12 at the Masonic Temple, which he shares with Grant Cowan (Maurice, Belle's father). Each actor applies his own make-up, except Fred Inkley (the Beast), who has three people helping him into make-up, prosthetics, hair and costume during a 1 1/2-hour session; and Evan Jay Newman and local child actor Nathan Keen, who both play Chip the Teacup.