Catch Up (Dec.18)
okay everyone...because i have been getting threatening emails from family pretty much telling me they EXPECT a blog at least once a week, i am sitting down on my day off to catch everyone up on the past week's excitement. again, i'm sorry for not doing this for a week, but cut a boy some slack!
well as you could see from my past blog, the opening went amazing and we have had rave reviews across the boards (for all the reviews, go to www.ericgutman.com and head to the "links" section). the audiences continue to show up and go crazy for us every night and our Four Seasons continue to lead us show after show with great dedication and unbelievable performances...
which leads me to the next part of this blog - the wonderful Jarrod Spector.
you see, with this tour, the Frankie Valli role sings for pretty much non-stop for 2+ hours. so the producers cast a very talented person to play a few shows a week so Chris could have some much deserved vocal rest.
so in steps Jarrod Spector. Jarrod's official title is "Frankie Valli alternate" - and let me say for the record that a title like "alternate" does not give him justice. The performance he gave Saturday and Sunday matinee was not "an alternate to what usually happens". His performances was freaking incredible. I actually found myself watching from the wings a lot more than usual just to see his interpretation on this very challenging role. And also please keep in mind that during the rehearsal process in NYC and in San Fran, Jarrod got close to no real stage time...he was always found in the back, shadowing the dance moves, mouthing the lines as the scenes were being staged. so when he took his final bow Saturday matinee, the entire cast on stage broke our silence and applauded and screamed along with the audience. Even our regular Frankie, Chris, was in the orchestra standing to give his support.
and to Mr. and Mrs. Spector who were there for both shows, congratulations to you both as well in sharing in the success of your immensely talented son. we are ALL proud of him.
...speaking of parents...
so Mom and Jeff came to see the show this past Saturday evening. Sarah and I met them at Max's Diner (across from the theatre) and Mom already was unpacking her tissues getting ready for the show. on the one block walk to the theatre, there she was, in the middle of the street, trying to get just the perfect picture of the Curran Theatre's marquee. and of course, there i was, uncomfortably taking pictures in the lobby. but she loved the show, and it meant so much to me to see her all the way back in Orchestra row S dabbing her eyes with kleenex when i took my final bow. and i know she is very excited come January 20, when she arrives with 30 of her friends from work to come see the show again.
this week was also the start of understudy rehearsals. what that means is our stage managers, assistant director, assistant choreographer, and associate conductor all work with us on stage to give us our blocking, music notes, dance steps and transitions to the roles we are understudying. for the record, i am working just on my Bob Gaudio understudy role right now, and my God, does he have a lot to say in the first act. you see, if you haven't seen the show yet, it is divided into four different narratives (hence "Four Seasons"), and Bob's main part is all about the group's rise to fame. To make sure the events take place in a quick and efficient storytelling manner, he has a lot of monologues to the audience - and they are very specific (being non-fiction). so my days have been spent on stage running the scenes as much as i can, and my nights are spent watching Erich Bergen on stage as much as possible, and of course, keeping myself up until 3am twice last week obsessing about what moves go where with what lines...
this next week continues the wonderful madness: understudy rehearsals on thursday and friday (we think Des in flying in to work with us), a small 7 show week (because of the Holidays), and Dad, Karen and Brian are flying in to see the show this weekend and I am super excited for that!
again - thank you all for your continued emails. A big thank you to Susie at jerseyboysblog.com for coming to see the show and sending me interview questions (i'll get them to you as soon as possible), Stacey for sending me all the reviews and San Fran postings she can find on our show, Jim for the very nice egreeting card, and lastly for Charles Alexander - please email me directly from my website - i would love to get in touch with you but when you send me something through my blog, it gets posted as an "anonymous" email.
finally - to everyone - have a great holiday season and i will make sure to get another post up right around Christmas (or as i like to call is, "Chinese and a Movie Day").
...more to come.
well as you could see from my past blog, the opening went amazing and we have had rave reviews across the boards (for all the reviews, go to www.ericgutman.com and head to the "links" section). the audiences continue to show up and go crazy for us every night and our Four Seasons continue to lead us show after show with great dedication and unbelievable performances...
which leads me to the next part of this blog - the wonderful Jarrod Spector.
you see, with this tour, the Frankie Valli role sings for pretty much non-stop for 2+ hours. so the producers cast a very talented person to play a few shows a week so Chris could have some much deserved vocal rest.
so in steps Jarrod Spector. Jarrod's official title is "Frankie Valli alternate" - and let me say for the record that a title like "alternate" does not give him justice. The performance he gave Saturday and Sunday matinee was not "an alternate to what usually happens". His performances was freaking incredible. I actually found myself watching from the wings a lot more than usual just to see his interpretation on this very challenging role. And also please keep in mind that during the rehearsal process in NYC and in San Fran, Jarrod got close to no real stage time...he was always found in the back, shadowing the dance moves, mouthing the lines as the scenes were being staged. so when he took his final bow Saturday matinee, the entire cast on stage broke our silence and applauded and screamed along with the audience. Even our regular Frankie, Chris, was in the orchestra standing to give his support.
and to Mr. and Mrs. Spector who were there for both shows, congratulations to you both as well in sharing in the success of your immensely talented son. we are ALL proud of him.
...speaking of parents...
so Mom and Jeff came to see the show this past Saturday evening. Sarah and I met them at Max's Diner (across from the theatre) and Mom already was unpacking her tissues getting ready for the show. on the one block walk to the theatre, there she was, in the middle of the street, trying to get just the perfect picture of the Curran Theatre's marquee. and of course, there i was, uncomfortably taking pictures in the lobby. but she loved the show, and it meant so much to me to see her all the way back in Orchestra row S dabbing her eyes with kleenex when i took my final bow. and i know she is very excited come January 20, when she arrives with 30 of her friends from work to come see the show again.
this week was also the start of understudy rehearsals. what that means is our stage managers, assistant director, assistant choreographer, and associate conductor all work with us on stage to give us our blocking, music notes, dance steps and transitions to the roles we are understudying. for the record, i am working just on my Bob Gaudio understudy role right now, and my God, does he have a lot to say in the first act. you see, if you haven't seen the show yet, it is divided into four different narratives (hence "Four Seasons"), and Bob's main part is all about the group's rise to fame. To make sure the events take place in a quick and efficient storytelling manner, he has a lot of monologues to the audience - and they are very specific (being non-fiction). so my days have been spent on stage running the scenes as much as i can, and my nights are spent watching Erich Bergen on stage as much as possible, and of course, keeping myself up until 3am twice last week obsessing about what moves go where with what lines...
this next week continues the wonderful madness: understudy rehearsals on thursday and friday (we think Des in flying in to work with us), a small 7 show week (because of the Holidays), and Dad, Karen and Brian are flying in to see the show this weekend and I am super excited for that!
again - thank you all for your continued emails. A big thank you to Susie at jerseyboysblog.com for coming to see the show and sending me interview questions (i'll get them to you as soon as possible), Stacey for sending me all the reviews and San Fran postings she can find on our show, Jim for the very nice egreeting card, and lastly for Charles Alexander - please email me directly from my website - i would love to get in touch with you but when you send me something through my blog, it gets posted as an "anonymous" email.
finally - to everyone - have a great holiday season and i will make sure to get another post up right around Christmas (or as i like to call is, "Chinese and a Movie Day").
...more to come.
posted by The Guter at 12/18/2006 09:01:00 PM
4 Comments:
Eric! this is Amy Ashton, and it is only my 3rd day back at the office in La Jolla and in my boredom i started checking on the JB cast, i happened upond your blog, and (i'm not kidding) read it from the first day of rehearsals through this entry. this thing is incredible! and you have done such a great job of keeping track of the many adventures. I miss yall more than i could believe and I am excited to be able to keep up through your blog. wow, this is long. but tell everyone i love and miss them!
You are right about Jarrod Spector. We saw the show last night...Dec. 19th.......Can't tell you how impressive the cast was. Jarrod Spector was stupendous. Everyone was stupendous ! I bought the CD.....Cannot compare to the energy and talent we saw last night. !!!!!! We were lucky to be able to catch this performance and see Jarrod's performance.
I had the pleasure of seeing Jarrod Spector as Frankie Valli on Dec. 18, and I have to agree, he was amazing! My mom felt immediately transported to the '60s, 'cause he certainly sang like an angel. He interpreted the role flawlessly. It was truly a delight to watch him and to observe the whole cast supporting him. I wish you all the best for a wonderful run in SF!
My wife and I have seen Jersey Boys twice in SF. The first time with Jarrod, the second time with Chris. We though Jarrod was a much better singer to be honest.
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