Oh What A Night (Dec.11)
Well...I don't ever know where to start.
Let's start at the very beginning...a very good place to start.
Arrived at the theatre around 4:30pm and started handing out my gifts to the cast and crew - custom guitar picks. Got to my dressing room to get everything in order and found already a dozen or so gifts and cards at my station - I was clearly behind.
As cast members started arriving - and all of us passing each other on the stairwell as we bombarded each other with "break legs", "happy opening", etc...we suddenly received a reminder over the speakers that we were all due in the house for notes.
The note session turned into just more people exchanging cards, hugs, and comments and Des finally wrangled us all together to simply say, "you're in great shape. try and stay focused, and have a great show."
...what else could he really say at this point?
So 6:30pm rolled around and we were asked to hold the show a few minutes for some of the late-seaters. Perhaps George Lucas had trouble finding his seat...yes, that's right, George Lucas was there!!!!
All I can say is the minute Andy (our great conductor) started laying down the first few chords of the opening, the crowd was already screaming. As a matter of fact, I think our entire first act was actually a little "off" simply because we were all having trouble finding our pacing because the audience kept stopping us with longer ovations and more laughs than we ever anticipating. But by the time "Sherry" starts...man, oh man...i still have chills.
The rest of the show was great - all of our shows we have had have been great...but nothing could top this opening night audience. there were no speeches before the show. there was no red carpet. there was no spotlights crowding the Curran Theatre. it was simply an audience that knew they were there or a special event. and we gave it our hearts and souls and i am just so proud of this cast.
Our four leads - Chris, Deven, Michael and Erich continue to amaze me. Their consistency and love of their craft is evident every night and last night was no exception. You want proof - go to my homepage at www.ericgutman.com and from there, go to my "links" pags and pull up all the reviews we have been getting.
I think the biggest thrill of the night was after we all took our company bow, we were joined onstage by the real Frankie Valli, Bob Gaudio, Tommy DeVito and Bob Crewe. From there, they stood by their counterparts and the audience just erupted into an ovation like I have never seen or heard. All of us onstage dropped our hard stare forward to the audience, and joined them in applauding these legends...these men who we have learned so much about theses past few months. These men whose lives are placed on stage 8 shows/week...their pain, their success, their highs and their lows. I wish there was more we could all do then simply applaud - but at the time, it was everything we could give...and you could see in their faces how much it meant to them.
From there, we all escaped into our dressing rooms and washed up and got into our finest suits and nicest dresses and made our way to Ruby Skye for the opening night party. We were greeted with photographers and photo ops and publicity people ushering us to the bar, to the food, to the VIP areas, and to each other - where the entire cast danced for hours on end and closed that place down!
I'm sure that every city will have an opening night party. I'm sure when we get to performance #100 or #500 there will be a nice reception. But last night was something like I will never forget. I mean , i don't want to sound ubiquitous (true JB fans will like that), but we officially launched the most anticipated show in years and I will never forget a few things:
First, that I will always have a place in this shows history. I will always be known as someone who was in the first National Tour of this triumphant show.
Secondly, that I have been able to work with great people like Ron Melrose, Sergio Trujillo, Rick Elice, Marshall Brickman, Steve Orich, Bob Gaudio, and our illustrious captain, Des McAnuff.
Lastly, that I got to dance with Sarah all night (she looked GOOD) and she got to experience this with me.
Don't know what else to say - so I leave this post with a few pictures from opening night. Again, keep checking in. I will be posting later this week to discuss understudy rehearsals, more reviews, and what my mother thought of the show (she'll be in the audience this Saturday night).
Thanks again everyone for sending me emails and good thoughts - I appreciate every one of them.
Let's start at the very beginning...a very good place to start.
Arrived at the theatre around 4:30pm and started handing out my gifts to the cast and crew - custom guitar picks. Got to my dressing room to get everything in order and found already a dozen or so gifts and cards at my station - I was clearly behind.
As cast members started arriving - and all of us passing each other on the stairwell as we bombarded each other with "break legs", "happy opening", etc...we suddenly received a reminder over the speakers that we were all due in the house for notes.
The note session turned into just more people exchanging cards, hugs, and comments and Des finally wrangled us all together to simply say, "you're in great shape. try and stay focused, and have a great show."
...what else could he really say at this point?
So 6:30pm rolled around and we were asked to hold the show a few minutes for some of the late-seaters. Perhaps George Lucas had trouble finding his seat...yes, that's right, George Lucas was there!!!!
All I can say is the minute Andy (our great conductor) started laying down the first few chords of the opening, the crowd was already screaming. As a matter of fact, I think our entire first act was actually a little "off" simply because we were all having trouble finding our pacing because the audience kept stopping us with longer ovations and more laughs than we ever anticipating. But by the time "Sherry" starts...man, oh man...i still have chills.
The rest of the show was great - all of our shows we have had have been great...but nothing could top this opening night audience. there were no speeches before the show. there was no red carpet. there was no spotlights crowding the Curran Theatre. it was simply an audience that knew they were there or a special event. and we gave it our hearts and souls and i am just so proud of this cast.
Our four leads - Chris, Deven, Michael and Erich continue to amaze me. Their consistency and love of their craft is evident every night and last night was no exception. You want proof - go to my homepage at www.ericgutman.com and from there, go to my "links" pags and pull up all the reviews we have been getting.
I think the biggest thrill of the night was after we all took our company bow, we were joined onstage by the real Frankie Valli, Bob Gaudio, Tommy DeVito and Bob Crewe. From there, they stood by their counterparts and the audience just erupted into an ovation like I have never seen or heard. All of us onstage dropped our hard stare forward to the audience, and joined them in applauding these legends...these men who we have learned so much about theses past few months. These men whose lives are placed on stage 8 shows/week...their pain, their success, their highs and their lows. I wish there was more we could all do then simply applaud - but at the time, it was everything we could give...and you could see in their faces how much it meant to them.
From there, we all escaped into our dressing rooms and washed up and got into our finest suits and nicest dresses and made our way to Ruby Skye for the opening night party. We were greeted with photographers and photo ops and publicity people ushering us to the bar, to the food, to the VIP areas, and to each other - where the entire cast danced for hours on end and closed that place down!
I'm sure that every city will have an opening night party. I'm sure when we get to performance #100 or #500 there will be a nice reception. But last night was something like I will never forget. I mean , i don't want to sound ubiquitous (true JB fans will like that), but we officially launched the most anticipated show in years and I will never forget a few things:
First, that I will always have a place in this shows history. I will always be known as someone who was in the first National Tour of this triumphant show.
Secondly, that I have been able to work with great people like Ron Melrose, Sergio Trujillo, Rick Elice, Marshall Brickman, Steve Orich, Bob Gaudio, and our illustrious captain, Des McAnuff.
Lastly, that I got to dance with Sarah all night (she looked GOOD) and she got to experience this with me.
Don't know what else to say - so I leave this post with a few pictures from opening night. Again, keep checking in. I will be posting later this week to discuss understudy rehearsals, more reviews, and what my mother thought of the show (she'll be in the audience this Saturday night).
Thanks again everyone for sending me emails and good thoughts - I appreciate every one of them.
posted by The Guter at 12/11/2006 10:34:00 PM
3 Comments:
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Hi, Eric. I didn't make it for your Opening Night but arrived in SF from NYC two days later. By then I had seen Jersey Boys 3 times in La Jolla and 26 times on Broadway. So I'm something of an authority on the play. I saw it three times in SF, and without hesitation, I can say that your production is every bit as good as the one on Broadway. I congratulate you and the entire cast. You are all fantastic. San Francisco clearly loves you and so will every other city you play. Keep breaking those legs, Charles Alexander
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