First Understudy Put-In (Jan.6)

whew...!!!!!!!!!!!!

that's the best way i can describe the understudy put-in from yesterday. i could also use the metaphor "shot out of a cannon", but "whew" will suffice.

let me first start by saying that our very own Rick Faugno (who covered Frankie Valli in the rehearsals) made Jersey Boys history yesterday. you see, there's this one part in the show (during "C'mon Marianne") where Frankie does this cool knee slide downstage into the song's first notes. Rick, who is probably the most athletic person i have ever seen, did the knee slide and just kept going...right off the stage...

...and without a scratch. at the very last minute, he kicked his legs out from under him and in midair, landed on his feet. and therefore cemented himself as the first Frankie Valli to slide off the stage.

other than that, the put-in for the most part went very well. there were a few line fumbles here and there, a few missed cues and botched dance steps, and by far one of the worst transitions into "Walk Like a Man" ever...

but for about a total of 16 hours of rehearsal, i think it went great. even a few of our fellow cast members were there for support (as well as Sarah) which was real nice.

a few highlights:

1) Runaway Train: Ron Melrose, our music director, flew in for the put-in and he was so supportive of all of us. After the run, he gave me about 50 notes, 48 of which were "SLOW DOWN". In the show, there are a lot of key moments that are tied up with music underscoring and apparently there were about a dozen or so times where i ran out of lines and there was alot of time left that the orchestra was playing. Worst one was into the Chicago scene with the women where I have to sit on a specific lyric, and I had already finished my lines and had to just stand there waiting for it...horrible!

2) Jackie Seiden's got nothing on me: My first scene with her I made her break and she couldn't stop laughing. Good job Jackie!

3) Smoke Hand-Off: All I can say is, the smoke that is passed to me tastes horrible. It's even worse when Melissa Strom is laughing as she shotguns it to me and big bursts of smoke are pretty much laughed into my mouth.

4) Worst Wig Ever: Taylor Sternberg comes out as Joey, and the wig they gave him looked like an oversized Brillo pad...it took everything for me not to laugh on stage.

5) Ragdoll: Riding the mic lift into the Ragdoll section was unreal! even with only a dozen or so people watching, what a rush you get!

other than that, now we move on. today starts my preparation for the Tommy track. i have to learn all the lines, blocking, dancing, transitions, and now guitar parts before our next put-in on Feb.2. that means we have 8 rehearsals - roughly 32 hours to get ready for the next one.

so keep reading - i hope everyone is patient with me only doing 1 or 2 blogs a week. between 8 shows and rehearsals every week, i just don't have all the free time i was hoping with this show. but i will do my best to keep everyone up to date.

lastly, in the next few days, i'll be posting some really cool info about the show...just waiting to see when i'm technically allowed to...so keep posted!