Getting Shot Out of a Cannon (Jan.14)
okay - we don't need a formal intro here. let's just catch you up on the past week:
thursday we started rehearsals for our new set of understudy roles. so i dropped everything i have learned and worked on as Bob and shifted gears entirely to get started on Tommy DeVito.
let me start by saying our book writers, Marshall Brickman and Rick Elice, have a lot to say for Tommy. And even when his "season" is over, Tommy is easily the biggest focus of the group. suffice to say, i was nowhere near where i needed to be line-wise. anyway, so we start the blocking and my script is in hand. and i think i know a monologue so i put it down, and i call "line". then i call "line" again and again and again...
...and i realize that taking all this time working on "Bob" has really screwed me as fa as getting ahead as "Tommy". And pushing through as fast as we were - it felt like i was getting shot out of a cannon!
then i started getting upset at myself. because, honestly kids, i am hardest on myself. but i forged ahead through the rehearsal; working my tail off on getting the dancing right, the music right, the guitar chords right, the character right. and at the end of the day, i am happy to say i am no further along than i was before...but come this Thursday - i'll be kicking ass and taking names.
friday was somewhat better - we were in the "Summer" season and Tommy doesn't have as many monologues...so i did my blocking, focused on my vocal parts, and watched as my dear friend Miles Aubrey dealt with the same crap i did the day before, because now he is playing "Bob", and Friday was all about him.
but this week in a little different: we will finish blocking the entire show on Thursday and hopefully run through it from top to bottom (time permitting), and then Friday, we go back to our understudy roles from last week (stage management never wants us to go more than 2 weeks without reviewing any of our roles). either way - i am ready for whatever they throw at us because i have been working my tail off on both my understudy roles.
now then, for those of you that saw the show last night and happened across my blog, i want to apologize to all of you for a ROUGH show! i think it was a full moon out last night...
it started with the first scene i enter into and i am standing backstage ready to roll my table onto my mark. well it was slightly off the curtain, and when i pushed it, i went right into a big metal light rig and nearly knocked the wind out of myself. of course, the loud "OOF-AH" that came out of my mouth was clear as day to Jackie and Melissa, and all i can say is thank goodness their backs are turned away from the audience because they were both dying onstage.
then it continued with my entrance as "Hank". now keep in mind, when an actor changes a line up or even drops a line, as long as it doesn't affect the scene, the audience would never know. however, when an actor changes a line, all the other actors and crew that are used to hearing the line correct 8 shows/week immediately perk their ears up because they automatically know something is up.
the correct line Tommy should say before Hank enters is: "...he sings, he plays, he's got special material.". However Deven said "...he sings, he plays, he's got special qualities."
"Special Qualities"??? Well hell, that could mean anything. And everyone was thinking that - because as soon as those words came out of his mouth, Michael Ingersoll (who plays Nick Massi - and is usually a rock onstage) cracked a smile, and then when I went out to the bridge and saw Deven barely getting through the rest of is speech, I broke and had to turn upstage so the audience couldn't see me losing it. Even our own Chris Jones had to bite his lower lip so he didn't laugh out loud. nonetheless, the laughing continued through the rest of the scene and it was simply a mess.
other problems were just some dropped props onstage, some sound problems, and all of us just trying to hold it together for the audience...
today was a better show...smooth and without problems. However, today's show saw the departure of our Production Stage Manager, Richard Hester. I don't think Richard has ever read my blog so i am going to say what i want to say here: we are going to miss him like crazy. not only did he guide us through an intense rehearsal and tech process, but he knows this show like the back of his hand, and his knowledge and love of this show has made every one of our performances richer and more true to what the original intentions have always been. He is a fantastic stage manager, a wonderful director, and he has become a good friend...and though he will be back every once in awhile to check up on us, the show has lost a little something with his departure.
so with a crazy week comes an end to a crazy week...tomorrow is a much deserved day off. sarah and i are heading to the gym, then some wedding errands, and lastly a belated Anniversary dinner...we're thinking of grabbing some delicious Bay area seafood.
lastly, i said i was going to post some exciting news...and i still am waiting for the official notice to go out...so keep checking back here!
thursday we started rehearsals for our new set of understudy roles. so i dropped everything i have learned and worked on as Bob and shifted gears entirely to get started on Tommy DeVito.
let me start by saying our book writers, Marshall Brickman and Rick Elice, have a lot to say for Tommy. And even when his "season" is over, Tommy is easily the biggest focus of the group. suffice to say, i was nowhere near where i needed to be line-wise. anyway, so we start the blocking and my script is in hand. and i think i know a monologue so i put it down, and i call "line". then i call "line" again and again and again...
...and i realize that taking all this time working on "Bob" has really screwed me as fa as getting ahead as "Tommy". And pushing through as fast as we were - it felt like i was getting shot out of a cannon!
then i started getting upset at myself. because, honestly kids, i am hardest on myself. but i forged ahead through the rehearsal; working my tail off on getting the dancing right, the music right, the guitar chords right, the character right. and at the end of the day, i am happy to say i am no further along than i was before...but come this Thursday - i'll be kicking ass and taking names.
friday was somewhat better - we were in the "Summer" season and Tommy doesn't have as many monologues...so i did my blocking, focused on my vocal parts, and watched as my dear friend Miles Aubrey dealt with the same crap i did the day before, because now he is playing "Bob", and Friday was all about him.
but this week in a little different: we will finish blocking the entire show on Thursday and hopefully run through it from top to bottom (time permitting), and then Friday, we go back to our understudy roles from last week (stage management never wants us to go more than 2 weeks without reviewing any of our roles). either way - i am ready for whatever they throw at us because i have been working my tail off on both my understudy roles.
now then, for those of you that saw the show last night and happened across my blog, i want to apologize to all of you for a ROUGH show! i think it was a full moon out last night...
it started with the first scene i enter into and i am standing backstage ready to roll my table onto my mark. well it was slightly off the curtain, and when i pushed it, i went right into a big metal light rig and nearly knocked the wind out of myself. of course, the loud "OOF-AH" that came out of my mouth was clear as day to Jackie and Melissa, and all i can say is thank goodness their backs are turned away from the audience because they were both dying onstage.
then it continued with my entrance as "Hank". now keep in mind, when an actor changes a line up or even drops a line, as long as it doesn't affect the scene, the audience would never know. however, when an actor changes a line, all the other actors and crew that are used to hearing the line correct 8 shows/week immediately perk their ears up because they automatically know something is up.
the correct line Tommy should say before Hank enters is: "...he sings, he plays, he's got special material.". However Deven said "...he sings, he plays, he's got special qualities."
"Special Qualities"??? Well hell, that could mean anything. And everyone was thinking that - because as soon as those words came out of his mouth, Michael Ingersoll (who plays Nick Massi - and is usually a rock onstage) cracked a smile, and then when I went out to the bridge and saw Deven barely getting through the rest of is speech, I broke and had to turn upstage so the audience couldn't see me losing it. Even our own Chris Jones had to bite his lower lip so he didn't laugh out loud. nonetheless, the laughing continued through the rest of the scene and it was simply a mess.
other problems were just some dropped props onstage, some sound problems, and all of us just trying to hold it together for the audience...
today was a better show...smooth and without problems. However, today's show saw the departure of our Production Stage Manager, Richard Hester. I don't think Richard has ever read my blog so i am going to say what i want to say here: we are going to miss him like crazy. not only did he guide us through an intense rehearsal and tech process, but he knows this show like the back of his hand, and his knowledge and love of this show has made every one of our performances richer and more true to what the original intentions have always been. He is a fantastic stage manager, a wonderful director, and he has become a good friend...and though he will be back every once in awhile to check up on us, the show has lost a little something with his departure.
so with a crazy week comes an end to a crazy week...tomorrow is a much deserved day off. sarah and i are heading to the gym, then some wedding errands, and lastly a belated Anniversary dinner...we're thinking of grabbing some delicious Bay area seafood.
lastly, i said i was going to post some exciting news...and i still am waiting for the official notice to go out...so keep checking back here!
posted by The Guter at 1/14/2007 10:36:00 PM
2 Comments:
Great stuff... love reading stuff from behind-the-scenes :) Thanks for keeping this blog, Eric, it's so fun to read!! Nice to talk to you last night, I'll see you again on Tuesday ;-)
Brian and I loved that show. It was so funny. We noticed all of those crazy things and we were dying laughing! You guys are great!
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