Omigod (Jan.28)
i am going to start this post by talking about Legally Blonde, a great new musical starting its pre-Broadway run here in San Francisco. the company managers/producers invited about 50 or so of us to their final preview performance tonight.
i want to say that if you are looking for a fun show. a campy (i truly mean that in the most flattering way), big and bright show, then you should get your ticket for their Broadway run. Laura Bell Bundy will be catapulted to stardom for this, Christian Borle is completely lovable as Emmett, and Orfeh freaking steals her scenes as Paulette. add an amazing ensemble and some of the best dance numbers i have seen since Hairspray (again, the magic of Jerry Mitchell) and you have the next big freaking hit on Broadway this new season.
criticisms: i wanted a stronger finale, and if i heard "omigod" one more time, i might have hit someone.
lastly, there is a part where Paulette and Elle go to Paulette's old boyfriend to get her dog back and when they pound on his trailer door, he is supposed to say something like, "what the hell do you want"...but instead, we were lucky enough to hear a shout out to us with a "what the Four Seasons is going on here." Nice.
speaking of the Four Seasons...i almost was one the other day.
Erich Bergen walks into the theatre Tuesday night...i'm sorry, did i say "walk", i meant "crawled"...with a fever of 101 degrees and completely pale. the only reason he was going on was because he had 5 people in the audience. the first words to me were, "go over your lines, i don't know if i'm going to make it tomorrow matinee." suffice to say, i spent that evening going over lines with Sarah (she has seen it so many times now that she almost didn't need to look at the script to give me my cues) and working harmonies until about 1am. The next morning i woke up early to have a hearty breakfast, go over my lines again, and wait by the phone for the call. the call came at about 12pm when i heard from my stage manager called to tell me Erich was going on.
so truly...i am so happy that my friend Erich was feeling better...and yet at the same time, to quote one of the lines from our show, "so close, so close and yet so far."
so as always, what happens next week...?
shows all week, every week, as always. thursday and friday back to understudy rehearsals...what's the change this week though? well, with the put-in this friday, that means that creative staff is back in the house. Holly-Anne (assistant director), Ron Melrose (music director), Richard Hester (production stage manager), and who else knows who. all i know is i have a ton to work on to get ready for the Tommy DeVito track and i want this put-in to run as smoothly as possible. we also have a very interesting Four Seasons line up with me as Tommy, Erik Bates (our fearless dance captain) as Nick Massi, Miles Aubry as Bob and Taylor Sternberg as Frankie. a big switch up from the last put-in for sure, but we are all working our asses off.
oh yeah, and working our asses off in other ways as well. i forgot to blog that i am now on my 5th week back at the gym (beach wedding people, come on). our prop master, Junior, is acting as my trainer (he was a marine) and i have never been in so much pain in my life. but it's a good pain...i think it's a good pain...he's telling me it's a good pain. ouch. but i know one thing, i am losing weight and the wardrobe people told me to stop because they have to take my pants in again.
anyway - not much else to report as this point. right now, Sarah and I are watching that new Grease reality show and for real, it completely sucks. why in the hell are the doing this stunt-casting bullshit? i am sitting here watching the opening number and i just can't figure out why i am watching it. the show's producers are so sure of the success of this show, that they have already started selling tickets to the show and they don't have their leads pcked out OR where the show is going to play...ugh.
okay - that's enough random thoughts for now. have a great week everyone, and i'll be blogging later.
i want to say that if you are looking for a fun show. a campy (i truly mean that in the most flattering way), big and bright show, then you should get your ticket for their Broadway run. Laura Bell Bundy will be catapulted to stardom for this, Christian Borle is completely lovable as Emmett, and Orfeh freaking steals her scenes as Paulette. add an amazing ensemble and some of the best dance numbers i have seen since Hairspray (again, the magic of Jerry Mitchell) and you have the next big freaking hit on Broadway this new season.
criticisms: i wanted a stronger finale, and if i heard "omigod" one more time, i might have hit someone.
lastly, there is a part where Paulette and Elle go to Paulette's old boyfriend to get her dog back and when they pound on his trailer door, he is supposed to say something like, "what the hell do you want"...but instead, we were lucky enough to hear a shout out to us with a "what the Four Seasons is going on here." Nice.
speaking of the Four Seasons...i almost was one the other day.
Erich Bergen walks into the theatre Tuesday night...i'm sorry, did i say "walk", i meant "crawled"...with a fever of 101 degrees and completely pale. the only reason he was going on was because he had 5 people in the audience. the first words to me were, "go over your lines, i don't know if i'm going to make it tomorrow matinee." suffice to say, i spent that evening going over lines with Sarah (she has seen it so many times now that she almost didn't need to look at the script to give me my cues) and working harmonies until about 1am. The next morning i woke up early to have a hearty breakfast, go over my lines again, and wait by the phone for the call. the call came at about 12pm when i heard from my stage manager called to tell me Erich was going on.
so truly...i am so happy that my friend Erich was feeling better...and yet at the same time, to quote one of the lines from our show, "so close, so close and yet so far."
so as always, what happens next week...?
shows all week, every week, as always. thursday and friday back to understudy rehearsals...what's the change this week though? well, with the put-in this friday, that means that creative staff is back in the house. Holly-Anne (assistant director), Ron Melrose (music director), Richard Hester (production stage manager), and who else knows who. all i know is i have a ton to work on to get ready for the Tommy DeVito track and i want this put-in to run as smoothly as possible. we also have a very interesting Four Seasons line up with me as Tommy, Erik Bates (our fearless dance captain) as Nick Massi, Miles Aubry as Bob and Taylor Sternberg as Frankie. a big switch up from the last put-in for sure, but we are all working our asses off.
oh yeah, and working our asses off in other ways as well. i forgot to blog that i am now on my 5th week back at the gym (beach wedding people, come on). our prop master, Junior, is acting as my trainer (he was a marine) and i have never been in so much pain in my life. but it's a good pain...i think it's a good pain...he's telling me it's a good pain. ouch. but i know one thing, i am losing weight and the wardrobe people told me to stop because they have to take my pants in again.
anyway - not much else to report as this point. right now, Sarah and I are watching that new Grease reality show and for real, it completely sucks. why in the hell are the doing this stunt-casting bullshit? i am sitting here watching the opening number and i just can't figure out why i am watching it. the show's producers are so sure of the success of this show, that they have already started selling tickets to the show and they don't have their leads pcked out OR where the show is going to play...ugh.
okay - that's enough random thoughts for now. have a great week everyone, and i'll be blogging later.
posted by The Guter at 1/28/2007 11:04:00 PM
5 Comments:
You still owe us the big news! When will you be allowed to post it?
Your fan,
Jessica
PS Your Bubi just reminded me to call my Bubi...
Thanks for all the backstage info...you guys work hard! I'm seeing the show in March. Can't wait.
As for the good news you can't disclose yet. Perhaps an extension until the end of the year?
I predict: You guys are extended in SF until the end of the year. A separate cast picks up the tour in LA. Once you guys finish here in SF, the show will hopefully have found a home in Vegas and you guys will be moved there. Perhaps in a year, Wynn will realize Spamalot isn't working and will pick up Jersey Boys instead =)
oh gosh, was the omigod song really that insane? we're going with melissa at the end of the month, and i've heard horror stories of that freakin song.
Randome fact, did you know Chris Kale Jones was in Grese with one of the guys on that Grease reality show?
It is great you are working out with the propmaster of the show, but he is no personal trainer just a propmaster. Watch out for no pain no gain. If the pain is too much and you are uncomfortable BE CAREFUL AND MOVE ON!
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