Saying Goodbye To a Friend (March 29)
so...
wednesday afternoon was a sad show. not so much because usually wednesday matinees bring in a quieter and sometimes older crowd...but sad because with the final bows, we had to say goodbye to a friend.
wednesday matinee saw the last show of our Frankie alternate, Jarrod Spector. honestly, i don't know what i'm allowed to announce or not, so let's just say that Jarrod is off to some great things and the entire cast and crew couldn't be more thrilled for him. however, if i can be greedy for a moment, i am going to miss that kid a ton...and "Moody's Mood" has never sounded better...ever.
he has been a great friend and a true professional onstage. his sense of humor was always welcome backstage (and onstage when we weren't caught), and it truly has been a pleasure sharing the stage with him twice a week. and other than the fact that he took me for $20 last week at a poker game, i wish him the best in all of his future endeavors and i truly hope our paths cross sooner than later.
and saying goodbye to Jarrod also means we have to say goodbye to his parents, Chuck and Beth. we have been lucky to have visits from them about once a month when they fly in to stay about a week and make sure to see all of the shows he's scheduled to do. they had a great Super Bowl party for us and every time we see them at the stage door, it's like our own family has just visited...you can't find more sweet people and i thank them as well for always making sure to say hello to each one of us with a big smile and hug.
also leaving our little family was our stage manager, Patty Lyons, and our associate conductor, John "Smitty" Smith. both of them will be joining the second national tour of our little show and i need to thank them as well for everything they did for us as well. The second national really will gain a lot from them joining, and I can't say enough great things about both of them!
so that's the big news for now i suppose. lots more to announce in the coming weeks, but for now i have to keep it under wraps (i think). i guess when it is "official" to me, than i can make it "official" to you...
a few last things:
1) do you know of anyone in the Los Angeles area that is looking to sublet their place? sarah and i (and Toby the dog) are looking for a place from late May to late August. please email me at theguter@hotmail.com if you know of any leads. craig's list is great, but i'm really hoping to find something through direct referrals.
2) vegas is on baby! this sunday, me, Miles Aubrey and 8 other guys in the cast are flying to Vegas for a dual-bachelor weekend! less than 3 days and we are all super pumped to do some gambling and...um...celebrate Passover.
okay - about 2am and i am beat. understudy rehearsal tomorrow (i'm playing Bob) and i need to get some rest.
good night to you all.
In Case You Missed It (March 21)
The Man's Chin is Enormous! (March 19)
let's get right to it!
we were on the Tonight Show with Jay Leno. i shook his and Terrance Howard's hand. i ate in the NBC commissary. and it was the most surreal experience i have ever had in my professional life.
let's start with yesterday: the entire cast finished our Sunday matinee, got into a charter bus and went right to the San Francisco airport. after a lovely wait in the airport lobby for a little over two hours (where our guitarist Brian had an unprecedented six beers and three shots in the airport bar), we finally boarded the plane and flew to Los Angeles.
easy flight...about 53 minutes...safe landing.
from there, we jumped onto another charter and drove 30 minutes or so to Burbank to stay at the Burbank Marriott...right across the street from the Burbank airport (that was convenient).
after a really healthy late night snack of Papa John's pizza and Diet Coke with Michael Ingersoll, Nate Klau, and Jarrod Spector, it was off to bed...to stay up much later than i should have pretty much caring for the disgusting stomach ache i was now enduring.
woke up the next morning a little early than i wanted to ("damn it housekeeping, please come back later!") and headed to the lobby to meet with the rest of the cast for our 9:45 bus call.
15 minutes later, we pulled into the NBC lot.
the rest of the day was a whirlwind: spacing rehearsal on stage with our stage managers and (associate choreographer) Kelly Devine, sound check for the musicians and those of us on mic onstage or backstage, and constant reminders that we should not be taking pictures (see my slide show below of these pictures). then we all headed to lunch in the NBC commissary (i had a HORRIBLE and fatty corned beef sandwich). 1:30pm found us back on the stage for full sound check and running the medley for the director (a lovely woman named Ellen Brown).
from there, back into our...um...dressing room. well maybe not a "dressing room" simply because it was kind of like a big rehearsal room with just one big mirror but the whole thing kind of resembled a cross between a small basketball court and an elementary school cafetorium. lots of sitting around for the next 2-3 hours filled with tons of euchre tournaments, and just the anticipation of doing the show and the anxiety of...well...doing the show.
but we did the show. and it was awesome. the whole time, of course, all i was thinking about was "hit your mark", followed by "don't mess up the head bob", followed by "don't forget the final pose". the audience was great - cheering for us as each new song in the medley started and even more so when the entire ensemble came out to do our part...
...and in the end, Jay finished the show by coming over and shaking our Four Season's hands...and just like that it was over.
what an amazing experience though. Jay made it a point to shake all of our hands - very nice of him - and, please don't take this as an insult at all, but the man's head and chin were enormous. Terrance Howard came up to us as well and he made it a point to shake our hands too...and to spend some extra time near our Jersey Girls...no really, for real...ask Jackie Seiden.
and with the Tonight Show, the big news is finally revealed (even though the JBoys tour website and playbill.com already let the cat out of the bag):
we are touring the Country! our San Francisco company is becoming the official 1st National Tour (The "Sherry" Tour). Dates and cities are as follows:
- San Francisco, CA - Curran Theatre (current)
- Los Angeles, CA - Ahmanson Theatre (May 2007)
- Tempe, AZ - Gammage Auditorium (Sept. 2007)
- Chicago, IL - LaSalle Bank Theatre (Oct. 2007)
- San Diego, CA - Civic Theatre (Oct. 2007)
- Costa Mesa, CA - Orange County PAC (Nov. 2007)
- Seattle, WA - 5th Avenue Theatre (Dec. 2007)
- Houston, TX - Hobby Center (Jan. 2008)
- Tampa, FL - Tampa Bay PAC (Feb. 2008)
- Minneapolis, MN - Orpheum Theatre (March 2008)
- Cleveland, OH - Playhouse Square (June 2008)
more dates obviously will be announced in the coming months as well as the cast and ensemble for the 2nd National Tour (will people be leaving the 1st for the 2nd...???) - so keep checking here and on many other of my fellow cast member's websites for info. and of course, like always, the BEST way to keep up to date with everything Jersey Boys coast to coast, check out JerseyBoysBlog.com.
anyway...guess i'll call it quits for now. i am watching the Tonight Show right now and we are next to perform so i want to give it my full attention. check out a few pictures from our travels below.
as always - thank YOU for your constant support, encouragement and love for our show! your emails, posts and comments are great and i love hearing from all of you!
100th Show, et all (March 9)
okay readers...let's just get right to it.
this past wednesday matinee was our 100th show. a quieter audience than our usual screamers on the weekends, but still an audience that absolutely appreciated what we were doing for us. Des made a surprise appearance (well surprise to the other cast members who didn't see him before the show sitting next to our swing, Jen Evans, who wore a pink sweater that was easy to find from the stage) and it was great to have him there and to have a note session with our director. it's amazing to me that no matter who we have to help us out every week, and how truly great our stage managers have been in giving us notes and to keep us true to the script and our characters, it's a great boost to get to hear it from our director's mouth and to hear a different insight...certainly from a man who has lived this show since it's conception at La Jolla.
he came to both shows and thursday's show as well. which was great because he got to see Jarrod on Wednesday matinee, Chris on Thursday night, and Rick took stage again as Frankie Wednesday night. i couldn't help feeling a little jealous that Rick got to perform in a power role like that and get a ton of feedback from Des. but i'll tell you, when Des showed up thursday at understudy rehearsal and i got to perform a handful of some of the more important scenes in Act One, as well as Gyp's Basement scene in Act Two...his entire trip in was worth it to me even more. i got some great feedback from him that afternoon, and honestly, thursday was the first time that i did Tommy and felt i really owned the role.
Des left friday morning, but not before we took the entire cast, musicians and management out to this fantastic bar near the theatre. the whole cast showed up (except Miles Aubrey who is still fighting this killer cold of his), and it was nice to be there as a "family" and celebrate the fact that we have played over 100 regualr performances to sold out crowds every night...
...essentially, since our opening night on December 10, we have performed for over 160,000 people and received 100 standing ovations...and this has been the most surreal, intense and amazing experience of my freaking life!
moving on...
so i have to give a quick hello to Erich Bergen's dad. funny story: i saw him at the show about a week ago and he mentioned that he had started reading my blog. i told him i appreciated it and i would give him a shout out on the next blog. well since that time, i have blogged once or twice, and he talked to Erich on the phone the other day, and said "i'm upset at Eric. he told me he would shout at me", and Erich said, "do you mean 'shout out'"? Where then he said, "whatever you guys call it".
so to Mr. Rosenberg...we love seeing you at the show and your son is a powerhouse on stage (even when an earthquake shakes him up). There...i have now officially shouted "at" you.
speaking of Erich Bergen - his website is official - and pretty damn good. go to erichbergen.com and check it out. My favorites is his Herbal Essence commercial and him dancing to "Billy Jean" when he was 3 years old. as a matter of fact, go to the Jersey Boys Tour website and check out all of the cast's links...get to know a little bit more about these people you are seeing on stage...or perhaps reading about on my blog.
oh...does anyone watch "Heroes" on NBC...? i have decided i am completely insane about this show and i can't believe i have to wait until April 23 for the next episodes to come back!!! What is going to happen between Sylar and Peter? What is Hiro going to do now that he has the sword? Is Claire and the Haitian going to rescue Mr. Bennett? I'm a freaking dork when it comes to this show...but some of you watch it too - admit it! and it's better than any of those disgusting reality shows on right now. don't get me started on reality shows.
speaking of NBC...i can officially announce the big news:
Monday, March 19 at 11:34pm, make sure you set your TIVO's and DVR's for The Tonight Show with Jay Leno!
the entire cast and musicians will be performing a medley of three songs from the show and we're all really looking forward to performing on the show in conjunction with tickets going on sale in Los Angeles...and perhaps announce some other big news as well...???
lastly, 51 days until the Sarah and my big day!!!!!!!!!! we are in FULL wedding mode and trying to get everything together to make our guest's stay more enjoyable. she is having her second dress fitting next thursday and i will start making the alterations on my suit in about 2 weeks (i lost alot of weight so i need to try to put a few pounds on before i start getting things taken in). but she continues to amaze me with new ideas to make the whole trip more fun and she is the hardest working wedding planner i have ever known.
well folks, that's all the excitement i can stand for one blog post. i've been writing for almost 40 minutes now and the warm bed is calling my name.
good night...send those emails and comments!
A Real Show Stopper (March 1)
the show started as any other would...Deven taking charge as Tommy through our whole "Spring" section...and the crowd was extra rowdy tonight (more on that later).
so the Bob Gaudio character is introduced, and one of the first big moments of the show is when he sings "Cry For Me" and the audience is first really able to enjoy the Four Seasons signature sound.
well tonight, our Four Seasons finished the song, and it's almost like the earth moved...
...oh wait, it did.
San Francisco's east bay was hit with an earthquake, everyone felt it in the audience and the stage, and Erich Bergen stopped the show...literally...stopped the show. In my opinion, though it was a smaller 4.2 earthquake, it was still a good idea to take a moment and make sure that everything was stable on the fly rail and the stage, and for the cast to take a moment to get their wits about them...especially those of whom whose first earthquake experience was on stage at the Curran theatre halfway through the first act.
as for the rowdy crowd. let me put it this way: please, PLEASE if you are going to throw leopard print panties on stage, please do it at a time that is more appropriate (end of "Walk Like a Man" or curtain call). please do not do it in the last seconds of "Who Loves You" when the entire cast is on stage and the entire climax of that song depends on the last few notes everyone sings.
so what else has been going on in beautiful San Francisco...?
sarah and i are in full wedding mode. the big day is in 60 days and we are getting all those last minute details taken care of (wedding bands, ketubah, etc). she has been amazing planning this wedding and i can't wait to see our guests faces when they get to the resort and see how nice everything is.
saturday before the matinee we are having a company meeting regarding Broadway Cares/Equity Fights Aids. for those of you not familiar with BC/EFA, it's a time where all Broadway shows and National Tours take about 6 weeks and ask for donations from the audience to help people in the arts community who are affected with the AIDS virus. we will be selling signed posters and playbills, and even our Four Seasons will be giving backstage tours. it's an amazing charity to be involved with and a lot of the money we gather will also be going to local Bay area organizations as well...
saturday's meeting also will get us more information on a special event happening March 19. as soon as i get all the info, and i get the go ahead to post it, i will let everyone know what's happening on this very special Monday.
other than that, the train keeps moving. next wednesday will mark our 100th performance (can't believe it's been 100 already!), and a HUGE thank you to Carolynn (one of our biggest front row fans) for helping Miles and I on planning our joint Vegas bachelor party.
hope all is well with everyone and that March brings some warmth and sunshine to our friends and family back home (we miss you). as always, please keep sending your good thoughts and emails my way - love hearing from everyone.
