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:
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!
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)
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!
posted by The Guter at 3/19/2007 11:54:00 PM
10 Comments:
thanks again for all the updates!! your leno performance was amazing! i loved it. can't wait to see everyone again! xoxo
You all did such a fantastic job tonight! Can't wait to see the show again-hopefully this Saturday I'll be able to get tickets.
Your headline is STILL making me crack up, hahah :)
Great Headline Eric. You guys did great tonight. I can't wait to see you guys this Thrusday, for the 5th time. I'm seeing you guys to kick start my spring break. Hopefully me and my friend can get rush tickets that night.
Loved the Leno bit.......you guys did a great job and still laughing from the headline of your blog and appreciate the pictures you were not suppose to take!!! What's next: Oprah, Dr. Phil........whatever is happening your family, friends and fans will be cheering you all on.......
Love......Aunt Sha
Gutty, what can I say that hasn't already been said? I, your mom, am extremely proud of you and the cast. Seeing you on the Tonight Show was awesome...I had toothpicks in my eyes so I'd be able to stay up to watch it! And thanks for that earlobe pull...I noticed you doing that. I felt the love through my TV screen. You're the best in the whole wide world! Love you always and forever, Mama xxooxx
Congrats. You guys were great! Can't wait to see the show in February next year! Continued success!
-Chrissy (the other Sunscape Bride)
yall rocked it!! i will see everyone when we bring the 2nd tour in to san fran early May-ish...keep the updates coming!!
You think Carolynn and I are awesome fans now... just wait until we show up in the front row in Minneapolis. Ha! I kid. I think. See you Saturday night! Fo sho.
Eric- Great reporting and... food commentary :) Just wish Jay had opened the show with you guys,(after Headlines, of course!) and kept it right there. This is just the beginning- wait till you guys hit LA fulltime; Jay will be Beggin' you to take his phone call. Thanks also for the photo reminder about all that voice doubling that goes on. And you're so right about the Jersey Boys Blog!!
Hi Eric,
I know this is really late (in fact, half a year late...) but I just recently subscribed to your blog via Google Reader so you'll have to forgive me; I'm new to the must-be-on-top-of-everything-anything-Jersey-Boys-life.
Anyway, I think you guys should make an appearance on an ABC talk show -- any will do! You see, I'm a music intern with ABC TV, so I'm a little biased in this department. Unfortunately I'm only an intern so I can't make any connections... Point is, I think it'd be really kick butt if you all made an appearance on ABC. I know it's easier said than done, but I'm still wishin'. If you stop by the Prospect Studios, I can take you to our neat little commissary and stalk down the Grey's Anatomy Cast.
Wait, you're out of LA. Darn. Well, Costa Mesa is right next door? (I know it's not easy and there's a lot of people to go through, but I was just thinking out loud. =D)
See you in San Diego! Oh, and sorry for the essay.
Wendy
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