Bergen is Okay - But We're Exhausted (Aug.27)

i know it's been 9 days and i know everyone wants an update on Erich Bergen and rehearsals and everything...so here we go:

Bergen is okay. He was out for something like 6-8 shows so Miles and I split the days and covered the role. we got daily updates from Jackie and he was doing some physical therapy (which actually kept him out a little longer). But in addition to doing half the week as Gaudio last week, we were also in rehearsals for 4 hours/day on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday...and since Erich wasn't present for those, Miles and I also split the time doing Gaudio during rehearsals as well...and then did the shows at night. but Bergen is back and he seems to be on the mend and everything seems to be running clockwork again.

oh wait, let me throw a funny story out there first - kind off of track:

2 shows ago, Bergen goes out for the scene were Gaudio approaches Finny (the record exec in Detroit) to get one of Frankie's songs played. the big joke in the scene is when Gaudio snatches the cigar out of Finny's mouth with the line "you don't know jack shit about music. or talent. or cigars."

well Joe Siravo (who plays our Gyp DeCarlo) forgot to get his cigar before the scene. so the entire time, he starts playing with his watch; looking at his watch, taking his watch off, fiddling with the watch on the table, etc... so that obviously prompts Bergen to do his line like this instead: "you don't know jack shit about music. or talent. or watches."

freaking hilarious. what if he didn't have a watch? would he have put his shoe on the table?

back to this past week:

rehearsals were...um...fine...? we spent 3 full days this week going over and over the blocking and re-spacing. Des, Sergio and Richard making as many adjustments as needed as we all slowly got the gist of what this new stage is going to look like. essentially, with the microphone lift gone, everything is going to come onstage on these pallets (let's call them rabbits). the rabbits can be automated to come in in different increments (ie. how fast or slow do they need to get center stage) and the microphones that come in on them will be weighted and magnetized to the base. it sounds pretty cool, but we haven't actually seen it and are all kind of waiting with baited breath until we get to Sac for tech rehearsals.

and Sac is literally only 4 days away. we close Los Angeles this Thursday (Erik Bates will be doing the last two shows as Tommy DeVito) and then we all make the move the next day up north because rehearsal starts Saturday at 1:30pm. i can't believe we are about to go into yet another tech period and the fact that this is the 3rd set we are working with...it's utterly exhausting thinking about it. suffice to say, everyone needs to send good thoughts our way because we have rehearsals every day from this Saturday-Thursday except Memorial Day off and each day we are looking at probably 8 hours/day. add to that that we do not have a day off this week, so we are essentially doing:

• 12 shows in a row this week
• then a day to travel on friday
• then 2 days of 8 hour rehearsals
• then Memorial Day day off
• then 3 more days of final tech followed by 5 performances
• then a day off (whoo-hoo! hopefully a trip to Tahoe!)
  
• then 17 shows in a row within a 12 day span

in any event, it's going to be a tiring next 3 weeks and my heart goes out to the Seasons and our amazing Jersey Girls!

speaking of Jersey Girls - time to officially welcome our new family member into the fold: Lauren Tartaglia made her Jersey Boys debut last Friday night and she was magnificent! the girl was thrown into the fold and within 10 days, was shot out of a cannon onto the Ahmanson Theatre stage to rave reviews. though we miss our Melissa Strom, Lauren is a fantastic addition to the cast and we can't thank her enough for being so on top of her shit!

and have i mentioned our new swing, Chris DeAngelis? this guy has been working nonstop with Erik Bates and our stage management to learn his tracks...six of them...all at one time! he covers Nick Massi, Gyp and Bob Crewe as well as Miles, Nate and my tracks. again, that's six tracks he's learning...while we learn a new set...and while he knows full well that he will be going on in Sacramento at some point for someone. He is fantastic and again, though we are devastated to lose Doug Crawford, he is going to be a welcome and wonderful edition to the male ensemble!

i have to mention another thing that happened this past week...

as some of you may know, i am completely obsessed with the show on NBC, "Heroes". i watched every episode last season as well as jumped on their fan sites and message boards and i can not wait for the news season to start on Sept.24. in any event, last Sunday, Zachary Quinto ("Sylar") and Masi Oka ("Hiro") came backstage and i was so starstruck! they were really nice and i will have a picture of them on my website asap. however, just a few days later, i found out that Greg Grunberg ("Matt Parkman") was also in the audience and i am a HUGE fan of his. so Sarah talks to him at intermission and tells him to come backstage and he was probably the nicest person i have ever had the pleasure of meeting. we took some pics too - this one is of him reading my mind (like his character does on the show):



in any event, i went on his officially myspace page and sent a quick email just to say thank you and next thing i know, he is emailing me on my personal email! also crazy thing about him is that he plays drums in a band called Band From TV - pretty much a bunch of television/movie stars playing charity gigs together. their lead singer is Bob Guiney (Bob the Bachelor from "The Bachelor") who i used to know years ago when his band, Fat Amy, used to play at clubs along with my band, Small Craft Sighting. so i tell Greg this and all of the sudden, i'm getting emails from Bob Guiney as well!

freaking celebrities know my email address. Someone let Scarlett Johansson know i switched from hotmail to gmail.

well.......i guess that's it for now. it has been a whirlwind week and i'm telling you right now that there is no way i will be blogging before we leave Los Angeles. so the next one will be at some point in Sacramento.

to end, i want to thank everyone in Los Angeles who came to our show and gave us such a wonderful three months here. just like San Fran, we adopted some "regulars" at our show and they couldn't have been sweeter. An enormous thank you to the folks at the Ahmanson box office who had to deal with all our house requests (David Lee is the nicest box office guy EVER!), Chris Cox (the hardest working house manager in the universe) and our amazing tech and wardrobe departments who we wish we could bring on the road with us!

this is when the fun now officially starts: this is when we pack every 3-4 weeks and load up the car for the next city. this is when the cast all finds the closest bar to adjourn to after every performance. this is when Sunday poker night becomes a tradition. and this is when "Tour This" literally becomes just that...

until next time...get ready Sacramento.

I Wasn't On Stage When the Fall Occurred... (August 17)

i need to preface this blog by saying he is okay. in case his parents are reading this before he is able to call them and let them know that he is stable and going to be absolutely fine. he is in capable hands and everyone is making sure that he gets everything looked at gets home safely and securely.

that being said...

in the second act tonight, there was a glitch with the automation right before the "Winter" section of the show. the microphone lift opened downstage and Erich Bergen was standing right on it and fell in. He hurt his back and ankle and though he got out of the lift and attempted to continue, Chris had to stop the show because Erich couldn't go on.

they announced that there would be a pause in the show while they worked out issues backstage. poor Erich limped backstage and all but collapsed into a chair. i wasn't on stage when the fall occurred, but it sounded pretty bad and honestly, i think the shock more than anything was affecting him. shit, how would you feel when you are dancing and the floor just opens up under you...? everyone backstage was incredible in that stage management, company management and all the heads of every department were there in moments to make sure he was okay and what the next step was.

Lori (our 2nd stage manager) turns to me and asks me to get ready to finish the show for Erich and that Taylor had already been notified to get in costume to finish up the act for me. after a few minutes of costume changing and trying to figure out where the hell we were going to go from, the show continued:

"Ladies and Gentleman. For the rest of tonight's show, the role of Bob Gaudio will be played by Eric Gutman. The roles usually played by Eric Gutman will be played by Taylor Sternberg."

we got on stage, the audience showed their appreciation, and we were off and running.

this was by far, the strangest and most surreal experience i have ever had in my years of performing. on one hand, all i am thinking about is Erich and if he's going to be okay and if there's anything i can do as his friend to help. on the other hand, i am the understudy for Bob and this is my job...this is why they pay me and we have understudy rehearsals...so focus and say the lines and live the part.

the first thing that i think of as we get out there is "there are 2,100 people out there, and every one of them thinks i am too short."

but we did the show. as an actor, it was rough simply because for 2 hours prior, the audience has taken Bob's journey with Erich, not me. so i felt like it was tough for them to suspend their disbelief because let's face it, for 2 hours they have only known me in my ensemble parts. funniest thing is within 3 minutes of re-starting the show, Chris and I do the scene where Bob leaves the group...so that went pretty quick!

in any event, the show went on, they audience got their money's worth and the cast and crew really stepped up to make everything work the best way possible.

i end this blog saying to Erich: my heart goes out to you and i know the last thing you wanted was not to finish the show. you are a true professional and a dear friend and if there is anything i can do please let me know. as of right now, i have no idea whether or not you will be back tomorrow - so if not, just rest up and know that either Miles or I will make you proud up there. we all love you and send healing thoughts your way.

Ace of Diamonds (August 12)

i couldn't resist blogging this week...so much to talk about.

let's start with the fact that i barely saw Sarah this week because last weekend she was in the Bay area for her friend Mike's wedding. i felt bad though because she didn't have a chance to really enjoy herself because she has a nasty cold she was fighting the day she left. it was great to have her back home on Sunday though she didn't want me to catch her cold so making out was pretty much off boundaries...

...i snuck some kisses anyway.

suffice to say, on wednesday, it felt like my throat was on fire. i did the show (because i had some friends in the audience), but i honestly don't remember the last time i felt more worthless as an actor. i did my lines, hit my cues, took care of my onstage business, but backstage, i was barely (if at all) singing any of my backing harmonies because i was nursing water and Ricola throat lozenges. any lines that came out of my mouth were tight and barely audible.

by intermission, i told Eric (our new stage manager) that there was no way i was coming in the next day...which meant missing understudy rehearsals...which meant i wasn't going to be able to play Tommy for Eric and get that back under my belt again. and what was worse, Sarah was in Huntington Beach with her friends that were in from out of town (great to see you Nicole and Lorelei!!!!) so I had to fend for myself all day. and please let me make it clear: i hate calling in sick. i hate, Hate, HATE calling in sick because i hate being sick and i hate admitting defeat. but i just couldn't function so i had to do it.

but i was a good Jewish boy; went to Fromin's Deli in Encino and got a quart of chicken noodle soup, then went to Jamba Juice and got two cold busters (one for then, one to put in the freezer for later). the rest of the evening was all about taking Advil Cold and Sinus, drinking gallons of water, and just trying to relax as much as possible. Toby and I went for a small walk around the block that evening just so i could get some fresh air, but for the most part, i was in bed all day. i think i passed out by about 11pm after downing a helping of NyQuil and just hoped for a better day on Friday.

it seemed to work out. certainly i was not 100%, but my throat wasn't burning as much and i had my voice back. so i was back to work. for one of the weirdest shows i have done in quite some time.

Friday night was a full cast show. everyone was in their parts (except Sandy had a scheduled day off and Jen was playing Lorraine) and it all seemed like any other day. halfway through the first act, Brandon got super ill and barely finished the act. so Taylor was called to do his part for the second act so he could go home. to top it off, Melissa wasn't feeling well either so after "Boyfriend's Back", she went to lay down and Jen finished her track. The second act saw Melissa just doing Francine while Erik Bates got into costume just to do her scene moves and we finished the show with a 2-girl finale. they didn't show up Sunday for either shows as well - as a matter of fact, even Doug (our other male swing) called in sick for both shows on Saturday and Sunday. Get better Strom, Brandon and Doug!!!!

and guess who called out for both shows on Sunday...? Deven May.

i guess he tweaked his back and needed to have the shows off and so to my surprise, at 11:30am on Sunday, after calling out sick just 3 days before, after not doing Tommy in rehearsals for almost a month and for not actually performing in the track since April...i got to go on as Tommy for both shows!

the first show was like getting shot out of a cannon. i felt like every line that came out of my mouth just got to my brain about 2 seconds prior and i felt so exposed. don't get me wrong - i had a great time, but it was all just so organic. everything seemed fresh because honestly, i felt like i hadn't done it in years. my favorite mess up of that show was doing the "card trick" with Joey and seeing that i pulled the wrong card. so instead of Courter hearing "Queen of Spades" like he has for hundreds of shows and rehearsals without fail - out of my mouth came "Ace of Diamonds". he kind of just looked at me for a second and the whole scene just grinded to a dead halt. i'm sorry Courter for throwing your rhythm off!

but it was a lot of fun and Gyp's Basement scene was amazing. the pacing was great and it felt so real...so in the moment.

best part of the day was getting a second shot at it with the evening show. definitely a different dynamic because Rick was on instead of Chris for the evening show, but i was able to take the notes i got from Eric and Andy after dinner and really apply them to the role. i was more relaxed. I was more in control. and i allowed myself to let the character to take over as opposed to "acting" the part. and i thought it was a powerful show...very proud of it. but i want to send out a huge thank you to the cast and especially the crew for getting me through both shows and for all the support and love sent my way.

but i had a blast. an amazing and exhausting day. i am so lucky that i get to understudy such amazing roles and i am looking forward to another shot at Tommy in Arizona when Deven takes (a much deserved) vacation.

next week starts the rehearsals on the new speed set. i joke with my buddy and fellow castmate, Nate Klau, saying that they are calling this set "Knuckles" because that's the part he plays and since this set will be bringing on and striking probably most of his scene changes, that they will just let go of him because they won't really need him anymore to move tables and some scenery.

so we start on "Knuckles" this thursday and friday with ALL the creative staff (hello Des, Sergio and Richard!). continue the next week as well Tuesday-Friday and then a few days later, we leave LA for Sac-town. we also welcome our new male swing, Chris DeAngelis (turns out he does not have an apostrophe in his name - sorry about that Chris) and Lauren Tartaglia, who will be the official West Coast vacation swing for the girls and probably going to spend some time with us as Melissa gets on the mend.

so keep checking the blog for more updates and random thoughts throughout the rest of our time in Los Angeles. also, don't forget to check out my new website at: www.ericgutman.com

good night and keep up the emails and comments!

www.EricGutman.com (August 7)

go RIGHT NOW to my new kick-ass website:

www.ericgutman.com

Sarah did an amazing job designing it and all i can say is my wife rocks! this has worked tirelessly for the past month perfecting every page and dealing with my anal retentiveness. this is her first time designing something like this and i am so in love with what she did!

www.ericgutman.com

also, a huge "thank you" to those of you who sent some great pics my way as well to help add to the great look of my picture pages. hopefully, with the official launch, more of you will send pics my way to include as we add things to the site.

www.ericgutman.com

please feel free to send your thoughts and comments on the website directly to me - you can easily contact me now through my website:

www.ericgutman.com

GO NOW!!!!!!!!

Show #250 (August 4)

well...Sarah is up near San Fran this weekend for her buddy Mike's wedding, SNL is a repeat and Toby the Dog is outside sniffing around...so let's catch everyone up.

Tonight was show #250! 250 shows with an average of 1800 people per show means we have performed for over 450,000 people since our official opening last December 10 in San Fran. it's still remarkable to me that after all these months we still play to sold out crowds and the response is still absolutely overwhelming. Sacramento went on sale last week (as well as Arizona and San Diego presale) and already you can barely get a set for either one of those cities. As an actor, it's almost inconceivable that through the end of the year, every city we travel to won't have an empty seat any day of the week and that the excitement is truly contagious. To also know that the Jersey Boys Machine is also lining up Vegas and London (and who knows where else as the months and years continue) astounds me to no end. Here's this little show from La Jolla that because this monster hit (thank you for that Rick, Marshall, Des, Sergio and Ron) and now it's close to 600 shows in NYC (as well as making nothing but net profits now that the show's investment has been paid off), 250 shows with our cast, and i would assume our friends in the San Francisco company must be coming up on their 100th show by now...

...in any event, even on 5 show weekends; even when our asses our dragging on Sunday night; even when we might not be feeling it - i count my blessings that i am involved in this remarkable juggernaut.

and that being said - time to complain. let's discuss Sacramento.

let me make some things perfectly clear: i am not down on Sac or the people from Sac. half our audience in Sac already saw us in San Fran and they want to come for a second helping. i loved our audiences in the bay area and i am very excited that we get to play that city for almost three weeks.

what i am not excited for is the lack of time we will have to ourselves during that three weeks.

you see friends, in about two weeks we start rehearsals for yet another set. this will be set #3 for our tour and that is not common at all for a tour. i don't want to give anything away with the new set (i couldn't even if i wanted to because i haven't seen the design) but it's going to be different than what we (and you) are used to and because of that, we will be rehearsing some new staging for the rest of the tour. that means that for about 8 days total in LA, while we are performing at night, we will be rehearsing on the new set with new props and new staging. and what's worse, because when we first get to Sac we have to continue to tech the set once it is living in the space, that means that our producers want to squeeze in as many shows as they can into the rest of the days we are there which means that they "buy out" our day off, add an extra show and the next thing you know we are doing 17 shows in a row in a 12 day period.

listen, i am not one to complain (well...not that much at least) and please keep in mind that everything that is happening is according to Equity guidelines...i am simply saying i am just concerned for everyone's health, you know? i mean, in my opinion, mine and Nate's tracks aren't insane, but we only have three girls and they work their asses off in this show! and what about Brandon and Courter who are doubling Frankie throughout the show? it's going to be a rough three weeks. but everyone knows that it's going to be a bitch and honestly - it is what it is and we just have to step up as a company and do everything we can to keep our morale up and get through it together.

the cool thing about Sac that i am actually looking forward to is that pretty much the ENTIRE cast and crew are staying at the same hotel during our three weeks there! and all i can say is i brought my poker set on the road and i hear the hotel has folding tables so i think we will stay pretty damn busy in any off time we might have.

moving on...

tomorrow is another sad day for the "Sherry" tour. our PSM (Prod. Stage Manager), Tripp Phillips, leaves the tour for a new Broadway gig (leaving us for Rosie Perez...? really...?) and though this is a great opportunity for him, we are all devastated to lose him. Personally, i have had nothing but great experiences with him and i have never seen anyone work as hard for this show than Tripp did. his lighthearted humor and friendship will be missed more than he knows and i can't say enough about his professionalism and his love for what he does. i never quite knew what a PSM did until i saw Tripp at work day after day and the show's success and the reason crowds love us every day is absolutely due to him running a tight ship and keeping us actors in place. Tripp - you are a fantastic person and as far as i'm concerned, you are welcome back to Jersey any day. with him leaving though, we gain a new member of the family with Eric Insko as our new PSM joining us directly from the LA run of Wicked. he seems like a great guy so far (very funny) and he has a lot of work to do to get ready for his first call of the show on Tuesday...so i'll cut him some slack for now.

so much else going on i don't even know where to start. maybe i'll use bullet points. bullet points are a blast.

• a new cast member has been announced to replace Doug Crawford...but i forgot what his name is. he has an apostrophe in his last name though so that it kind of weird.
• i did my first full rehearsal as Bob Crewe last Thursday and it was a BLAST! what a fun track and i'm really looking forward to finding out more about the character as i get to rehearse it some more.
• Sarah is hard at work on a fantastic new website for me. i'm thinking it will be launched pretty soon so keep checking the blog for the official launch day (as well as keep checking www.ericgutman.com).
• i am starting to work with D.R. Entertainment here in LA (talent managers). i have gone on two "industry meetings" in the last two weeks and it's kind of surreal whoring myself out. But all the people i have met are really nice and i'm looking forward to seeing where this relationship goes. i'll keep you all up to date with any more meeting or auditions i might take, but for now, i'm just kind of riding it out to see what happens.
  
• Sarah and i are officially addicted to frozen yogurt here in LA. we were on a Cantaloop fix for awhile, but now i think we are finally fully endorsing Pinkberry. if anyone reading this is a manager at Pinkberry and wants to give us free yogurt, i would be a very happy person.
• a huge "THANK YOU" to those of you who have sent your great stage door and Jersey Boys event pictures to me for the new website. Keep it up - check those digital cameras for any pics that might be hiding somewhere and send it over to eric@ericgutman.com!

I think that should do it for now. i'm sure there is tons more to report but honestly, it's almost 2 in the morning and i'm exhausted.

blog soon. send those comments and emails!