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.
blog soon. send those comments and emails!
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!
blog soon. send those comments and emails!
posted by The Guter at 8/05/2007 12:51:00 AM
14 Comments:
I love reading your blog entries...you are upfront, emotional and truly excited to be a part of this great show! Looking forward to seeing you in Tampa in February...until then, keep us posted on what is truly an amazing experience for you and your family...
Thank you for sharing all the exciting scoops that's been happening with the "Sherry" cast. It's as if we're all right there with you experiencing every moment of your journey. We've all been blown away by your amazing performances but the audience never really sees all the hard work, dedication and sacrifices that go into your shows. But with your blogs, we get a glimpse of life behind the curtains and we learn to appreciate your work a lot more. Thank you for letting us in and for keeping it real.
If it's any consolation, you might as well be rehearsing in Sacramento... there's nothing else to do there!
you poor things! 17 shows in 12 days makes my jaw drop even when i can't even imagine what that's like. keep up the great work and good luck to your company! thanks for the update on everything. it seems like you're busy enough as it is. so i appreciate the blog entry! can't wait to see you all in Sac.
You will hear a lot of "there's nothing to do in Sac" comments but being from Sac myself (okay, I left for LA in college and never moved back), there are SOME hip places. My sis and brother in law live there and I will check with them on some cool spots (restaurants, etc.). At least if you get a night off, you can check it out.. you may see Arnold -he lives in a hotel in Sac. too!
Just make the one hour drive and pay the $3 toll down to SF. You would want to after you get a taste of Sac's weather
The only way you can get to SF from Sac in 1 hour is if you violate several laws and do so between the hours of 2 and 5 a.m. ;)
Anyway, Eric, thanks for the nice long post...and I hope you guys enjoy your tidbits of free time, too! Sounds like a doozy.
I've made it to Davis from SF in less than an hour so many times, it's doable.
just gotta know the right time to travel I-80
Thanks for keeping us posted on what's going on. But as someone said earlier, you might as well be reherasing because there is nothing to do in Sac or the surrounding areas. I went to UC Davis which is a 10 minute drive from SAC so I can attest to it. And it's always hot during Sept. But hey on your days off, if you're going to get any, you can always drive back to SF and visit Michael. Seriouly you can make it under 60 mins if you drive around 80 mph. And bring atleast 2 other people with you in the car to avoid the toll on the bridge.
If you have any off days at all or large blocks of time, and if you've never been, you might want to go to Lake Tahoe. It's one of the most beautiful places in the world, and the drive is great, especially if you go on I-50. Truckee/Donner Lake is also very nice on the drive up on I-80. But it is about a two hours drive each way. For Sac itself, Old Town is always worth a couple of hours.
Hang in there Eric (Sarah and Toby)! If there is some time, you all could check out the train mueseum up there in Sacramento. It is fabulous! Also want to say, speaking for myself, I can appreciate all the hard work you all in the Sherry Company are doing. Hope all is well and that you have a great relationship with your LA talent managers!
Sacramento is not so bad. At least you don't have to adjust to a new time zone.
Eric,
When you get a chance can you let us know about the Sacramento schedule and when we can expect you might peform as one of the Jersey Boys while you are there, if you know yet (?)..I'd like to see you and haven't bought my ticket yet...
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