Buy Me Some Peanuts and Cracker Jacks (March 30)
hello everyone. blogging tonight after a very long day...long week really. just thought i would catch everyone up on some things.
last Sunday night, Rick Elice, Marshall Brickman (the show's book writers) and Bob and Judy Gaudio (no introduction necessary) threw a great party for the cast and crew of Jersey Boys to celebrate not only the cast album reaching gold status (that's over 500,000 records sold), but to celebrate the milestone of the show reaching its 1,000th performance!
personally, i was honored to be included considering between the tour and now my 3+ months in the Broadway company, i have probably only done about 500 or so, but what an amazing achievement for a show to hit a number like that. and though the room we all mingled in was way too small for all of us to move comfortably (they say "RSVP" for a reason you damned fools), it was nice to be crowded with such great people who i have grown so fond of in the last few months. congratulations to the entire cast, musicians, crew, and production and creative staff who deserve to celebrate 10,000 more shows!
moving on...
i played Tommy a few times in the last two weeks. on one hand, it was so weird playing the role again after not doing it for over 4 months with an entirely different cast than on the road...on the other hand, it was like slipping on a familiar pair of shoes and going to work again. and it felt great. sure, there were a few little line slips and some staging issues (on the road, we crossed more stage right than here on Broadway...seriously), but man did it feel great getting that lift back in my hair, putting those cards in my pocket and jumping on that roller coaster. everyone in the cast was super supportive and i felt like i had everything in control and i'm just saying...anytime Christian wants to take vacation or a personal day is fine by me.
i do want to thank some of you JB Superfans for coming out for the support...you know who you are and i appreciate you staying after the show to say hello...it really meant a lot. and for one of my email buddies who came by (she knows who she is), don't think you are coming back in April without some of that delicious Hamantashen!!!!
as far as future Seasons dates...i really have no idea. i think Bobby and Sebastian have one or two personal days in either April or May but i'm not sure about it as well as whether or not i would go on or one of the other covers...but i will of course post it as soon as anything becomes official.
and kind of on the subject of seeing the show. if you or anyone you know (friends, family, clients, colleagues, etc) might be interested in seeing the show this Tuesday (April 1 @ 7pm), i have up to 4 tickets available in mezzanine row P for $75/ticket. if anyone wants them, email me at eric@ericgutman.com with your contact info and we can set it up.
so let's briefly chat about my experience with Derek Jeter...
this evening, Sebastian, Michael Longoria, Dominic Nolfi (for Christian) and I (for Bobby) were invited to go to the Sheraton Hotel and sing a brief medley for the Yankees Homecoming dinner. "great", we originally thought, "we'll go in there, bang out a few songs for the Yankees biggest donors and call it an evening."
not so much.
we find out that not only are we singing for some of the Yankees biggest supporters, but for the entire Yankees organization. from the front office staff to George Steinbrenner to the entire Yankees lineup: Mariano Rivera, Jorge Posada, Hideki Matsui, Johnny Damon, Alex Rodriguez, Derek Jeter and just about every other MVP in major league baseball.
so we get to sound check today and when we see our "stage" (stage being really a 10' x 3' riser) it is in front of this grand dais and we find out through the stage managers of the event that the players are all going to be sitting there...right behind us...about an arm's distance away.
we got to the event and were lead to our table...had a lovely sit down dinner...then was escorted to our green room to relax for a moment or two and go over our choreography. after a short time, we are escorted back down to the main ball room and are placed behind a curtain to get ready for our entrance (at this point, Steinbrenner is at the table directly across from where we are sitting with about four secuiry details flanked around him).
now...for those of you familiar with the show: remember the part in "Walk Like a Man" where the three Seasons look to Frankie and then quickly turn around and walk upstage for a few beats befoer turning back to the mics and stomping downstage...? well the only difference between doing that exact part in performance and doing it tonight was that when i turned around, Alex Rodriguez is staring at me and if i wanted to, i could have literally taken the steak off his plate...that's how freaking close i was to A-Rod...and Shelley Duncan is just looking at me as if to say "are you dudes really singing musical theatre right now. there's no singing in baseball".
in any event...it was quite a surreal evening.
and with that, i just want to wish my Detroit Tigers a killer opening day game tomorrow at Comerica Park against the Kansas City Royals.
well folks, guess that's it for now. have my day off tomorrow and hoping for some good weather so Toby can get outside and enjoy the day.
blog soon.
last Sunday night, Rick Elice, Marshall Brickman (the show's book writers) and Bob and Judy Gaudio (no introduction necessary) threw a great party for the cast and crew of Jersey Boys to celebrate not only the cast album reaching gold status (that's over 500,000 records sold), but to celebrate the milestone of the show reaching its 1,000th performance!
personally, i was honored to be included considering between the tour and now my 3+ months in the Broadway company, i have probably only done about 500 or so, but what an amazing achievement for a show to hit a number like that. and though the room we all mingled in was way too small for all of us to move comfortably (they say "RSVP" for a reason you damned fools), it was nice to be crowded with such great people who i have grown so fond of in the last few months. congratulations to the entire cast, musicians, crew, and production and creative staff who deserve to celebrate 10,000 more shows!
moving on...
i played Tommy a few times in the last two weeks. on one hand, it was so weird playing the role again after not doing it for over 4 months with an entirely different cast than on the road...on the other hand, it was like slipping on a familiar pair of shoes and going to work again. and it felt great. sure, there were a few little line slips and some staging issues (on the road, we crossed more stage right than here on Broadway...seriously), but man did it feel great getting that lift back in my hair, putting those cards in my pocket and jumping on that roller coaster. everyone in the cast was super supportive and i felt like i had everything in control and i'm just saying...anytime Christian wants to take vacation or a personal day is fine by me.
i do want to thank some of you JB Superfans for coming out for the support...you know who you are and i appreciate you staying after the show to say hello...it really meant a lot. and for one of my email buddies who came by (she knows who she is), don't think you are coming back in April without some of that delicious Hamantashen!!!!
as far as future Seasons dates...i really have no idea. i think Bobby and Sebastian have one or two personal days in either April or May but i'm not sure about it as well as whether or not i would go on or one of the other covers...but i will of course post it as soon as anything becomes official.
and kind of on the subject of seeing the show. if you or anyone you know (friends, family, clients, colleagues, etc) might be interested in seeing the show this Tuesday (April 1 @ 7pm), i have up to 4 tickets available in mezzanine row P for $75/ticket. if anyone wants them, email me at eric@ericgutman.com with your contact info and we can set it up.
so let's briefly chat about my experience with Derek Jeter...
this evening, Sebastian, Michael Longoria, Dominic Nolfi (for Christian) and I (for Bobby) were invited to go to the Sheraton Hotel and sing a brief medley for the Yankees Homecoming dinner. "great", we originally thought, "we'll go in there, bang out a few songs for the Yankees biggest donors and call it an evening."
not so much.
we find out that not only are we singing for some of the Yankees biggest supporters, but for the entire Yankees organization. from the front office staff to George Steinbrenner to the entire Yankees lineup: Mariano Rivera, Jorge Posada, Hideki Matsui, Johnny Damon, Alex Rodriguez, Derek Jeter and just about every other MVP in major league baseball.
so we get to sound check today and when we see our "stage" (stage being really a 10' x 3' riser) it is in front of this grand dais and we find out through the stage managers of the event that the players are all going to be sitting there...right behind us...about an arm's distance away.
we got to the event and were lead to our table...had a lovely sit down dinner...then was escorted to our green room to relax for a moment or two and go over our choreography. after a short time, we are escorted back down to the main ball room and are placed behind a curtain to get ready for our entrance (at this point, Steinbrenner is at the table directly across from where we are sitting with about four secuiry details flanked around him).
now...for those of you familiar with the show: remember the part in "Walk Like a Man" where the three Seasons look to Frankie and then quickly turn around and walk upstage for a few beats befoer turning back to the mics and stomping downstage...? well the only difference between doing that exact part in performance and doing it tonight was that when i turned around, Alex Rodriguez is staring at me and if i wanted to, i could have literally taken the steak off his plate...that's how freaking close i was to A-Rod...and Shelley Duncan is just looking at me as if to say "are you dudes really singing musical theatre right now. there's no singing in baseball".
in any event...it was quite a surreal evening.
and with that, i just want to wish my Detroit Tigers a killer opening day game tomorrow at Comerica Park against the Kansas City Royals.
well folks, guess that's it for now. have my day off tomorrow and hoping for some good weather so Toby can get outside and enjoy the day.
blog soon.
posted by The Guter at 3/30/2008 07:58:00 PM
9 Comments:
You should have taken that steak off of A-Rod's plate. Just to see what would happen.
It sounds like you had a moment in baseball & musical theater fantasy camp. Thanks for sharing the fun.
Ohh..gutty. You really crack me up!! :]:] If the musical theater thing does not work out, you can always be a stand up comic. I'd pay to see that!
Ah Gutman, another update! Thank you so much! Glad to hear that you had a blast portraying Signor DeVito and that there were many Gutty fans to support you! Congrats on portraying 500+ shows on the road and on the Great White Way! Anytime the leads want to take some time off, they can count on the Gutman!
Hope you smiled at A-Rod at the Yankees event! You are still a Detroit Tiger supporter through and through!
GO TIGERS. I'm a Michigan girl, I have to support my team.
Maybe we'll be good this year and NOT eff it up.
Hey Gutty,
I wish I could have seen you as Tommy on Broadway - one of these days I'll be there. Re: singing to the baseball guys...I'll bet your dad is soooooo jealous!
I love you! Keep breaking those legs. Love, Mama xxooxx
Eric,
That was hysterical. I can picture the look in A-Rod's eyes when you turned around. Another JB moment to treasure.
Wish I could have been there to see your Tommy. Maybe sometime soon. I know it's killer.
I was at the show on March 30 for the 13th time. The Jersey Boys and the NY Yankees in the same place at the same time. Does life get any better? Only if I could've been there. See you again on April 17th.
Just curious is it true you will not post again until the Tigers are above .500???
"...and Shelley Duncan is just looking at me as if to say 'are you dudes really singing musical theatre right now. there's no singing in baseball'."
...or at least there's no joy in Mudville. No singing? Darn Yankees. Don't they know you gotta have hea-aaa-aaa-aaart? Remember, whatever Steinbrenner wants, Steinbrenner gets.
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