The Final Blog (Dec.14)

well...

a week has come and gone. i didn't find myself doubling in "Sherry". i didn't catch myself looking for a sunburst strat to play. and i didn't have to put on a wig to play a gay mute handing off a glass of milk.

a week has come and gone. i have found myself at our first birthing class. i have found myself installing a dimmer switch and custom shelving in the nursery. i have found myself drinking with my buddies at The Bench Pub in Livonia, MI.

how much can change in seven days.

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let's back up a moment to Dec.7. my last show was great. what a lame adjective to describe it but there it is: "great". it felt pretty much like every other show i've done lately with bits and pieces of the show almost as an out of body experience.

a perfect example was in the few moments i have before i enter as Handsome Hank were very cathartic; right before i walked onstage i found myself back two years ago in front of the entire creative and production team, as well as Bob and Frankie, auditioning at my final callback. And I realized that this was the moment that got me cast. I made them all laugh. In that small room at Chelsea Studios, i said my first "Hey!" and they all laughed. And that is what, I think, locked it in for me.

and so i walked onstage, and with as much excitement as i had in that final callback, i said my infamous line and that was it: "Hey". And everyone in the cast smiled at me.

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i wasn't sad at all through the rest of the show. i thought i would be but i wasn't. i was just thrilled to enjoy 150 minutes with some close friends making 1,222 people cheer and scream for us.

i was a little bummed out after "Can't Take My Eyes..." right before "Working My Way" simply because I had to say goodbye to Miles. Miles and i have been friends since day one with rehearsals for the National Tour and rocking out next to him upstage every show has been one of my favorite moments in the 800 shows i performed. having him make his way to Broadway was a thrill for me and to play my Joe to his Charlie again...to watch him play the shit out of that guitar every night...has been an honor to say the least.

and at the end of the show, while the band and i are performing the playoff, it was simply amazing to look stage right and see the entire cast cheering me on as i played my last rhythm guitar part in the show.

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the tradition in the Broadway cast when someone leaves is once everyone is out of costume, the entire cast meets back onstage once the house is cleared and we do a champagne toast for that person. a few people will say something for that person and then that person has a chance to speak as well.

Miles said some absolutely beautiful things. Mark and Peter showed love as well in some funny toasts and the Jersey Girls got me an adorable present for the baby (baby Uggs and of course, a "Big Girls Don't Cry" onesie - NICE!). then i got to speak.

i was very emotional the minute i opened my mouth. to see all of these wonderful people who have shared in this journey with me and to have to say goodbye to them...it was overwhelming.

i will try and sum it up the best way i can:

i love this show. i have loved every person i have worked with and feel lucky to have met them. the past two years of my life have been a dream come true and the fact that i have gotten to tour the Country as well as perform on Broadway...well...there are no words.

all my life i have wanted to perform. since i was a little kid, i knew that one day i would be on Broadway. i have achieved my dreams and the fact that Sarah was able to share them with me makes it that much sweeter. and i have lived the dream. i have performed in one of the most amazing musicals written in a quarter-century. i have seen people in the audience scream until they had no voice and i have seen the hardest of men cry when Frankie gets that phone call in Act II. i have performed as Bob Crewe, Nick Massi, Bob Gaudio and Tommy DeVito and i thank Des, Ron, Sergio and everyone else for seeing in me that i can be relied on as a solid understudy and dependable ensemble member.

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lastly, i want to thank those of you who have read my blogs and seen our show once, twice or 32 times. you are the reason we are the jugernaut we are. you are the reason that more and more people keep coming. and it still amazes me to this day that the blog i started simply for family, has morphed into something that a few hundred people read regularly. i aplogize for not keeping it up as much as i intended to and i apologize if i forgot some of your names as you said hello at the stage door. i have appreciated all of your kind words, emails and comments and it was nice over the years to have "family" show up at the stage door.

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so that's it for the blog. i hope that this does not end my journey with Jersey Boys forever, but for now, it is.

goodbye.
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the early morning before the end (dec.7)

this afternoon is my last show in Jersey Boys.

i tallied up all the shows i have done between the tour and Broadway and i happen to be leaving exactly on show #800.

it still hasn't hit me yet. maybe it will sometime in the first act. maybe it will later when the cast and i are out having drinks. maybe it will take two weeks when i find myself doubling Tommy's part in "Big Girls Don't Cry" while i put up shelving in the baby's room.

but it's happening. i am numb to it right now.

i think my cast mates are amazing. i feel blessed to have worked with such talented people both on the road and in NYC. i feel lucky to have had John Altieri in my life. i am amazed that tomorrow i get to walk onto a Broadway stage for 1,222 people and know that by the end of the show, the August Wilson theatre will erupt in applause as it has show after show after show.

800 shows.
11,200 costume changes.
84 blog posts.
i have covered and performed in four principal roles - three of which were Seasons.
i have performed for roughly 1.1 million people.

i will post one more blog after this one. and then...

thank you all for your love, support and encouragement.