Bye, Bye, Baby

As quick as it started, it also ends.

After just 20 performances, we say goodbye today to the Studio Tenn production of Jersey Boys.

Approximately 6,600 patrons got to see our sold out show throughout the run, and jumped to their feet every performance on that last strong chord of "Who Loves You". They were great audiences; receptive, kind, attentive and they held onto every line of dialogue and song we sang.

The hardest part about saying goodbye to these shows are the people you step away from. You are complete strangers on day 1 of rehearsal, and form tight bonds so quickly. I will miss this fantastic cast and crew and everything they contributed onstage and off. I only hope, since I was finally cast as one of the Four Seasons, that I helped lead the show with the same type of grace and focus they all gave in return. Tommy is the "captain" in the group - the force that drives the show. I really tried night after night to set that tone for all of us. How lucky am I to have had this cast of 12 behind me lifting me up.

This show is instilled in me in such a way it's hard to explain. It is such a major part of my life, my story, for almost two decades. I am so honored and thrilled that I had the chance to once again tell the story of these flawed, troubled and incredible icons. Thank you to Jake Speck and Patrick Cassidy for trusting me in this role and thank YOU all for reading these posts and sending love and encouragement.

Until the next time - which will be sooner than later - bye, bye, baby.

Opened. Tired. Happy.

After just 13 full rehearsals, a wanderprobe, tech runs and two dress rehearsals, we officially opened Jersey Boys at Studio Tenn on May 1.

Full house. Sold out. That trend seems to be continuing every show through this weekend and beyond. It's a good problem to have.

Truthfully, I'm so happy we're open so we can just have the performances now to focus on daily. I am beyond tired. Including the actual performances we have this week, as well as the full runs in tech and with the band earlier this week, it equates to doing the show full out 10 times since this past Tuesday. That's insane. And most of the nights this week, I have been waking up in the middle of the night, sometimes for close to two hours, for no reason at all. It's awful and it needs to stop.

With this opening, and with sharing the stage with Russell and Miles again (yes, Miles Aubrey is playing guitar for us in the band!), it has been a constant wash of memories from the original tour and my time on Broadway and in Chicago with this amazing show. 

It's made me think of my dear departed friend, John Altieri, who I got to marvel at for close to 400 shows as our Bob Crewe and the delicious choices he made on stage. Makes me think of the awful pranks I would pull on stage - mostly consisting of random messages on random pieces of gaffe tape placed on various costume pieces throughout the show. The celebrities we got to meet in San Francisco and Los Angeles...the national anthems we got to sing at Soldier Field, Wrigley Field, United Center and Yankee Stadium. The stage door stories of fans sometimes getting a little too close for comfort (yes, I'm happy to sign your playbill, not your thigh or chest).

But mostly, I continue to go back to the line time and time again that Frankie says in Act One: "Family is Everything".

Many of us in the show joke about that line - because of what he says that precedes it. But at its core, it is what we who have done the show for so long stand by; THIS family. This Jersey Boys world which has brought so many of us together is 'everything'. I have been doing this show of and off now for 19 years...two decades of telling this story. And reaching out to my given family on days where it's hard -  when you have to get through the choreography of the Big 3 on a matinee day when your knees hurt. When you have to give Nick the glare and spite that he needs in the sit-down to help elevate his performance. When you have to climb into the cannon at the top of the show as Tommy, and it explodes and you realize you don't stop flying for over an hour, and you can rely on this incredible family to lift you up and support you. Whether it's backing your vocals, or handing you jackets to make the reveal into Walk 2 look spectacular, or hold your guitars for a brief moment while you catch your breath before the next scene. Or give you a look onstage that they're there with you, and it gives you the boost you need.

That's the family we speak about offstage. And how lucky am I to have added this lovely cast and incredible crew into that fold.

One more show this week and 14 more altogether until this chapter closes. Come see us. See the family at work.

opening night shots courtesy of Samantha Hearn

It Ain't All Glitz and Glamour

Today is Monday. It’s our day off. It’s our much needed and deserved day off. Tomorrow we go back to the theatre for a 9-hour day where we will add the band to the show and do our Wandelprobe; It literally translates from German as "walk" or "stroll" and "rehearsal," indicating a rehearsal where the actors move around the stage. 

So today, in preparation for our long day tomorrow and then leading into our final tech and invited dress rehearsal on Wednesday afternoon/evening, I am staying in for the night at my hotel at the lovely Hyatt Place in Franklin/Cool Springs. I am doing laundry. And prepping dinner in the mini-fridge I store all my food and the 7” electric skillet I bought from Walmart for $13.71 so I can prepare hot food for the 5 weeks I am here.

It’s not glamorous. It’s not glitz. It’s quite lonely.

Tonight I am also going down a dark hole that, I imagine, many actors who might be reading this travel down: Uncertainty. Second-guessing. Self-critiquing. It’s not a great place to visit, but here we are.

I have been very lucky in my time with Jersey Boys that I have got to witness some pretty extraordinary people playing Tommy DeVito. The three that come to mind most are Deven May, Christian Hoff and Michael Cunio. 

For me, Deven’s ‘Tommy’ was held all in his eyes. His glare. His connection. It was haunting to act beside him and have him look at you, really look at you, with those eyes. 

Christian’s ‘Tommy’ was swagger. He was so fucking cool and he inhabited that role so deeply. I remember so vividly how he would hold his guitar - again, cool. Even when he played the character at his most flawed, he was still someone you wanted to please. As he becomes the true antagonist in the show, you still are rooting for him. 

Cunio’s ‘Tommy’ was sexy; His dancing, his guitar playing, the way the lines were spoken - it made sense that the character “kept buying apartments to keep his girlfriends in”. Every woman wanted him and every man wanted to be him. He oozed this power that he had over everyone.

And so here we are, 18 years after first getting cast in the show, I am finally contracted as Tommy DeVito - this perfectly flawed, misunderstood and sculpted character. And I worry that I won’t have the presence that these other incredible actors had. Knowing that from the first downbeat of the show, I have to be focused and engaged. And it doesn’t stop until he gets sent to Vegas in the middle of Act Two. The relationship he has with Frankie or Nick or Bob is so difficult and layered and the way he manipulates and spins webs and ultimately, falls apart is so precisely and beautifully written by Rick and Marshall, that it makes me sick thinking that I won’t do it justice. Kicking myself for a missed line during rehearsal or a misstep in the choreography. 

So tomorrow, I will wandelprobe. And I will find those moments I cherished from the other actors who played this before me, but I will embrace it as my own. I will never be Deven or Christian or Cunio or any of the others who have played Tommy. But then again, none of them are me. I need to remember that that’s worth something as well. And maybe, to someone, I am an actor that they remember and wish they could emulate in some way. 

I am so thankful for this cast, crew and creative staff lifting me up as much as they are. It means a great deal, especially on nights like tonight. 

Come see our show May 1-18. 

Hold, Please

We are on day two of tech rehearsals.

"Hold, please. Let's back up to the beginning of that scene."

We are on day two of tech rehearsals. 10-hour days with a 2-hour dinner break from 2-4pm. Full costumes, hair, microphones. Going scene-by-scene, moment-by-moment. Lots of waiting. Lots of adjusting. Our amazing wardrobe, sound and light departments working harder than all of us combined making us look and sound perfect.

It's a lesson in patience. For everyone. 

You perform a scene. Well, really just a portion of the scene. Then stage management announces "hold, please." And you stand there so they can focus and adjust the lights on you. Then you back up a few lines and continue on.

"Hold, please"

(this is not our show, just something I googled to show you what a typical tech rehearsal is like)

And they re-program and adjust the sound board to make sure that everyone on stage who is singing is heard. Then you back up a few lines and continue on.

"Hold, please"

And wardrobe runs onstage to fix, alter or deal with any costume issues that might have arisen. Then you back you back up a few lines and continue on.

On and on, for two 4-hour block. For two days in a row. Then a day off. Then again on Tuesday - but we add the full band. Then on Wednesday afternoon to prepare for our full invited-audience dress rehearsal later that evening.

So yeah, after being on my feet pretty much nonstop for eight hours per day, in dress shoes, carrying a solid body Gibson reverse Firebird guitar, my back is a wreck. My left shoulder is a wreck. I have never wanted or needed a full day off in quite some time. The excitement of opening night next Thursday seems more like a distant dream than a sure thing.

Even now, on our meal break, as I sit here in the house typing this, our lighting designer is working on his cues, our female, swing, Abigail, is walking the stage script in hand going over the three tracks she covers and one of our amazing ASM's (assistant stage managers), Peyton, is reading a book while still wearing her backstage headset.

Everyone is working towards a common goal. And the city of Franklin, TN isn't going to know what hit them come next Thursday.

(oh yes, THIS is our show)

Jersey Boys 5.0

Does this blog still exist...?
How long has it been?
Does anyone read blogs anymore?

Guess we will find out.

Jersey Boys (version 5.0 for me) here in Franklin, TN (just 20 minutes outside Nashville) at the beautiful Studio Tenn Theatre. Rehearsals started 11 days ago. We open in 6 days.

They keep adding shows because we are selling so fast and so well. That's a good problem to have. Every theatre wants a problem like that.

Let's pause for a moment. Let's catch you up on things.

My last Jersey Boys related blog post was Aug.30, 2015. Now, almost 10 years later so much has happened; Sydney and Riley are now 14 and 16 years old, respectively. Sarah and I will be celebrating 18 years of marriage this month. We lost Toby the Puggle two years ago after over 15 years of an incredible life. We rescued Walter the beagle about a year before Toby passed, and added Duncan the beagle/schnauzer just over a year ago. We are still just outside the Detroit area, and life is good. 

Sarah is an incredible cookier (@sarahscookiejar) and has built her brand to a really impressive following. She is respected across the country by thousands of others in her field. She surprises me weekly with the beautiful designs she creates on her edible masterpieces. I beg her for extras. There are rarely those. I am convinced I am cast in shows simply because they know she makes cookies for the cast and creative staff for every opening.

Two summers ago I was cast in Jersey Boys at the Saugatuck Center for the Perf Arts. It was a wonderful experience spending 6 weeks in West Michigan in absolute paradise performing for sold out crowds. I have been desperately trying to make my way back there again, but no luck so far. So much talent from so many places want to work there. Perhaps someday again. But at the time, it was interesting as it had been roughly 13 years since I had performed the show. And yet, all of those memories - and original choreography and staging - flooded back like it had been only a few weeks.

But 13 years later. Once again back in the show that changed my life. But now, at the age I'm at, looking at the script and the characters in different ways. Finding nuances I hadn't really noticed before. Relationships between Frankie and Tommy, or Frankie and Mary, or Nick and Bob that were layered in ways I didn't really realize. Rick and Marshall wrote such a beautiful script - more of a screenplay really. And once again, I was under the streetlamp as Norm Waxman and Nick DeVito and Charlie Calello and a host of others small parts in the show; adding to the story. Adding to the pulse of the show.

And now two years later, here we are in Franklin, TN.

I've known about Studio Tenn for awhile; an old Jersey Boys Broadway friend, Jake Speck, co-founded the theatre 15 years ago. He since has left that position, went to Texas for awhile and is now back in Tennessee with his amazing family. Once the theatre got the rights to do the show, Jake was the obvious choice to helm the production as director. Not just because of his history with Studio Tenn, but also with his history with the show itself. 

As soon as I found out he was directing it, I reached out to him via text:

>> Hey man. I heard you are directing JB at Studio Tenn. I shouldn't have to submit an audition tape but I'm going to anyway. I want to do the show with you.

> send me a tape as "Tommy". but if I cast the other seasons young, you have no shot.

>> I'll have it in your email within the week.

And two weeks later, I got a call from an old friend to come to Franklin and be Tommy DeVito in their production of Jersey Boys.

This show means a lot to me. This role, now at this age, means a lot to me. So many full circle moments already in just the 11 days we have been in rehearsal. More about that another time.

"Is this like being in a fucking time machine, or what".

Happy Trails, Miles Aubrey

Miles Aubrey is leaving Jersey Boys...he's packing up his many guitars, his beautiful wife, and no doubt, a box of donuts, and moving to Nashville.

let me back up for a second...

why am i posting this blog? who is even going to read it? why is this blog still even active? let me answer those questions in reverse.

this blog is active because once or twice a year i find myself reading through old posts for a chuckle...to remember past experiences i shared with the show that changed my life.

i don't know who is going to read this. perhaps there is someone somewhere that still gets automated google alerts when i write something simply because they used to follow my exploits years ago when i was in the show.

and i'm posting this blog because i don't get to be there when Miles takes his last bow. i don't get to raise a glass and toast him at his 'Happy Trails' get-together at the end of the show. so this is my way to say goodbye.

but you have to understand, dear reader, that with Miles leaving the Broadway cast, something bigger leaves with him: my first-degree connection to the show.

you see, over the years, many cast members from the first national tour - and i'm talking ORIGINAL members from JBT1 - have gotten the call up to the big leagues; some to cover for a few weeks/months as people took vacation or leaves-of-absences, or some to be a permanent fixture on the Great White Way.

but to understand truly the reason for this blog post, you have to know more about my relationship with Miles.

Miles and I first forged our friendship in NYC when we were in rehearsals for JBT1. here we were, with dozens of other actors in a rehearsal studio in Times Square, learning the show that would shape our lives for years to come. as we went from city to city, Miles and i were placed in the same dressing room together, in every city we went, for a year. i have seen Miles Aubrey's ass more times then i would like to count.

Miles and i also had a shared bachelor-party for 48 hours in Vegas. he and Erica got married two weeks after Sarah and I did. that was a fun weekend; most of the male actors all jumped in a limo after our Sunday show in San Francisco and hopped on a place to sin city. and then we drank...a lot. at least i assume we did, it was all quite a blur.

but i digress.

one of my happiest memories of Miles was when i found out he was moving to the Broadway company after Donnie Kehr left the show. it was something i hoped for him the second i moved to NYC. and though we didn't share a dressing room on the 4th floor of the August Wilson Theatre, i still got to stand on his right side for half of the second act as we became Charlie Calello and Joe Long. night after night, i got to listen to him solo (a different sold EVERY night) and i stayed in awe of him and his talent for the two years i got to perform with him.

you see, Miles is a rare talent. he's a rare talent because not only is he an excellent singer and actor, but he's also one of the most talented guitar players i have ever met. i would easily say that Miles  is the best guitarist on Broadway...and i'm not kidding. every other actor who plays guitar in any other show for the last ten years pales in comparison to the insane skill that Miles Aubrey has on those 6 strings. he's a thoroughbred on that instrument - a virtuoso powerhouse that makes your jaw drop in awe. and yet, at the same time, he is humble. he has that southern-charm "aw shucks" attitude where you feel lucky to sit and talk with him...about music, family, sports, anything.

but there are greener pastures for him and Erica down south. back to where they can lead a simpler, less chaotic life. playing and performing music together and putting down roots in their new house together - closer to family and a thriving community where they had already made their second home.

you have to understand that your "last show" is an out-of-body experience as you try to enjoy every moment on and off stage; soaking in those times that mean the most to YOU as the actor who always wanted to perform in a show like this. you are looking inward at your younger self - the self whose dream was always to perform on Broadway, and telling them "I'm sorry kid, but it's time to walk away."

for my last show on Broadway, i held it together pretty well...until the second act, when i turned to Miles on my left side, as we were behind the fence as Charlie and Joe, and he kind of just gave me a nod and a gentle smile...and that's when i lost it. my dear friend simply assuring me everything would be okay and that it was time to finish the show and take my last bow on that stage.

(please note, i was then a wreck for the next 20 minutes of the show and two hours thereafter)

so wih Miles taking his last bow on Sunday, it is truly the end of an era. He is the last of the First National tour actors to endure for so long. with his departure, many of us are now without a home. you see, dear reader, as an actor leaves a show like Jersey Boys, they spend a long time coming to terms with that decision. it's not easy leaving something as big as a show like that. and you spend years continuing to chase that dream - to try and find something that lives up to the adrenaline, excitement, and enormity. my hope is that Miles finds that in Nashville with his amazing song writing and session work. i don't doubt for one minute that Nashville will fall in love with him as easily as all of us did that were honored enough to work with him for years.

Miles: i so wish i could be there for your last show. in spirit, i will be to your right side in the second act behind the fence, continuing to watch in awe as your sail up and down the frets of your telecaster. NYC truly loses a master with your departure and the Broadway cast will never sound quite the same.

happy trails, brother.

At the Jersey Boys 3rd anniversary bowling party.

Closing for closure. Goodbye First National Tour.

Well...it's been awhile. I don't think I have blogged for well over three years, or longer, about my experience with Jersey Boys. After all, I haven't performed with the show since January 2010 when I took my last bow back home at the Fisher Theatre in Detroit.

I have no reason to write this blog entry, nor do I imagine anyone still "subscribes" to this blog - but I am writing this out for personal therapy more than anything else. If any of you are out there and happen upon it, so be it, and I hope you enjoy it.

I think though, once I publish it, it will be the last you hear from me about Jersey Boys.  That being said:

The first national tour of Jersey Boys closes tomorrow, April 28, in San Francisco, the city that started it all for that very same tour. No one from the original cast is still in the show (save for a few amazing tech folk and musicians) and yet, I feel like all of us from the original cast are still on that stage at the Curran Theatre with the current cast for the closing.

For me, Jersey Boys was a blessing. A life-altering show that made me grow as a performer and individual. That show saw me get married and give birth to one of my two amazing daughters. That show saw me travel across the West Coast for a year until I was lucky enough to be transferred to the Broadway company. That show welcomed me back with open arms to the Chicago cast (in an entirely different track) and then, coincidently, back to the tour that started everything for me to finish my incredible run back home.

And I will be honest. It was very hard to leave the show. I still fantasize about getting a call that a company is in desperate need for a Hank or a Norm or whoever, and who better to jump in than Gutman? I have had countless "actor's nightmare" dreams for over three years that I have been pushed back into the show without rehearsal time.

But perhaps, with the first national company closing, I can move on as well.

This is not to say that I don't think it was time for me to end my run. Chicago was ending anyway and I was lucky enough to be asked to cover for Buck those many years ago when he and Mary were having his first born. It was a string of coincidences and luck that fell into place which ultimately kept me employed for three weeks longer than my Chicago colleagues. Yes, it was time. I had performed in six different roles in three years, gone through more costume changes that I can count, and broken a different string on every bass or guitar (or mandolin) I played live.

But it still saddens me to think...to know...that I will never have that rush again of singing "Who Loves You" to a rabid audience exploding to their feet in applause. It saddens me to know I never get to stand next to Miles Aubrey in the second act on the back platform behind the fence together as the new seasons. It saddens me to know I will never get that call sometimes just an hour before a show saying I was playing a lead that night. It saddens me that John Altieri wasn't able to say "young, young man" thousands more times after his untimely death.



But how lucky was I...were all of us...that WE were the start of something amazing back in November 2006 as we took the stage for those first previews in San Francisco. Did we ever really know that we would make such an impact on the Country as performers? Did we truly understand what we were a part of? Certainly not saving lives, but without a doubt changing them. Changing our lives for the better without a doubt.

For now I can look to cast lists in Vegas and Broadway and see familiar names that I started with, still performing, night after night. And I know I can still call them friends...brothers...family. And yes, the weeks and months and years might pass where I don't get to see people like Doug Crawford or Erich Bergen or Tripp Phillips or Nate Klau or Sandy DeNise, but do I feel any less connected to them? Never. I follow their careers (and facebook posts) with such pride and love and respect.

For those of you in the first national who might be reading this (especially John, Chris and Kara), what an honor it was to come back all those years ago and have you welcome me back with open arms. I wish all of you an incredible closing night full of reflection and love. Let your voices shake the roof of the Curran Theatre and know that those of us whose spirits still share that stage and those roles with you are there as well. I hope the transition out of the show comes easily for you all.

To Des, Ron, Sergio, Danny, Kelly, West and to everyone else who helped create and maintain this show year after year, simply thank you. You took a chance on an unknown actor from the Midwest who just happened to have the look and swagger you were going for. I was in incredible awe of all of you. I hope my small part in the world of JB will always be looked at favorable and with a hint of a chuckle.

Lastly, for those people out there who have never seen this show, what the fuck are you waiting for?

Eric Gutman, officially signing off of this blog, and happy to get some closure. Thank you all for indulging me.