Day of Rest

New York City is really amazing. It's so crowded everywhere you go. I was taking an innocent nap in the park and next thing I know, someone is popping up out of the ground RIGHT NEXT to me. RUDE! I hope the person didn't mind me snoring on them a bit :)

The picture is from an outdoor sculpture park in upstate New York called Storm King. It was a HOT day, but I managed to find a little rest in this shade.

The script for Prairie is frozen!!!...for the time being. This allows us to continue fine tuning what we have without worrying about constant changes. If we were always in a state of flux, it's possible to miss some good things that might actually work. It will also give us a chance to run the show a couple of times before we go into tech (technical rehearsals were we move to the real stage, add light and sound cues, costumes, etc.). It's also our last week working in NYC, so I'm trying to savor it. Though the theater in New Jersey is a short drive, it is much more of a hassle because of the infamous NYC traffic.

The NY Times will be there tomorrow...I better put on some extra rouge :)

POISONED BY POLLO

or potentially titled "POISONED BY POISSON" Either way, I think I got some food poisoning from a birthday part where paella was the main course. The dish looked like a huge wave had swept up the tastiest bits of the sea and left it perfectly on a bed of rice just in time for the birthday festivities. There was also some chicken in there...chicken of the sea?....hmmmm. In any case, I got knocked out for a couple of days, but I'm slowly recovering. The creative team was nice enough to let me go a little early yesterday. I don't think I had another horse race in me anyway :)

Today we ran the first act with all the new changes. It's amazing how far away the first act felt since we had been spending so much time recently on the second act. But, I suppose it is half our show...so we must! We had some producers come to watch, so there was a little nervous energy in the air. I can't imagine the task of pleasing every single one of the producers (and we have MANY in this show). You just hope everyone is striving for the good of the show, first and foremost.

My new song in the 2nd act is now lengthened...for the time being. We needed a little more "umph". Laura has a newer song as well which made us change the final duet. You see, everything is connected! Then, they ask us to give it a try right away. You don't even get a chance to memorize it and all of the sudden your whooshing around the stage singing a new song. Sometimes you just repeat the only words you know over and over again to the tune :) They don't expect it to be perfect at that moment but just need to see if the new idea works. That is true "live theater!".

We Have Broken Through!

As of today, we have finished blocking the entire show, from curtain to curtain. Well, I guess there is an extra 2 curtains in there for intermission (or what I like to call "halftime"). I suppose I'll never shake my soccer roots!

We are moving so much faster than we did last summer with the show. It is mostly because the creative team has such a better idea of what they want this time, so we spend a little less time "reinventing the wheel" so to speak. We kept what works and spend the time on the new changes. Interestingly, it seems that we spend the most time on some of the smallest sections: transitions, short chorus crosses, adding in the new words to the same song 10 times or more! This morning we spent almost 2 hours on a short "dance" that Laura and I have at the end of the show. In reality, this section will only be about 20 seconds long. But, we wanted to try some new things. Whatever we end up with, I hope I can do it 8 times a week for almost a year! Those are the kinds of things you have to keep in mind when you are creating a long running show. It may be cool and fun in the moment, but after 5 months..1 year...you can regret creating that "cool" moment. hah!

Now we will begin finessing, smoothing all the rough edges, and clearing up the story as best we can. As I think I said before, everyone is really taking the changes very easily. I don't anticipate and meltdowns...yet :)

Onto tomorrow to "turn that prairie gold!"

WHERE IS THE LOVE?

I'll tell you where the love is: all around me!

I just got home from another long day of rehearsals. I was having a deep, unexpected, but honest conversation with my girlfriend. I have to say that I haven't felt that vulnerable in a long time...maybe ever. I was amazed by the love I felt and how blessed I am to have her in my life. I also have a wonderful, supportive family (who are all planning on seeing PRAIRIE at some point!...right family? :).

And to top it off, I check my email this evening and have an inbox full of friends across the ocean with pictures, flags, memories, and of course, nutella! Thank you so much for thinking of me. I feel the love, really!

And where did you find such a great flag? I was over in Germany during America's independence day this past year (July 4th) and Ingolf was sweet enough to pick up a small flag for me. It was not easy to find! So, well done with that too!

Thank you for sending the pictures, Julia. Thanks to you all!

DO YOU SMELL SOMETHING BURNING?

Notice the body position of that guy in the middle of the picture there, holding the reins. Looks pretty easy right? Now imagine basically holding that position for about 3 hours straight, two days in a row. In fact, go with me a bit further here and imagine bouncing up and down as if you were "riding a horse-drawn wagon" for those solid six hours. If your imagination is not working so well, just try it wherever you are right now. Go for 5 minutes. How do you feel? Do you FEEL THE BURN??? I do!

I have a great time in this scene. It is the same basic idea that we used in our last version of PRAIRIE, a square dance moving into a great mix of song and horse race. But, since there are changes and new cast members and because it is quite involved in terms of lyrics, music, and movement...you can imagine we spent a lot of time rehearsing this scene these past couple days. I'm remembering why I got my soccer legs back after the last run of PRAIRIE. No pain, no gain right?

We are pretty much done blocking the whole first act. Today, we ran it in it's entirety. Everybody is really working hard, and it definitely shows. Tomorrow we tackle the second act! Let's see if Nellie can thwart Almanzo's pursuit of that free spirit, Laura.....only time will tell...with the help of a kick ball-change and some fantastic movie-composer-turned-theater-composer underscoring!

Full Steam AHEAD!

We are literally plowing through during rehearsals now.  It feels like a beast of a show at the moment.  Because we don't have any automation, flying, special effects etc., we actually have all our props and most our set that we can use during rehearsals.  So, it's as if we were doing the ACTUAL show instead of just rehearsing.  And because we are still figuring it out, we keep repeating or changing each entrance...which means we set and re-set each prop and set piece every time.  Usually, you are able to "mark" or "just act" like you are moving set pieces during rehearsal until you get onstage.  That makes rehearsing, changing the scenes, switching entrances so much easier.  Not the case with us! 

There is also quite a bit more "dancing" or "movement" in this version.  PRAIRIE isn't a 42nd Street or Chorus Line, so we don't have many dances like that.  However, we do have jigs and square dances, types of movement that normal people did out on the prairie.  It really works with the atmosphere of the show.  

After quite a full day of new material, we were asked to run all the new and old work we had done for the orchestrator.  This would allow him to have a visual idea of the song, hopefully adding even more "layers" to his choices while orchestrating.  Wow, it really makes you think on your feet.

All that said, I still LOVE my job :)  We are experiencing freedom in "play".  The creative team allows us to bring and add our own personalities and choices, many of which get incorporated into the final version.  We play until it feels right!

Play On, my friends! Play til it feels right!

America's Heartland

I was looking through some old photos and found this jewel. You see before you a hog weighing over 1200 lbs. The picture really does not do her fat rolls justice. I would not want to be one of her piglets trying to get a warm drop of milk only to be smothered by one of her 6 thighs!

This was part of our "research" for PRAIRIE: meeting real farmers, seeing real livestock, and experience real food that they somehow fried and shoved on a stick. Many states in America have a State Fair once a year to celebrate and cultivate farmers. I will not forget our visit to Minnesota's State Fair last year during our 1st run of PRAIRIE. Every year they have a new food specialty. This past year was chocolate covered bacon. I think I managed to get one piece down. For a fuller description of the State Fair phenomenon, click THIS LINK to read Garrison Keillor's article in National Geographic. He captures the essence of the heartland and Minnesota in particular better than any other writer I know.

As with Laura Ingalls Wilder's books about living on the prairie, the state fair was a showcase for WORK and FOOD. Her books seem to spend most of their time talking about the endless supply of work and the particulars of making and enjoying each meal. It is amazing that she found any time to play as a young girl! It certainly puts things in perspective regarding my own workload. I have NOTHING to complain about. And if I do, shove some chocolate covered bacon in my face and remind me I've got it good!

A DAY WITHOUT MUSIC, THIS WAS NOT

What a day on the PRAIRIE! We sang from dusk til dawn and then some more. I believe we will sing all day tomorrow too. But, I LOVE IT, though it is tiring. In spite of having a previous production, almost every song has changed. Some are large changes and some are just a word here and there. There is a new song for Laura, the main girl...and my eventual bride :) And they gave me a new one as well for the second act. It's quite lovely. I wish I could post it online. But alas, you will have to come see the show!...or I suppose you could just get the CD. But the show is much more fun to see live!!!

(Picture is of Rachel Portman, Oscar winning composer who also wrote our music for PRAIRIE. She and Donna DiNovella created all of our songs...and all the changes! Pic from Telegraph.co.uk)

As usual, with new shows, there are changes upon changes. As we were singing some of the songs, the writers were sitting in the room and saying, "you know, do you think you could try singing "have" instead of "will"?" or "do you mind singing a high G at the end to fill out the chord?" We are literally making it up on the spot. I LOVE IT! It's always interesting to see what you end up with in the end.

Actually, on the Broadway TARZAN recording, you will hear a different musical ending than we actually used in the show. The CD has Tarzan and Jane singing "With every ending comes a new beginning..." before the cast comes in. That was cut before we opened, but we had already recorded it for the CD. That's why many new shows don't release the CD until after they are already open.

We will see what new notes await us tomorrow.....

PRAIRIE- It Begins...

We had our first full day of Little House on the Prairie (from hereafter to be referred to as "Prairie"...we're trying to be a "green" show...). There were TONS of people in the room at the beginning. It reminds you that it truly takes a village, or a small army, to put up a show. Prairie, in particular, has been kicking around for a while and has made some unconventional moves in terms of how is being produced. The times are changing, and we must adapt!

It was heart warming to see the creative team again and many of the cast members from the last production. The new additions seem like a fantastic fit. I'm looking forward to getting to know them all in the coming weeks. First up: memorizing names! I've decided I am good at this now. No more blaming forgetfulness on my father's genes. I am changing my destiny :) The mind is a powerful thing, folks. What are YOU telling it to do?

I'm resting up for what will surely be a rigorous costume fitting first thing in the morning. Trying on clothes is hard!... :) wow, do I really get paid to do this?!?

If you haven't yet, check out www.littlehousethemusical.com so you can see some of the cast and info. This will be a big chunk of my life for the next year...whew!

ART or FOOD?

Well, if it's ART...then it's tasty ART!

What a way to start off the day after so many international trips:

Banana from Canada (ooo, that has a nice ring)

Nutella from Germany

Bread from down the street

AND it's completely GLUTEN-FREE...just like me :) Show some love to your gluten-free peeps today. They will be happy you even know what "gluten" is!

Back Home

Call off the police dogs! I'm back! It seems my traveling days were not quite over. I managed to make another trip upstate NY to camp. Can't you just FEEL the peacefulness from the pic above? Yep, I knew you could. I started that fire with my own two hands, Tarzan style! If you haven't spent the night in a tent, under a tarp, in a teepee, or something other than a wooden or steel structure then consider it your homework to do it!

We also made a delicious meal which included some fantastic wurst I picked up in my local grocery store before I left. There is nothing like a meal cooked over the fire....I can still taste the caramelized onions....mmm...

The next stop was a bit of

"research" for my next show, LITTLE HOUSE ON THE PRAIRIE. All the characters are based on real people and are actually pretty accurate. My character, Almanzo Wilder, grew up in upstate New York. We visited this farm on our way to Canada. I'll make a more in depth post about this later. But, here is a picture of one of the barns. It was a BEAUTIFUL day!

And the final stop was in Montreal...oh me oui! We had so much fun in the city that I forgot to take many pictures :) I did manage to snap this one in the Old City section just before sunset. It was fascinating to be able to drive to another country who's official language is English but where everything is French. I know it is normal in Europe to jump from border to border and culture to culture so quickly. However, it is not so easy in America...unless you walk from neighborhood to neighborhood in NYC...then it's even quicker than Europe! haha