June 1, 2005
After a few productive and relaxing days with my family, it was time to resume work in New York. I flew in on Tuesday night and slept in Manhattan at Rona's place, where I still had a few belongings. Wednesday was perhaps the shortest work day in the history of the show - three hours at the very most. But we're proceeding slowly and with caution, since the new script is still a work in progress, not yet approved by Yoko, and Don has production meetings to attend as well. We spent the short time we had working on a couple of new song ideas and familiarizing ourselves with some of the new dialogue that's been written.
As I mentioned before, this show has several actors playing multiple roles, with many of them playing the part of John Lennon at one time or another. This is a revolutionary concept, one which Yoko Ono likes in particular, but it's a tricky maneuver to pull off. One of the bigger obstacles is the world famous Lennon dialect, which has been a sensitive issue from the start. It's pretty hard to authenticate; there's a fine line between adopting John's natural timbre and rhythm and forcing a bad charicature, and everyone's very wary of this. Guys like me and Will can do it pretty successfully, mainly because we've spent years listening to him speak at different ages in his life and are well accustomed to his mannerisms. Others are still frustrated and don't see the point in even trying. Now, I cannot take part in this debate for several reasons, one of which is I have a natural talent for manipulating my voice. But every actor knows that the key to characterization is meticulous observation of the subject at hand, and attention to detail is a crucial ingredient of any art form. This is where I can help. I have tons of samples of John Lennon's speaking voice on my laptop and can burn CD's for anyone who needs them. (I also raided my bookshelf at home and brought up all kinds of reference material for anyone wanting to know more about Mr Lennon and those close to him.)
After we finished up, Will and I grabbed all my stuff and we rode a bus out to his home in Bloomfield, NJ. He and his wife Lori invited my family and me to stay with them for the summer. This is a huge offer that came at exactly the right time. Not only did it save me from the hassle of locking down temporary residence in NY, but it also brings Sasha and Dexter onto the scene two months earlier than expected. When they met in San Francisco, Sasha and Lori became fast friends, as did Dexter and their daughters, Daisy and Gracie. Staying out here in this colonial suburb community accomplishes many things at once. It gives my wife and kid time to make a smooth transition between lifestyles and people to pal around with while they're at it. And it makes our time apart a lot shorter than it was going to be. At the end of the month they'll drive up from central Texas to New York (we traded in our old cars and bought a new one), and our two wacky families will coexist under one roof. Adventure awaits!