LENNON
tech rehearsals
Broadway
June 28, 2005
The Lennon cast and crew are now completely set up in the Broadhurst Theatre, our new and permanent home. About half the size of San Francisco's Orpheum, this theatre is almost ninety years old and has debuted several original productions that are now legendary, such as My Fair Lady, Cabaret, The Sunshine Boys and Godspell (featuring Don Scardino). The Lennon set, lights, backdrops and graphics were all designed specifically for this room. One of the hurdles we faced in San francisco was harnessing the same kind of energy that existed in the rehearsal room and delivering it to a huge house with around 2300 seats. Making a real connection with the house was not an easy job, and the actors had to overemphasize their moves and line delivery to get it done. This theatre, by contrast, is more compact, with a lower stage and closer seating, allowing for a much more intimate performance.
Traditionally, actors and singers have always performed acoustically, projecting their voices above musicians in an orchestra pit. All that has changed lately. Each performer wears a tiny headset mic (barely visible from the house) and their voices are mixed along with each instrument on a giant console in the back of the house. One reason for this is that in order to compete with the growing trend of louder movies and louder concerts, big theatre productions have cranked up the volume. But for shows like Lennon and Rent, where the band is positioned onstage, miking all the vocals is necessary, anyway. Besides, shows like these work great when the sound is loud and full.
Another, not-so-great aspect of a smaller theatre is less space backstage. In the Orpheum, most of the dressing rooms were down underground and built along one long corridor, spacious, up to date and easily accessible. Here at the Broadhurst, the dressing rooms are small, kinda old and spread out over five floors, accessible by one winding staircase. As with all things, dressing rooms have a pecking order and are a negotiable point in contracts. Swings, being last in the pecking order, must take the rooms that are farthest away, or in this case, on the highest floor. So Mark and I are at the summit, a full seventy-four steps uphill and just beyond wireless internet range. On the upside, it's a huge room, we have our own shower, and my guitar sounds awesome in there.
That's important, because for the next several months I'm gonna be hanging out up there every night, with lots of time to kill.