July 05, 2005
Sunday I brought Sasha and Dexter with me on the bus into Manhattan, and they were united with my mom, sister and nephew for a day or two. Y'know, back in Austin, getting people you know together always seemed to be a major undertaking that required plenty of advance notice and lots of phone tag. But in New York, a city of eight million, it's almost effortless. Several family members were in town from five different cities in three different states, and we all managed to gather together with a minimum of calls and at very short notice. Best of all, I didn't have to do much other than just put the thought out there. The rest took care of itself. I even got to participate a little, thanks to an early knock-off on Sunday night.
So we spent the night with the family in Midtown East. Artie gave me the option to play hooky on July 4th, since it wasn't completely necessary for the swings to be around. I gladly took him up on it, and enjoyed the first leisure time I've had with my wife and son since I can't remember. I took them to Central Park, where there's plenty to do. The kids got a chance to hang out at the zoo and run around on the grassy hills for a while, and of course eat a lot of junk. After the sugar and sunshine high, however, the crash is usually not far off, and the three-year-old meltdowns are inevitable. All one can do is just ride out the storm and stay relaxed (and tip the cab driver a little extra to make up for the scream factor). But I'll cheerfully take the bad with the good. It was so worth it to me, being a welcome break from the monotonous confinement of the theatre just for a day.
Today I was back in the Broadhurst for the first dress rehearsal, which went pretty well. A few moves were changed that I was quick to pick up, and new subtle tweaks in the script still occur daily. I was particularly pleased to hear the sound of the band in this theatre. Warren the drummer has a new drumkit, courtesy of my friend over at Gibson/Epiphone (they also own Slingerland drums), and it's a noticeable improvement over San Francisco (he hated the drums there). I've also noticed some very subtle changes in the orchestrations that have made a big difference. It wasn't what was added, but rather what was taken away, that caught my ears. The music of John Lennon always works best when played simply and sparsely, with an emphasis on feel over elaborate instrumentation, and that principle is getting more attention. I also noticed that the guitars are hotter in the mix than before, and the horns and keyboards are played down a bit. This is important, and not just because John was all about guitars. The greater emphasis on the electric backbeat illustrates an essential point: throughout Lennon's life, through all the success and glory, through all the backlash, through all the abandonment, deaths and breakups, there was only one thing he could always count on, one thing that would always be there for him and never let him down.
It was Rock and Roll.