July
28, 2005
Last
time I'd said that I'd put my money on Will to come through and be well enough
to play two Wednesday shows. And he did. Ah, If only there were a betting pool;
I'd have cleaned up. What I didn't count on was going on again myself. At half
past noon I showed up once again (now I'm sounding repetitive) prepared to take
the bench and watch the rehearsal and performance, but as soon as I arrived
I learned that I'd be performing through the end of the week. That's at least
five more shows. No complaints here. My vocal chords appear to be getting stronger,
and I'm getting more relaxed each time I go on.
Everyone attended the rehearsal, anyway, and good thing they did. Winds of change had been blowing for a couple of days, and today was blustery. Don had brought in a directing consultant who had some fresh ideas that might help put the show in the right place before opening. This came as a surprise; nevertheless, we all dove in and got to work on them. Today we took John's "New York City", which had been chopped from the end of Act One, and put it at the beginning in place of "Imagine". At first this seemed odd, but once we played it before an audience it made sense. The energy at the top was like night and day, and the house responded well to it. It may stay, or it may not. We're trying out a different beginning tomorrow, as well as a different ending.
Also gone from the first act is the white baby grand piano, which had taken up center stage throughout the show and served not only as a set piece, but almost as a cast member in itself, as if to represent the constant presence of John in our midst. But without it, the whole stage seems to breathe better and it appears easier to focus on the players. It will remain in the second act, as it is actually used then. Next we'll improve on one of the Beatles segments and give it more impact. With all these changes, more time will be needed to get them firmly in place and play them, so our opening date has been moved back to Sunday, August 14th. That'll throw some traveling plans into disarray, but it can't be helped.
The cast and I performed the new first act, and the old second, with no problems and got a solid response from the crowd, most of whom had no idea they were the first to see it like this. This audience was special, for in it were several members of The Creative Coalition, a peaceably assembled task force of artists, writers and entertainers. Its goal is to educate and mobilize the arts and entertainment communities so they may effectively participate in political discourse. A handful of us, and the producers, attended a reception held by the Coalition just down the street from the theatre. The event was jammed with celebrities and photographers, and I was caught right up in the publicity flash fest. Naturally, I was completely underdressed. Imagine me in a drab t-shirt, shorts and sandals, with a big-ass bandage on my leg (see 7/23), posing and smiling for paparazzi along with the seasoned and glamorous Lennon girls. They were excited for me, this being my first foray into faux fame. I was excited to meet Steven van Zandt and actress Marcia Gay Harden, but I was completely stoked to meet the brilliant and exquisite Arianna Huffington. Wow.
Back at the theatre, in the alley between us and the Shubert, a party was thrown by the cast and crew of Monty Python's Spamalot to welcome us to the block. I was much better dressed for this affair, but I didn't get to stay very long. I had to get home and write about all this before I got drunk and forgot it.