Day Three and JB

Day three of my vacation was 9 to 5 again:

It’s so interesting how the show changes every time you see it. For instance, Megan was much more ticked at Hart during the rooster to a hen scene and she played Backwoods Barbie more lightly- not as deeply offended as last time. Marc’s chair fell completely back during the second time it malfunctions this time. Fri, that happened the first time he did it. It must happen a lot. Get Out and Stay Out wasn’t quite as intense emotionally, but the end belt was better (if that’s even humanly possible.)

Then, we stage doored. Stephanie came out first again. When she got to us, I said something about being at the Birdland [small jazz club in the city where lots of Broadway stars have concerts] concert tomorrow and then asked if she had gotten the scrapbook we made her for opening night. “Oh my gosh, yes. You guys put so much work into that. And the handprint on my heart thing? [the theme was "handprint on my heart" (she'd been in Wicked) and we all had a heart w/ a handprint on it somewhere on our pages.] Come on, come on!” *Picture* “I’ll see you tomorrow!” And she moved on.

Got a picture with Tory Ross [who said they’re planning another Daphne video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LKl226oeghg- Daphne is a minor character in 9 to 5 w/a couple lines who they decided to make a music video for. Lol! Andy Karl directed (and is singing in the background)] and Megan, and then decided to leave. “Wait, Jess, could you get a picture of ME with Stephanie?” Hahaha, I love you Daddy. She was at the end of the line still signing and taking pics, so he got up beside her and I took the picture. She goes, “See you tomorrow!” And left.
We ran down to Rockefeller Center and hung for awhile. Hit the M&Ms store. Got pizza. Came back to the hotel.

Sorry yesterday's was so ridiculously long. I had to document every moment. Haha.

Philip- CONGRATS! Good luck in your show.

JB- I'm reading it now, almost done. It's in verse- reminds me of Waiting for Godot or Rozencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead. There are two main male characters (Mr. Zuss and Mr. Nickles) who decide they are going to put on the story of Job. [show in a show- now THERE'S a new concept!] But it's not as simple as they usually are. For instance, when they are deciding who will play who, Mr. Zuss decides to play God (which is why he's "zuss" --> "zeus" I'm assuming) and Mr. Nickles plays the Devil, but he origionally wants to be Job. He wonders where they will find a Job, and Mr. Zuss says: "All we have to do is start. Job will join us. Job will be there." To which Mr. Nickles replies: "I know. I know. I know. I've seen him. Job is everywhere we go. His children dead, his work for nothing... (he continues listing Job's ills.)" Sure enough, as soon as they start, Job appears. So, it's more symbolic and the language is deeper than, say, A Chorus Line, Title of Show, The Phantom of the Opera or any other show within shows I can think of. It's a good read, but not the first show I'd recommend picking up for fun.

And ps- Philip- I'm just doing crew. :)

In other, sadder news, 9 to 5 closes in 9 days. D:

Fourth day of my vaca (the Broadway part) in the next update.

Till then,

Jess

Cast!

First college play was a success! After a night of auditions, and then another night of callbacks until the cast list was finally posted at midnight, I was cast!

I have been cast in the play Dog Sees God playing the character of Matt. This character is the teenage version of Pig Pen from the Peanuts comic strip as the play is essentially all of the peanuts gang in their high school years. Matt is a germaphobe and a homophobe. This mixture will come together in the crashing ending of the play (it's fantastic). This will be interesting as this character is a step away from what I usually have portrayed on a stage. I will become the antagonist instead of the good guy, and have to really look outside of my comfort zone and do things not usually done by me. It's nothing too odd, but definitely a difference. And one I'm looking forward to.

The other plays that are being done in the season include The Good Doctor and You Can't Take It With You. Also, the one-act festival will begin auditions.

I'm also auditioning for a musical at one of the local community theatres, but I'll talk about that later. Good luck with J.B. auditions, Jess!

P
C

Next Day of Vacation and Brigadoon

Here's the day number two of my epic New York adventure:

Dad and I, in true tourist fashion, chilled on the risers in Time Square until I had to be at Shubert Alley [the alley next to the Shubert Theatre (Blithe Spirit) and the Booth theatre (Next to Normal)- also where Broadway Barks took place. It's also right next to the Marquis where 9 to 5 is, so I basically lived there.] I got there about 11:50 and was maybe the fifth person in line.

For $26, I had a second row seat to see Angela Lansbury and Christine Ebersole. The show was hilarious! Great acting for the most part and Angela and Christine were hysterical. I can’t believe they were 10 feet in front of me. Right there.

Of course, Blithe Spirit-y people couldn’t stage door because, hello Broadway Barks. Concept of Broadway Barks = We’re going to have this huge fundraiser (for local humane societies), invite every broadway star we can, advertise like crazy, and do it in Shubert Alley. What? Shubert Alley is maybe the size of my bedroom. Needless to say, it was a ZOO (literally- everyone was carrying around a dog or cat) and it was impossible to move. On a whim, I decided to move away from the stage [set up in the alley] to see if anyone was coming from 45th street. Hi, Sebastian Arcelus. The people I was with knew him, so we went over and chatted a bit. I complained about how he was going back to Jersey Boys the day I was leaving. “Eh, next time.” I got a picture with him (and Macaco!- his cute puppy) and then he decided to head around the block instead of fight the mob in Shubert Alley.

We also spotted Adam [Chanler-Berat], Louis [Hobson], and Bobby [J. Robert Spencer] from Next to Normal in the crowd. We got a really cute picture with Bobby (and we chatted about how I had just seen Blithe Spirit and how he wanted to but had never gotten the chance), and then they left to be huge Broadway stars presenting at Broadway Barks. The actors and actresses were exiting the stage to the left and heading back towards 45th street, so we decided to wait at the end of the barricade for them. The cast of 9 to 5 was represented by Marc, Andy, Stephanie, and Allison. Allison hadn't come out the stage door the night before, so I wanted a picture with her.

I asked her to sign my playbill (Broadway Barks playbill- $1. Hey, I contributed.) But I had a sucky sharpie so she grabbed someone else’s and signed it and then (after I handed my camera to a complete stanger) took a picture with me. Most people ducked out quickly, but the cast of 9 to 5 hung around and signed and took pictures. Stephanie walked by talking on her cell phone, and then Marc goes, “Wait, where did Steph go?” “That way.” *Smile* I felt special.

I got a picture with John Tartaglia [Pinnocio in Shrek] as well and Karen Olivo’s [In the Hieghts, now Anita in WSS] autograph “KO.” Sutton [Foster] ran off without signing or pics to get to her show… starting in two hours. Whatever. I saw her. Oh, and I saw Bernadette Peters. How cool is that? I didn’t feel like buying the book she wrote for Broadway Barks (which you had to to take a picture with her) so I settled for standing 5 feet away from her and taking a picture OF her. And that was that.

Walking back to our hotel, we saw Louis again and I wished him luck that night.

I almost don’t even wanna attempt explaining Next to Normal. Brilliant. Amazing. Made me cry… more like sob. Holy crap, Jenn and Bobby can sing. And Alice Ripley… she’s fierce. More like SHE’S FIERCE (I think that’s how Alice would like to have it put.) Her acting was incredible. Absolutely let go when Diana got upset (which was fortunately basically the entire show.) We were back of the mezz, but the theatre was so small it seemed like we had great seats.

When I see a show, I’m almost always equally or more excited about the stage door than the show (we’re talking nat. tours here, not even Broadway.) After 9 to 5- ok, the show was fun, but I wanna meet Stephanie J. Block. After Next to Normal, even with all the amazing people to meet, the show was so full and powerful and satisfying, it didn’t even matter.

But then we got to the stage door (after hitting the bathroom and cleaning my make-up up) and it mattered again. Kyle [Dean Massey- Gabe] was the first out, then Adam [Chanler-Berat- Henry] and Louis [Hobson- Dr. Madden/Dr. Fine.] Autograph, picture, the show was amazing. Pretty standard. Next was Bobby [J. Robert Spencer- Dan] who was a TOTAL sweetheart. Apparently the woman next to me had some special connection to the show, because she said something low to Bobby and he hugged and kissed her. She was crying. Then they took the picture. Then he got to me. I told him how beautiful the show was and probably something about his voice (dude, seriously) and he put his hand on my neck and dad took the picture. All the guys, sweethearts. Right? Of course right. But then there’s Alice Ripley.

It was raining by then. Woo. Wait. Waitwaitwait. Is that Alice Ripley? Did the sun just start shining again? Is Jessica over doing the hyperboles? (Maybe, but dude- it was Alice Ripley!) Dad and I placed ourselves next in line (ya, ya, look, it’s not like she’s not gonna stay and talk to everyone there as long as they want.) When we got there, she was asking the person before us if they were her friends on facebook. “Facebook is such an entertaining place!” She gushed. They apparently weren’t her friends, however.

“I’m your friend on facebook,” I laughed when she got to us. “What’s your name?” “Jessica.” “Last name?” “Well, Jessica Marie on facebook.” “Oh.” We’d never talked on facebook. She began to sign my poster in big bubble letters. “I LOVE the bubble letters!” I told her. “They keep me entertained,” she answered. Then I told her about how beautiful the show was (good thing I was there, or she might not have known) and how I was still trying to hold back tears. I asked her if Jenn [Jennifer Damiano- Natalie] was coming out and she said, “Eh, she’s 18. She’s got stuff to do. I have nothing better to do than hang out at the stage door all night.” Dad took a picture of us, and then she moved on to the next person in line. <3

We decided to go over and try our luck with the Blithe Spirit stage door (since Broadway barks had dashed my dreams of meeting Christine and Angela), but after making us wait for 30 minutes they announced that all the actors and actresses had gone home. I was quite proud, though, because during this time, Dad went, “Jess, look!” And it was Megan Hilty walking through Shubert Alley after the stage door that night. Aha! My father recognizes Megan Hilty. My life is complete.

That's day two. Next day- 9 to 5 again!!

Now Brigdoon: So. Much. Fun. I'm in the ensemble and it's a blast. After every show on Sat. night, the cast always goes [read: races] to the same restaurant to chill and celebrate. There's a tradition that we always all pitch in and buy our director and bat mitzvah cake and sing "Happy Bat Mitzvah" obnoxiously loudly. (She's Catholic.) So much fun!

^That was more for Philip (the tradition lives on!)

Tomorrow's the last day. SADNESS. Then strike. What's homework? Ah, well. The next show we're doing is "JB" which is a straight play- a modern retelling of the book of Job set in a circus... that's about all I know. I'm working crew for it. Philip's read it, so maybe he can enlighten us further.

Till latah,

Jess

Sorry I haven't updated lately! Brigadoon opened tonight and is fantastic! We're having so much fun! More on that and my vacation later. Just read Philip's post and I had to comment: I definitly think I belong in a play entitled "Confessions of a teenage Blockhead." That is all.

New Place New Plays

Finally, my first post in my luxurious (word used loosely) dorm room at Winthrop University. Here, I plan to (whilst blogging constantly) work on my degree in theatre performance. Which includes my auditioning for plays including the play Dog Sees God: Confessions of a Teenage Blockhead. The play is an unauthorized parody of the Peanuts comic strip. Here, the kids are in high school...and horribly dysfunctional. The dramedy starts off with Charlie Brown (known as CB in the play) writing to his pen pal about Snoopy who had just died of rabies. This is when he begins to really think about the idea of the afterlife. He then tries to talk about it with his other friends including Van's sister (the character of Lucy...so I guess you can figure out who Van is) who is in an apparent mental institution after setting fire to Van's blanket. The response from all is clear ignorance as none really care, until CB talks to one kid, Beethoven. This piano player (please tell me you who this is) is shunned from his friends due to his controversial sexuality which discomforts the others. But his conversation with CB really consoles him and he is able to finally come to terms with all in the end with CB's final monologue...a letter to his pen pal. This tale brings life to a somewhat halt with its unthinkable twist on this simple comic strip. I've only read a little so far and its amazing beyond words, definitely a play I would be honored to be in...which is why I'm auditioning. Wish me luck and explain the rest of the play in a later post. I still have to finish my summer reading. Oops.

P
C

New York!!

So, I've simply been insanely lazy. I have no excuse for not updating, especially since I went to NEW YORK this summer! Here's what I wrote while I was there, copied from my trip diary:

First up: 9 to 5. [Marriot Marquis- staring Allison Janney, Stephanie J. Block, Megan Hilty, Marc Kudisch]



It was incredible. One of (if not) my only major freak out happened when I saw Stephanie come onstage and hide behind the mob of ensemble. I was squeezing dad’s arm and he had no idea why. *Shrug* Most of the show was the same as LA except for the cut songs and the addition of “I Just Might,” “Always a Woman (or something like that)” and “Change It” which I had seen a clip of on youtube (BEFORE I knew I was seeing the show live. Don’t judge.) A few lines were changed and some jokes were added. Altogether, it was a clearer show.

And then. Get Out and Stay Out happened. [Big 11 o'clock number Stephanie sings @ end of show] *Faints* She outright screamed a few of the lines. It was so much more intense. LOVE. And then… it was over. Sad… no WAIT. This is when stage door happens!

Stephanie came out first. I said something about my birthday present being her Birdland concert. She asked me how old I was turning, and I said 16. Something along the lines of, “oh, that’s great.” And then we took a picture. And then she moved on. Then Megan came out. We chatted a bit, she signed, picture, and then went to take a BAZILLION pictures with every single person there. She was there forever.

Next- Marc. Honestly, I hadn’t been that excited to meet him. I didn’t agree with him on a lot of issues and he just seemed like a really intimidating person. He was BRILLIANT on stage, though. When he got over to us, I told him this was my birthday present. “How old are you turning?” “16.” “Really?” *Nods* “Really?” “I promise.” “Well, for that,” and he drew a mustache and side burns on to the little picture of him on the poster. Then we took a picture. He was such a sweetheart. Then he sped off on his motorcycle. Hahaha. Allison wasn’t coming out, we were informed, so we left.

Maybe I'll do one show at a time. Make it all soap opera-y. Stay tuned: Next day is Blithe Spirit [Angela. Lansbury. Second. Row.] Broadway Barks, and Next to Normal!

Annnnd in other news: 9 to 5 is closing! WTC, theatre world??? The show is so much fun w/ an amazing cast. Stupid Tonys. I refuse to blame RoA, but I will blame the Tonys. And all the lame people that didn't go see it. Seriously, if you can, go, it's spectacular.

The funny thing about closing was that the day closing was announced, I found FIVE different projects to be a part of as presents for the cast. In one of them, we wrote letters to the cast and crew- one for every performance from a month until closing (it's closing Sep. 6). We just got word the cast and crew gathers and reads the letters before each performance. How sweet is that???

Anyway, spread the 9 to 5 love, see it before it closes. Here's a quick vid that cannot capture the awesomeness, but it tries: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FNQLnxZ_w3Q

Jess

College is here! But is Spider-man?

So...I guess...I took the whole entire summer as a break. But hey, I worked as a counselor to a camp where there is no cell service. Or internet. Ah, so it all makes sense now...

Anyway, according to The Post, the upcoming musical, Spider-man, is in a haze. The lead actress to play Mary Jane, Evan Rachel Wood, is unsure about her role anymore, which then leads to the her agents trying to find those movie roles she turned down for the acting gig in the first place.
The director, Julie Taymor who directed the current running show HAIR is skyrocketing the budget saying her artistic abilities can't be strained by a limit of money...artists.
And finally, the show's composers Bono and The Edge are prepped to take the songs written for the show and turn them into singles just in case the show flops. Great backup.

So there you have it. Hasty actress, pompous director, embarrassed composers, and an imploding show. At least my summer went well. Got a decent job and heading to college to experience the wonders of theatre. Huzzah!

For more info on the Spider-man fiasco...
http://tinyurl.com/klcmdb

P
C