|
 |
ONSTAGE & BACKSTAGE: Tony Thoughts
By Seth Rudetsky
24 Jun 2008
I wish Sondheim could have seen my interpretation of Harry in Company, when I was in high school. Yes I was 14 years old, yes I didn't know what the show was about, yes I might as well have skipped all the lyrics in "Sorry/Grateful" and just sung it on a "la" for all the acting I was doing, but he would have loved the great sweater I wore which I had gotten for my bar mitzvah.
I asked how hard it was for the actors to play all those instruments and Elizabeth said that Rob, who played Paul, dropped the mute out of his trumpet so many times that John Doyle started charging him $5 every time it happened. ("I'd like to propose a toast" + CLUNK = $5). After Cry-Baby opened, Elizabeth was doing a workshop with someone who was in Grease and when the Tony nominations came out they both approached each other saying, "Oh my god! Everybody hates our shows and we just got Tony noms. Miracles happen!" I have to say that I'm so glad I saw the show. I just wish there was a CD. Anybody with a cool $50,000 wanna sponsor it? A hot $50,000? Tepid $50,000?
Speaking of which, I saw In the Heights again ("Why is everything in this 'fridge warm and tepid?") I was nervous to see it because it's my fifth time (the first workshop, two times Off-Broadway and twice on Broadway). I thought maybe I'd be a little over it by now. I literally loved it even more! I had full-out tears flowing down my face which is what happens to me when I hear or see something that I think is theatrically perfect — like the ending of "At the Ballet" in A Chorus Line when the line forms again, or the last three "Calors" at the end of Abuela's song in In the Heights. As I was sitting in my box seat, I decided I want to see In the Heights once a week as a rejuvenating tonic. That cast is so amazing. I can't get over Mandy Gonzales' voice. She has to sing so high throughout the whole show! I know she sang just as high in Dance of the Vampires but she didn't have to worry about a pesky long run during that show. She only had to sustain her vocal health through previews and then a smattering of performances. Also, special shout-out to Eliseo Roman who plays the Piragua guy. He has one of those songs where, when the ending approaches, I think "surely he's not going to go for the high note" and he does! It's a delicious A. (Track 10 on disc one of the cast album.) It's the same way I felt when I saw David Carroll sing "Love Can't Happen" in Grand Hotel. I heard the ending note coming and I thought he wouldn't be able to go up to it...but he did! Listen to the last track on the Grand Hotel CD….so thrilling! And I brought my 77-year-old Dad to . He loved it. He kept saying that it spoke to him and he's sick of all the horrible shows he's seen recently. I recalled that he saw my production of Broadway 101 two months ago and steered the conversation in another direction.
OK, I'm off to San Francisco in a few days to play for the amazing Andrea McArdle at the Hotel Nikko. Go to www.TheRrazzRoom.com for tix and come see us!
I will now leave you with an email I got from my friend, Michael Klimzak. He and his partner, Phil Fabry, went to Korea this year to start a musical theatre school. Apparently, Koreans are obsessed with Broadway and the school is doing great. However, Michael is always getting into devastating and humiliating mishaps wherever he is. Here's the latest.
I went for a walk in the park the other day. I was listening to my
iPod and the weather was beautiful. The park is very hilly. I
walked all the way to the top of the park and I was heading down when
I either tripped or my knee gave out. And I fell. I didn't go
tumbling down the hill. More like skidded a few feet. I tried to
stop myself...but because of the steep rake, I kept on going. I
first tried stopping myself with my knees (two sidewalk burns on each
knee), then my left hand (now bruised), them my right hand (now cut),
then my left shoulder (sidewalk burn). I eventually stopped my fall
with my face. I got a burn on my chin, my upper lip, and cut the
inside of my mouth. I also had a swollen right foot. What was even
more embarrassing was that I was listening to my Walt Disney World
soundtrack album. As Koreans came to my aid, of which I wanted none
of, I kept on trying to turn off "It's a Small World," but only
succeeded in starting it from the beginning over and over again.
That's it for me…happy start of summer!
(Seth Rudetsky is the host of "Seth's Big Fat Broadway" on SIRIUS Satellite Radio and the author of "The Q Guide to Broadway" and the novel "Broadway Nights." He has played piano in the orchestras of 15 Broadway musicals and hosts the BC/EFA benefit weekly interview show Seth's Broadway Chatterbox at Don't Tell Mama every Thursday at 6 PM. He can be contacted by visiting www.sethsbroadwaychatterbox.com.)
Contact Us | Advertise | Privacy Policy
Send questions and comments to the Webmaster
Copyright © 2008 Playbill, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
|
|
|
|
|