Some Like It Hot…(ter)?… Reheated?…

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Hello Gentle Reader!

I hope you are well and being able to enjoy some time to energize/heal your self. I know that I wrote that in two words. I meant it any way you want to use it. You can heal your spiritual self, your personal demons, your emotional health or physical, It has been a massive 2 weeks and a lot has been shown to the world. I know that it has brought up some inner things that I didn’t realize I was refusing to face. So I hope you are having a chance to find a little peace for you.

One of the things that I wanted to talk about today was a show that is forthcoming to Broadway next season, Some Like It Hot.

A few days ago, in my favorite fails, I mentioned a show called Sugar, which is basically the musical version of the movie Some Like It Hot. Can you see where I am heading?

While there are some small differences between the musical and the movie, the script for the musical has most of the dialogue lifted directly from the movie. This begs the question, Dear Reader, why make this musical?

Well, one of the big “gets” is that the songwriting pair of Scott Wittman and Marc Shaiman will be a part of the creative team. These are the men behind some great Broadway music from Hairspray (One of my personal favorites.), Catch Me If You Can, and Smash. So there will be a massive update in the sound of the music. The music from Sugar which is by Jule Stine (Gypsy) and Bob Merrill (Funny Girl) and is, in my opinion, really cute but has room for deeper emotional payoff. I know Sugar is a comedy, but adding heart never diminished comedy. I think Wittman and Shaiman can offer this.

As far as the book, which will be penned by award winning playwright, Matthew Lopez, I hope they make Joe similar to the character that was made for the show, Sugar. He is always looking out for himself, but he is at least charming and funny. In the movie, he is a legit bully with threats of violence which I found completely dislikable and was hoping he wouldn’t make it to the end of the film. Mr. Lopez easily has the skill to deepen the lives of the characters in this show.

In the story, one thing I would like to see more of is the “villain”, Spats. I feel like the threat he posed in Sugar was not as heightened as could have been and the way the show ties up his story feels so quick and generic to the times and style of the piece that it really makes it seem like his whole character arc is an afterthought; the catalyst to get Joe to Sugar, and that is all. I know all of this stuff is ridiculous to be hopeful of to stuff into a show that should run about 2 hours and 30 minutes, but it can be done. I fully believe that it can if some scenes were run in a split stage style and a few other stylized directions.

I hope that when Broadway finally does reopen, it can thrive and Some Like It Hot gets the chance to show the world how hot some people really like it. With the pedigree of the people involved, I am REALLY excited for this show to open. I am incredibly intrigued to see what’s changed, what’s been left the same, and what has been flushed out more. I am also going to make a guess that while the basic plot of the story is the same, all the dialogue will be much different. I am just giddy with anticipation!!

Now, if you’ll excuse me, Kind Reader, I am going to go and listen to the Hairspray cast recording.

Until next time, stay safe, alert, and willing to listen and learn.

Loving the “Sugar” High, The Crash Is Gonna Hurt…

Silly Cast Photo for Sugar

In the past, I have always had a period of time in between shows. I’ve never been this busy with shows. Ever.

I seem to have a pattern. For approximately the two weeks after closing a show, I tend to fall into a slight depression from the sadness of not seeing this make shift “family” we’ve created over the past few months. We spend a lot of our time rehearsing and, as of late, getting together outside of theatre and hanging out. I truly regret not spending this much time with the amazing and incredible cast of “Promises, Promises.”

Well, these last few months have been so tied together that I haven’t had any time to mourn the finale of not only “Promises” but also “Knickers.” Once “Sugar” gets dissolved on Easter Sunday, I have several weeks before I begin working on “9-5” that I am dreading because it’s gonna hit me all at once. The sadness of knowing that there are some people you may never get the chance to work with again. That feeling of “it’s okay if you are totally bonkers, we like you anyway” gets pushed aside for the real world that frowns on anything other than the social norms. Some of your inside jokes won’t get shared anymore. And some of those amazing people won’t be there with hugs or smiles or laughs or all three when you’ve had a bad day. And speaking of bad days, there is no place for you to run away to for just a few hours to forget that day so you can think about it with a clearer head later on.

I’ve become friends with at least 60 new people over these last few months and I’ve had the chance to reconnect with at least 20 more. In the age of social media, there is nothing better than meeting wonderful people in person rather than on a website. I find there is something so invaluable when it comes to that personal interaction because it lightly ties you emotionally together through memory.

There has been a beautiful Maya Angelou quote floating around on the old F B:

“I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.”
― Maya Angelou

And I feel so blessed and grateful for meeting every single one of them.

I am honored that I get to call them Friends.

If you don’t hear from me after Easter for a while, now you know why…

Be well and do good, friends.

What Is THIS Feeling?…

With David Lampke, Amanda Vogel, Andrea Furtado, Samantha Stidham, and Andi Kline — With David Lamcke, Amanda Vogel, Andrea Furtado, Samantha Stidham, and Andi Kline

With “Sugar” now officially open, I have this slight sense of sorrow.

For the last six months, I have been bouncing from one show to the next. I’ve met so many amazing and fantastic people that have made me laugh, given me the creeps (they were supposed to), or terrified me, and I have enjoyed each moment. There wasn’t a day were I thought “I don’t want to be here.” Even on the really REALLY tough days. I just thought “how can I make it better”

Last night, when I got home from the theatre, I kept walking to random parts of the apartment. I had no idea what to do with myself. For the rest of the night the only thing that ran through my head was: What do I do now?

My friends and I am sure my job would say take a break. But my head and my heart are saying FIND SOMETHING!! No, it’s more like they are screaming it! It’s been a blast just letting loose and throwing every idea I have in this last role. It’s like I’ve been given free reign to do anything that I can think of (within character, of course) to bring life to my version of Daphne. But now that the rehearsal period is over, I don’t have a new persona to “create” and I am feeling a little saddened by this. Finding my good boy cop for “Nana’s Naughty Knickers” and my inner lecher for “Promises, Promises” and my cocky masculinity that turns to kind-hearted lady for “Sugar” let me explore my brain and feelings. It was like exercise for those things. The things that get missed because they aren’t used the same way our bodies are for dancing or brains for doing crossword puzzles. I got to play pretend on my quiet by myself times and I saw such great things.

I think the best thing that someone said to me last night, even though I can’t say I agree, was “there were times that I forgot you were a guy!”

That is all thanks to the scenarios I got to play with in my head. I had to think and feel things like what’s it like to be swept off your feet by someone you just met? Or how do you break the news you need to break without hurting anyone? Or how do you feel happy for your friend that’s happy but jealous and upset with your best friend for that same reason? All of these from a female and a male perspective. I hope that some of it comes through in this show and I don’t know for sure if it does because everything is so gosh darn funny.

Oh, yeah, did I mention that this show is FUNNY!!! So ya gotta keep on top of that too!

And I think that’s what made these last six months so incredible… it kept me on my toes emotionally and mentally. Now I have this fear; what if it doesn’t happen again?

So we’ll see…

I hope you get the chance to see “Sugar” which is “Some Like It Hot” in musical form. You can get tickets at WVLO.org or by calling 408-268-3777 and leaving a message on the voicemail. It allows you to actually pic the best seats available this way.

In the meantime, since I have some to spare, I will be out and about looking for mischief and updating the blog a lot more.

Thanks for your patience during these busy but SO INCREDIBLY AWESOME few months.

♥♥

Now Back To Our Regularly Scheduled Programming…and a Contest…

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Let’s go for a little time travel adventure, shall we?

The time is the late 1920’s, speakeasies are a plenty and the music is “hot.”

Times are a tough and, like now, they are especially tough for musicians. Enter two jobless friends that are just about at their wit’s end when just by accident they witness the St. Valentine’s Day massacre. The killers begin a manhunt for the witnesses. So, what is a good way to escape a manhunt? To join an all-girls jazz band!

Big laughs ensue throughout this charming little show called Sugar.

Scheduled to open at the Saratoga Civic Theatre on March 2 – 30, Sugar is sure to get you laughing and having a great time. You can get your tickets HERE. I recommend that you call 408-268-3777.

I would recommend calling because you can get specific information on which seats are available. Matinees are already 2/3’s sold out.

We had our first read thru last night, and there was a ton of laughter happening. I happened to have noticed on one of my personal readings of the script that the ensemble really REALLY does have a lot of work to do. I’ve been in several shows as an ensemble member where we are promised that there is a lot to do only to find that by “a lot” they mean an additional scene or two from the 4 or 5 you’re already in. I feel like in nearly almost every scene there’s potential for the rest of the cast to come out and play.

Everyone is excited for this project and it was invigorating to feel that energy. Our director for this show is Rebecca Brownson, with Lisa Callaghan (Choreographer), Andrea Kline (Vocal Director) and Tony Gaitan (Music Director) rounding out the rest of the creative staff. For a list of the cast you can find that HERE.

Some of you may be wondering what is up with the header picture. Well, I was trying to figure out what kind of outfit I would be wearing. Wanna venture a guess? I haven’t seen any of the costumes yet, so I don’t even know. It’ll be a surprise to me as well. I wanna make a contest out of this, but have no idea what to do? Maybe say, choose an outfit from above, the people who choose the correct style will be entered into a drawing for free tickets to the show…Yes, that sounds great!

Did you catch that? Here’s the contest… choose an outfit from above, the people who choose the correct style will be entered into a drawing for 2 free tickets to the show. The contest will close the day before the costumes are announced, which is at this moment is unknown. You at least have until the end of January to enter. Type in your pick in the comments section on the website and not on Facebook or Twitter.

GOOD LUCK!!!

Now to follow in the footsteps of the great Tony Morse…