White Christmas after Opening Night.

Now that a few days have passed from the high of Opening Night, I become a ball of nerves once again. Most people think that once a show has begun performances, the hardest part of the process is over. To me, I think that this line of thinking is a dangerous trap to fall into. Especially when you have 4 days off in a row. This is when complacency tends to sneak in. Complacency because Opening Weekend went so incredibly well. So now, some people could convince themselves that it’s unnecessary to put any energy or thought into the show. This is when you forget to think about the show, because you have new things to do and think about during the time that you would have been rehearsing. Some people have significant others to cuddle with during the evening instead of pouring over their scripts or thinking about dance steps. Personally, I try and figure out what I can do differently, better, but differently. I tend to dwell on any oddity that happened to me or that I created during the show, and how I can fix it or make it work. Because of this, I love to have brush up rehearsals so that the first show you return to is just as good as when you left the weekend before.

Well there’s another reason too.

So far this show has sold pretty well, but I really really want West Valley Light Opera to have a HIT! A big fucking smash hit show. Sorry for the expletive, but I feel that it was the only word that could emphasize it the way I meant it.

The super-finale is actually more fun than I thought it was going to be because of all the snow. It starts with hearing a room full of people singing a Berlin classic, and then it tears into a frolicking snowy good time and everyone looks so happy! I love looking out into the audience and seeing the people smiling, or nodding their heads in time to the music or best of all singing along. That happened on Sunday’s performance. I saw a bright and cheery lady singing along with me during “Best Things Happen When Your Dancing.” She was sitting in the third row and just looked like she was having the best time ever and that’s only the fifth song of the show, and there are nearly 20 of them! To top that off, there was a lady in blue right in the front row that was beaming the biggest smile during “I Love a Piano” when the Duncan Sisters were singing their part. I know that the possibility for having that hit exists with this production, but I worry that one bad performance could jeopardize that chance.

This Friday’s show isn’t selling the way I hoped that it would, but there are $20 tickets available. Maybe that will help. I hope that people who have come to see the show, get the word out that it is a good show. I do have to say thanks to my BFF over at NotBlueAtAll, for the incredibly kind words and for attending Opening Night. Also, a big thanks to Ronnie Misra for all of his amazing support.

If any of you have seen the show, please leave a review, especially if you loved the show, at Artsopolis. Like Ronnie did!

I love working with this company and I worry about it sometimes. They are one of the few companies that take chances on their casting and don’t constantly cast the same handful of people for their shows. Another company that takes chances is Sunnyvale Community Players, and I applaud them for that. But, they are getting back on track, so they don’t need as much help. When I began to make the rounds in the area for auditions WVLO was one of the first to give me opportunities and to this day continues to do so. Needless to say, I feel like I owe them in return because they have always welcomed me with open arms. I am keeping my fingers crossed that there are 13 more full houses for this run. Please cross your fingers with me.

OMG…I thought it would never happen!!!

I have finally forced time to bend and created a way to make a podcast for White Christmas!! Thank you to Ben Perez, Stephen Evans, and Valerie Valenzuela for taking time out of their day to sit around a table and talk about the show. Don’t worry, we all love the show! You will too when you come and see it!

Episode 11

(Click to listen)

Show notes to follow shortly!!!

Thank you, Yamagami’s Nursery!!

I don’t know how many of you know this, but I work for a local nursery called Yamagami’s Nursery. It’s a gorgeous place that has a ton of product. Well, I guess I should say had a lot of product. We had the anniversary sale, and that wiped us clean of many, many things. But…that’s quite alright because we needed to make room for Holiday Trees. People get a little touchy if you say Christmas, but then again, people get touchy when you say Holiday, so I guess there’s no winning that argument. I’m gonna say Winter trees! With that being said, I wanted to say a big, wonderful thank you to Yamagami’s because they are going to be a partial sponsor of WVLO’s White Christmas!!!! Some of the cast will be giving a sneak peak performance on November 6th at the nursery. The performance will begin at Noon and last for about an hour. So here’s the deal. 5% of all sales that happen on the day of November 6 will be donated to WVLO and the production. So come on out and pick up a plant, grab a cookie, and enjoy some cider while you are entertained by some of the cast of White Christmas!

Also, Yamagami’s is taking pre-orders for “Winter” trees. If you order before Thanksgiving, the trees would be 10% off. You can order buy phone if you can’t make it into the store. I hope that if you are in the market for a “Winter” tree, you will call the nursery on November 6th at 408.252.3347, or stop by 1361 S. De Anza Blvd., Cupertino, CA and pre-order one. The trees are shipped from Oregon and are in high demand. I took an order today by a lady that has been purchasing her tree from Yamagami’s for 20 years! That’s saying something!

If you happen to be like me and many of my other actor and artist friends and you don’t have any spending money, you can still stop by and cheer us on. I have a bumper sticker on my car that reads: Support local artists. So I am asking you to do the same. Your purchase will support not only the arts, but also a local business!!

White Christmas Update #1

Wow, we are beginning our third week into rehearsals for the show, but so much has happened so fast that I couldn’t keep up with the rehearsing and taking notes and pictures for these updates. So, I will have to try my best and do it all from memory. Bear with me!

Orientation night for the show always carries with it a unique kind of tension. It’s not defensive or uneasy, it’s just kind of there. We are all there for the same reason to put on a great show and to have fun while doing it, so there isn’t a need for ego or drama. It’s not like going to a party where you have the cliques of people who exhibit that kind of behavior. While there are people who do hang out more often together than with others, they are still approachable and welcome the interaction. But back to the show…

Everyone was very nice and kinda chatty. We watched the presentations from the designers and other staff members as they explained the vision and look of the show. One thing that made me nervous was the Set Design presentation by Stephen Wathen. In all honesty, I have no idea where they are going to put this massive set and still have room for the orchestra and the cast to move on and off stage. That will be one feat of theatre magic that I am anxiously waiting to see performed. If anyone can do it, then I know that he can. The Saratoga Civic Theatre has maybe about 50 x 65 feet of wing space on either side of the stage, and I may be exaggerating that measurement a bit on the high side. From my understanding, and here comes a huge sigh of relief from the audience, the orchestra will be set up in the wings and not across the front of the stage as the often times are. There are 15-20 people in the orchestra, so that nearly takes up half of the space on one side of the stage. I can’t remember exactly how many people Rachel Michelberg, our Music/Vocal Director, said she will need, and at the time she needed a few trombonists. You should’ve seen how quickly some people, myself included, whipped out or phones and sent out the call on Facebook and/or Twitter. Luckily, that’s all taken care of now. The rest of the orientation was introductions of the cast to one another, and with that we were excused for the rest of the night, but warned to be ready to work on Monday night.

The first night of rehearsal was the usual figure out which vocal part everyone will be singing, and skipping around the score to familiarize us with the sections of music that we will be singing. I did arrive to rehearsal nearly 6 minutes late that first night and was given grief, in a lighthearted and non-accusatory way, right as I walked in the door. I slinked to my chair, and people laughed. I don’t know if it’s because I got in “trouble” or if I played up the pity tail between the tail puppy dog eyes. We carried on with the rehearsal, but nearly 5 minutes later, my buddy Brett Carlson saunters in like he’s right on time and quickly grabs a seat as he puts his feet up on the empty chair in front of him. Throughout the night, he was the target of friendly jabs from Rachel and some of the other cast. I know it doesn’t seem like it reading this, but as a group we were really beginning to bond already. Most of the time Rachel would have us sight read the section just to see what we can do. With me not being able to do that, I would focus my ear to hear what Brett was singing, because luckily he knows how to read music. So, thanks Brett for the help! ‘Preciate it.

During most of the rest of the week, our vocal focus was on the number “Snow.” I personally, am not a fan of the number. It’s not that it’s a bad song, or anything like that. I think I just may be over-Snowed or something. Nothing too interesting happening during this time except when Rachel would stop us because we were creating a few brown notes during the process. Um, you don’t know what a “brown note” is? I don’t know if it’s something that my friends had created during one night of our many “rousing” game nights or what have you. Without being too vulgar, I’ll just say that a brown note is a note that makes your stomach cramp in that bad seafood kinda way. Nuff said.

Week number two vocally continued with the intricately harmonized “Snow.” Although, I do have a question, what the hell is “shussing?” I am assuming that it is the sound the skis make during the activity, but I’ve never been skiing, so I can’t say for sure. It’s just a really weird word to hear and say. Ms. Director/Choreographer lady, Katie O’Bryon got us moving for the number “Let Yourself Go” and I freaking LOVE it! The movement is so Gene Kelly/Jack Cole in style that it is a pure joy to dance. It’s kinda hard to get pictures of it when I’m dancing, but I will try and have some for the next post. I got partnered with the AMAZING Valerie Valenzuela. She’s a ball of incredibly supportive positive energy who is always ready to work and laugh. I am so jazzed that I get to work with her on yet another show. Speaking of which, I am also delighted to be working with Ben Perez, Stephen Evans, Sven Schultz, Sean Carson-Hull, Frank Sherlock, Heather Schweitzer, Paul Hale, Andrea Stanley and of course Katie who were all in Sweet Charity earlier this year.

Then somewhere between week one and week two, one of our cast members Michael Carey who was supposed to play Sheldrake was nowhere to be found. The role of Sheldrake has now been picked up by Sean Bender. I didn’t get to see any of the rehearsals with Michael, so I can’t tell you the differences between the two, but Sean is making the most of Sheldrake and I am enjoying watching him play with this character. With crisis averted, the show plugged onward. Then some time over this past weekend, the wonderful Peter Schuurmans, bowed out of the show due to familial issues, and the cast has, in my eyes, lost a great performer. I hope that everything works out and that he is back on stage as soon as possible. Meanwhile, this departure has left the role of Private Phil Davis available. For those of you only familiar with the movie version, it would be the Danny Kaye role. Then I got a phone call Monday morning from Ms. O’Bryon, asking me if I would be interested in assuming the role. Well, yeah, I would, but the acceptance was a little bittersweet. There were many reasons why this isn’t a straight up joyous arrangement. First, I was truly looking forward to the camaraderie that seems to build throughout the run of the show by being in the ensemble dressing rooms. Second, I don’t get to dance with Val anymore. Third, I have to learn two weeks worth of work in four days to keep the show from falling behind schedule. Fourth, because it was under this particular situation. If it came to this because of an injury, then maybe I would be a little more happy about it. And NO, I am NOT wishing him any harm. He’s a great guy and performer, so don’t you try and twist my words around. Katie’s called ended with, “so…now this means you have rehearsal tonight.” Not that I mind, but I was all set to have the night off like the rest of the ensemble.

My first night in the new role was a bit stressful. I made sure to study the script and music for most of the day, but the music was still a train wreck when I got there Monday night. In my head, those little voices that said, “Why on earth did they choose you from such a strong cast,” began to play with my head making focus a little more difficult than usual. Luckily I was recording every note of that night, so I have something else to practice with. Also, the publishing company has this software called “Accompanease” which is what will be saving my hide during this transition. I have managed to create a playlist with most of the orchestrations and only the parts that I need to sing. Lucky for me that little bit of help is available.

Last night, I had to learn the dance break for “The Best Things Happen While Your Dancing.” A lot of fun, but I was expecting that. What I wasn’t expecting was how long the song was! The best way that I can equate it is, it feels like I have done so much cardio and I am getting to the point of where I have to stop, but then I push a little further past that. I don’t know how much I retained, but I know we will revisit that number again, so I am grateful for that.

So my friends, that’s how White Christmas is shaping up thus far. It’s going to be AMAZING! Katie’s staging/choreography is spot on and brilliant, the entire cast is strong and great to work with, and Rachel is drilling these numbers into our heads so well that we should know this music for YEARS. Even me, the guy with the awful memory!

I don’t have a lot of pictures right now, but you will be able to find them by clicking HERE.

Formulating…

I saw a lot of stuff this past weekend at the ZeroOne festival and I need to find the best way to put these things into words. Many many of this displays made me think about certain things, and there were one of two things that I was a little disappointed in. In addition to the evaluating what I saw, I just began rehearsals for WVLO’s White Christmas. So time to post and think has been a little limited. I believe that I should have a ton of stuff up on Thursday! I promise.