Date of Run: February 9-19, 2012
ROLE: Ike Skidmore
Photos by myself, Alyce Hunter, and Linnea Mullins.
Oklahoma was my first Broadway musical at SSU. Lynne Morrow, the musical theater director of the school and my vocal coach, had been trying to do this show for years because her father had come from Oklahoma. Now she was finally going to get to do it. I was excited to finally have the chance to do a real Broadway musical at SSU. I even delayed graduating a year just to do it. Then I found out that the theatre department was also doing A Midsummer Night’s Dream. I wasn’t happy about this because if there was one Shakespeare show I wanted to do it was that one. But I knew I couldn’t do both shows.
Since my audition was on a Friday, I paid a visit to the music theatre scenes class and ran over my songs with Yvonne. That class was where students gathered songs that they wanted to sing and crafted an original show with them. I couldn't take the class that semester, but I could drop in for one day. It was that day when I first met Kevin Ockelmann. My biggest memory of that meeting was when he and I sang "Hakuna Matata" together. Though it didn't seem like anything special at the time, I now look back on it with fondness. You'll see why as you continue reading this blog because Kevin is bound to come up later.
For the show, I auditioned with 16 bars from “I’ll Never Say No” from The Unsinkable Molly Brown, and “C’set Moi” from Camelot, a monologue from A Steady Rain and the Queen Mab monologue from Romeo and Juliet. Seems like a lot in only a few minutes. It was one of my better auditions.
At the same time, I was also auditioning for My Fair Lady at the Santa Rosa Junior College. Henry Higgins is my dream role, and I would have given anything to play it. However, the director, though giving me a fair chance, told me my acting wasn’t good enough for that role and I was "too young" to play it. Then she cast someone barely older than me and who could pass for thirty at best, but not middle-aged. I was infuriated. The following Monday I was cast as Ike Skidmore in Oklahoma. I was upset at this also because I wanted the role of Jud, badly. Henry Higgins is my number one dream role, but Jud is a close second. It was a role I could’ve connected with because I had pain from my past I could’ve applied. However, at the same time I felt vindicated because the character of Ike Skidmore is in his 60s. HA!
The show was to be directed by Adrian Elfenbaum, a friend of Lynne’s, with Lynne doing music direction of course. The choreographer was Nancy Lyons, with fight choreography by John Sullins. The dialect coach was Stephanie Hunt. The stage manager was Heather Radovich. Yvonne of course, would be the rehearsal pianist and the piano player in the pit. A month into rehearsals she gave me one of her complimentary tickets she’d gotten for She Loves Me at Cinnabar Theatre in Petaluma. She knew I’d appreciate the musical.
In the cast were my friends Zach Hasbany, Jon Ostlund, Chris Colburn, Noah Zepponi, Vanessa Begley, Heather Steffen, and Kirsten Torkidson, my now friends Alex Cummins, Kevin Ockelmann, Christopher Gonzalez, Haley Woods, Haley Walker, Jessica Rose, Shaun McGinley, Talia Trozzo, Max Jennings, Tomio Endo and others including Kim Hoffman, Luis Rojas, Lawrence Ricardo, Aubrie Alexander, Kim Savage, Emili Lewis, Asella Medina-Smith and Nichele Van Portfleet. A month into rehearsals Heather left the cast, for reasons I don't know, and she was subsequently replaced by Laura Millar.
Our first two rehearsals were read throughs. We sat at tables forming a square facing each other. Shaun was to my right and Kevin to my left. Before beginning, after the directors explained their direction for the show, I brought out a playbill from the original 1943 Broadway production of Oklahoma. All were impressed. All rehearsals were the same as Die Fledermaus, Tuesdays and Thursdays with one Saturday a month in the fall semester and then five days a week in the spring semester.
Most of the time was spent on music and the rest on the staging. In the staging the men had to wear boots, vests and cowboy or straw hats while the women wore boots and skirts. It was to get a feel of the period. We also had to learn an Oklahoman accent and were taught by Stephanie Hunt. I had a leg up here because my mother’s family was from Indiana which had a lot of similarities to Oklahoma. We moved through staging rather quickly being ahead of schedule.
I disagreed with some aspects of the direction of the show, but then I'm sure everyone does in some show they done. I won't go into details, but my main issue was that the directors seemed to be trying to copy the London production of Oklahoma that starred Hugh Jackman, even going as far to request a script like that one (only to be turned down by the Rodgers and Hammerstein estates).
Weeks and weeks in, we began full choreography with Nancy. She had already started to choreograph the “Dream Ballet” weeks earlier, which I was not in. I was only in two dances, "Kansas City" and “The Farmer and the Cowman,” which was the biggest dance number after "Dream Ballet." At the same time, we learned the fight choreography with John Sullins. Adrian and Lynne wanted to begin this scene by raising the curtain revealing a huge fight. I was partnered with Kevin.
My fight with Kevin began with him pushing me down, coming down about to punch me when I grabbed his arm and threw him off. Then I got up and we grabbed each other pushing each other back and forth until he punched me. I went down and got up acting in pain then punching him in the gut. I originally was supposed to hit him in the face, but he felt it wasn’t working because he had his arms up ready to fight. In his mind he could easily stop the punch. I think we could’ve worked it with him lowering his guard, laughing, when he saw me in pain, allowing me to punch in the face. I never saw any of the other fights happening until I got a recording of a performance.
In “The Farmer and the Cowman” we didn’t have much dancing, but rather walking in patterns. Then at the end we had a grand right and left. I think Nancy could’ve done so much more, but the directors weren’t letting her do much because of the cut music.
John staged those fights and then the fight between Ado Annie (Audrie) and Gertie (Emili) and the fight between Jud (Jon) and Curly (Zach). There was also a small fight in the middle of “Farmer and Cowman” that began with a punch. I took it upon myself to make the punching sound always trying to hide behind someone to do it, but in the taped performance if you watch me, you can clearly see me doing it. Before the last fight the men had to carry Zach around before Jud entered then at the moment when Jud would attack Curly with a knife we had to grab him then be thrown off. I got softly kneed in the groin once. Enough to cause me to fall back to the ground, but I was not in pain.
My character was supposed to have a solo during that song, but for some reason they made it a duet between me and Zach. When I asked why Adrian said it was because Aunt Eller (Kim Hoffman) pointed a gun at everyone, uniting them. I didn't think it logical and I didn't see why I couldn't have a solo. Zach had enough singing already. Then one day in November Vanessa (Laurey), Zach and Jon came in later due to shooting publicity photos. So I sang the duet myself. I belted it and sang it with power. So they gave me two lines of it for myself, though I still would rather have had the whole thing to myself. Zach was playing the lead and had enough singing of his own, so I felt that he shouldn't have other people's things too.
I was going to have a lot of backstage time in the first act. I would come on for the scene before “Kansas City,” do that song, say a few more lines and that was it. I’d be in the second act more, first for “Farmer and Cowman” then the auction scene, the wedding, then “Oklahoma” to the end. The shivaree was one of my favorite moments because I was leading it. I’d be going on, skillet and spoon in hand, getting the other men on, then we’d all make a lot of noise.
In this show Lynne wanted rope tricks and it was as though fate was on her side. In one of her music classes, she asked if anyone could do some rope tricks and someone raised his hand. His name was Tomio Endo. He worked on farms and with animals and was wonderful to watch as he did his tricks. He was only in “Dream Ballet,” just to do that. At one rehearsal he even hogtied me, though no one took a photo in spite of everyone seeing it. Before someone could we had to begin rehearsal. Some nights his rope tricks were good, but other nights, his tricks were not as good. Fortunately, the night I chose to record the "Dream Ballet" from the wings for myself was his best night. I didn't notice it at first because I was too focused on making sure I got the whole dance, but when I watched it, it really was his best of the whole run. He did not mess up and have to stop once. I gave him a copy of the recording because I felt he deserved to remember it.
Over the course of the six-month rehearsal period the cast bonded. We were all friendly and caring toward each other. It was as if we became our own community. We did this on our own without any acting exercises. I and a few other men in the cast were very tight. This little group consisted of Me, Noah, Zach, Jon, Chris Colburn and Kevin. We were always picking each other up, sometimes over the shoulder and carrying each other around. In the spring semester this group and most of the men in the cast plus a few other friends even had a guy's night at Noah's house after hearing of the girls having a girl's night.
Zach was a real goofball and that was his style. But what I found odd was how much he talked to me during the course of the show. He constantly stated that we were best friends (though in my opinion he and Noah were best friends). All the while all I could think was "Where the hell did this come from? We hardly said two words to each other during Die Fledermaus." But, whatever.
Noah was awesome and funny. I remember the first time Adrian staged Noah's first entrance in the show. Noah would enter after a few other men came onstage. Then as Noah walked on he slipped, literally on nothing and landed flat on his butt. We all burst out laughing. I had known Noah only sort of before this show, but we became really close after doing this show. However, we did and still do disagree over the use of microphones in musicals.
This was the third show I did with Chris Colburn at SSU. I had only done three shows at SSU up to then, but Chris was involved in all of them in some way. I consider him like a little brother to me. It was a thrill to act alongside him after a couple years of him working as a techie in some shows I did and also taking a couple classes with him. My fondest memory of him during this show is during his birthday. A large group of us in the cast and a few others went to Applebee's for dinner and then continued at Noah's house. At one point I was sitting in a chair, and he comes over a bit tipsy. I pulled him onto my lap. Sadly no one got a photo of this.
In the fall semester the cast and directors took a trip to Tara Firma Farms in Petaluma. I carpooled with Kevin and Jessica. We saw chickens and baby chicks, got to pet pigs, and learned about life on a farm. It was a fun experience. A pig that had mud all over it came up behind me and sniffed my pants getting them dirty.
After winter break, we resumed rehearsals. It took only half a rehearsal to remember everything. We had a slight problem once we moved into Person Theatre. The vocal quality in this show was a bit weak. Some people had no problem being heard, but most of the cast sang too softly and I could barely hear them even from a few feet away. I can't speak for myself because I never heard myself. Microphones were desperately needed; they had choir microphones hanging over the stage, but it didn't help because they were never turned on.
Lynne refused to use microphones and her solution was for the orchestra to play very quietly to where they could barely play at all. One member said to me after a rehearsal that he had never played so quietly. Needless to say, “Dream Ballet” was their favorite moment. The one time where they could really play full out. To this day every time I tell a musical actor that SSU doesn’t use microphones (not then anyway) in musicals they look at me as if I’ve lost my mind. I used one in Growing Up in Neverland while I was the centipede because I was underneath the stage, so they probably still exist.
A week after rehearsals resumed, I blew out my voice. I was taking the music theatre scenes class for the final time and was singing many different songs in class and I got a bit carried away. I felt my throat suddenly in pain and I could barely speak after class. I told no one though for fear of getting a lecture. For a little more than a week my voice was weak, but I could still sing, though not my high notes, and after about a week it returned. At one point I didn’t speak for two days.
Tech weekend was long as usual. During it, I had homework to do and, regrettfully, couldn’t hang out with the cast during lunch breaks no matter how much they asked me. During tech week I had to learn to age. I was shown how to apply age lines on my face and whiten my hair and beard, which was difficult. I tried baby powder which failed then a liquid whitener. They wanted me to use only a little, but since they live in an era where people can dye hair, I don’t think they understand that people’s hair can grey in their fifties. My father’s hair was grey by his early fifties, so I felt justified in doing it my way. Every performance I had to gel and style my hair, wait for it to dry then whiten it.
I developed my character over time. I decided that since Ike was a rancher and had been riding horses all his life he was bow-legged and didn't stand straight. I decided that Ike and Aunt Eller were young lovers and Ike still carried a torch for her. I never discussed it with Kim or the directors, but I portrayed it that way during the scenes before and after “Kansas City.” I also had to be careful not to be too agile or flexible in my dancing. I didn't think Ike danced often and when he did, he would not be as good at it due to his age. For example, during "Kansas City" there was a moment where everyone jumped in the air with arms and legs wide. I couldn't jump as high or have my limbs out so far because of the age.
In this show we generally had no problems except for two nights. The first was a missed cue on the second night. Zach was ending “Surrey with the Fringe on Top” and I waited in the wings stage left for my cue. I was supposed to enter with Chris Colburn and Lawrence behind me. For some reason I looked behind me, I guess as a final check, and Lawrence wasn’t there. I panicked for moment and whispered to Chris, asking him frantically what we were gonna do. But before he could answer I heard my cue. We went on. The next few lines went like this.
Me: Hi Eller.
Kim: Hi Ike.
Me: Curly. You git the wagon hitched up?
Kim: What wagon?
Chris: There’s a crowd of folks comin’ down from Busheyhead for the box social.
Lawrence had the next line. I waited a moment, hoping maybe he came on when I wasn’t looking. Nothing. So I said his line. Kim responded with her next line and the scene went on. Then a group came on before Noah, though not everyone who was supposed to be on. The rest including Lawrence came on a few moments later. One person (I don't remember who) literally danced on as “Kansas City” began or so she said. We were told off for that and no one missed a cue afterward. I wasn't wearing glasses or contacts so I could not see Kim and Zach's faces clearly (in fact I'm not sure I was even looking), but I can only wonder what went through their minds when only two of us walked out on stage. Noah was not happy either about what happened in the least.
The other night we had a problem concerned Yvonne. One night she forgot her music at home because she thought she had left it at the theatre and had to go all the way back to Santa Rosa to get it. We started anyway, though it didn’t sound the same without the piano. She did not make it back until the fourth song “I Cain’t Say No.” Nobody gave her a hard time though because after all, she was Yvonne.
One night was a sing along night. The audience was given lyrics to sing along with, though not to every song. Some in the cast didn’t like it, but I did. It showed how much they were into it. Some even dressed in cowboy hats. Another performance was a student matinee for high school students. We couldn’t have the full orchestra due to their day jobs, just Yvonne at the piano. It wasn’t the same, though nobody had trouble getting over the music.
In this show we managed to obtain a real surrey that some of the men would roll out for the end of the show. It was an authentic piece. I don't remember where it came from, but it was rented and returned at the end of the run.
After every show the cast had a party, half of them at Noah’s house and the other half at Heather and Vanessa’s apartment with one also at Kim Hoffman's apartment. This probably wasn’t a very smart thing to do because being in a musical means being a monk as well as an athlete. I was at most of the parties, but I took it very easy drinking little and talking little. As a result, my voice stayed strong and healthy. I only had four solo singing lines and I wanted them to count. A couple others however, partied too hard and drank too much and as a result their voices weakened a bit.
At one party I brought a case of Coors with me that I needed to get rid of desperately. Tomio in particular was ecstatic. When one of Noah’s roommates (jokingly) called me a buzz kill, right that instant Tomio appeared right at my side and defended me saying "Whoa, you did not just call Michael Hunter a buzz kill! He brought a large case of beer!" The roommate took back what he said.
During the course of the run, I recorded the songs and other moments from the wings for myself. When I had to be onstage, I had a crew member record for me. Unfortunately, the one song I didn't record was "Farmer and Cowman" because the person I had record when I was onstage in my other moments was the one who fired a gun from offstage and then handed it to Kim who then came on with it. I also didn't get the finale, though I don't know why.
The strike for the show took only an hour, mostly because we couldn’t do much with the set yet. After it was done we took at least thirty minutes saying goodbye. Some people started crying. Then a moment later, I started crying. I was heartbroken to end this show, mostly because I was graduating and I had gotten so close to the cast. It was a bit strange not seeing everyone there on a regular basis after six months. Though I disagree with some members of the cast on how good the show was, I had fun and I wouldn’t have traded my time doing this show for anything. As people began to leave, I stood in the center of the stage looking out into the audience, remembering my time there and thinking "Until next time." Then I turned and walked out the door.
After the run, the cast, crew and directors met one last time as sort of a post-run discussion on what we learned and if we had anything to say. It seemed everyone spoke about something. I spoke too. I hope I didn't sound too corny when I said this, but I said that when I started doing theatre at SSU two and a half years earlier I never knew how good it would be. All the friends I'd make. I said that since I started, I was never happier in my life. And I meant every word of it.
For the show, I auditioned with 16 bars from “I’ll Never Say No” from The Unsinkable Molly Brown, and “C’set Moi” from Camelot, a monologue from A Steady Rain and the Queen Mab monologue from Romeo and Juliet. Seems like a lot in only a few minutes. It was one of my better auditions.
At the same time, I was also auditioning for My Fair Lady at the Santa Rosa Junior College. Henry Higgins is my dream role, and I would have given anything to play it. However, the director, though giving me a fair chance, told me my acting wasn’t good enough for that role and I was "too young" to play it. Then she cast someone barely older than me and who could pass for thirty at best, but not middle-aged. I was infuriated. The following Monday I was cast as Ike Skidmore in Oklahoma. I was upset at this also because I wanted the role of Jud, badly. Henry Higgins is my number one dream role, but Jud is a close second. It was a role I could’ve connected with because I had pain from my past I could’ve applied. However, at the same time I felt vindicated because the character of Ike Skidmore is in his 60s. HA!
The show was to be directed by Adrian Elfenbaum, a friend of Lynne’s, with Lynne doing music direction of course. The choreographer was Nancy Lyons, with fight choreography by John Sullins. The dialect coach was Stephanie Hunt. The stage manager was Heather Radovich. Yvonne of course, would be the rehearsal pianist and the piano player in the pit. A month into rehearsals she gave me one of her complimentary tickets she’d gotten for She Loves Me at Cinnabar Theatre in Petaluma. She knew I’d appreciate the musical.
In the cast were my friends Zach Hasbany, Jon Ostlund, Chris Colburn, Noah Zepponi, Vanessa Begley, Heather Steffen, and Kirsten Torkidson, my now friends Alex Cummins, Kevin Ockelmann, Christopher Gonzalez, Haley Woods, Haley Walker, Jessica Rose, Shaun McGinley, Talia Trozzo, Max Jennings, Tomio Endo and others including Kim Hoffman, Luis Rojas, Lawrence Ricardo, Aubrie Alexander, Kim Savage, Emili Lewis, Asella Medina-Smith and Nichele Van Portfleet. A month into rehearsals Heather left the cast, for reasons I don't know, and she was subsequently replaced by Laura Millar.
Our first two rehearsals were read throughs. We sat at tables forming a square facing each other. Shaun was to my right and Kevin to my left. Before beginning, after the directors explained their direction for the show, I brought out a playbill from the original 1943 Broadway production of Oklahoma. All were impressed. All rehearsals were the same as Die Fledermaus, Tuesdays and Thursdays with one Saturday a month in the fall semester and then five days a week in the spring semester.
Most of the time was spent on music and the rest on the staging. In the staging the men had to wear boots, vests and cowboy or straw hats while the women wore boots and skirts. It was to get a feel of the period. We also had to learn an Oklahoman accent and were taught by Stephanie Hunt. I had a leg up here because my mother’s family was from Indiana which had a lot of similarities to Oklahoma. We moved through staging rather quickly being ahead of schedule.
I disagreed with some aspects of the direction of the show, but then I'm sure everyone does in some show they done. I won't go into details, but my main issue was that the directors seemed to be trying to copy the London production of Oklahoma that starred Hugh Jackman, even going as far to request a script like that one (only to be turned down by the Rodgers and Hammerstein estates).
Weeks and weeks in, we began full choreography with Nancy. She had already started to choreograph the “Dream Ballet” weeks earlier, which I was not in. I was only in two dances, "Kansas City" and “The Farmer and the Cowman,” which was the biggest dance number after "Dream Ballet." At the same time, we learned the fight choreography with John Sullins. Adrian and Lynne wanted to begin this scene by raising the curtain revealing a huge fight. I was partnered with Kevin.
My fight with Kevin began with him pushing me down, coming down about to punch me when I grabbed his arm and threw him off. Then I got up and we grabbed each other pushing each other back and forth until he punched me. I went down and got up acting in pain then punching him in the gut. I originally was supposed to hit him in the face, but he felt it wasn’t working because he had his arms up ready to fight. In his mind he could easily stop the punch. I think we could’ve worked it with him lowering his guard, laughing, when he saw me in pain, allowing me to punch in the face. I never saw any of the other fights happening until I got a recording of a performance.
In “The Farmer and the Cowman” we didn’t have much dancing, but rather walking in patterns. Then at the end we had a grand right and left. I think Nancy could’ve done so much more, but the directors weren’t letting her do much because of the cut music.
John staged those fights and then the fight between Ado Annie (Audrie) and Gertie (Emili) and the fight between Jud (Jon) and Curly (Zach). There was also a small fight in the middle of “Farmer and Cowman” that began with a punch. I took it upon myself to make the punching sound always trying to hide behind someone to do it, but in the taped performance if you watch me, you can clearly see me doing it. Before the last fight the men had to carry Zach around before Jud entered then at the moment when Jud would attack Curly with a knife we had to grab him then be thrown off. I got softly kneed in the groin once. Enough to cause me to fall back to the ground, but I was not in pain.
 |
| Preventing a fight between Curly and Jud |
In the music there are no choral groupings except for “Oklahoma.” In everything else everyone who sang in groups sang the same notes. Even those who wouldn’t be onstage for certain songs would learn them and sing from offstage. Lynne spent most of the time teaching that song. I was placed in the bass section, forced again to listen to those around me and memorized the notes that way. In the section were also Zach, Jon and Noah. We were the strongest section of all, both sexes. When we went through each section and sang the group part of the song, we only made one small mistake, but other than that it was perfect. Everyone applauded us. At first I didn't agree with so much time on that song, but when I watched the taped performance later, it sounded beautiful and I realized it was not time wasted.
My character was supposed to have a solo during that song, but for some reason they made it a duet between me and Zach. When I asked why Adrian said it was because Aunt Eller (Kim Hoffman) pointed a gun at everyone, uniting them. I didn't think it logical and I didn't see why I couldn't have a solo. Zach had enough singing already. Then one day in November Vanessa (Laurey), Zach and Jon came in later due to shooting publicity photos. So I sang the duet myself. I belted it and sang it with power. So they gave me two lines of it for myself, though I still would rather have had the whole thing to myself. Zach was playing the lead and had enough singing of his own, so I felt that he shouldn't have other people's things too.
 |
| My solo moment |
In addition to that I also had two solo lines in “Oklahoma” The first was “It ain’t too early and it ain’t too late,” which was easier and the second was “Plenty of air and plenty of room.” The second line was tough and no matter how much I went over it, I’m not sure I ever got it right.
I was going to have a lot of backstage time in the first act. I would come on for the scene before “Kansas City,” do that song, say a few more lines and that was it. I’d be in the second act more, first for “Farmer and Cowman” then the auction scene, the wedding, then “Oklahoma” to the end. The shivaree was one of my favorite moments because I was leading it. I’d be going on, skillet and spoon in hand, getting the other men on, then we’d all make a lot of noise.
In this show Lynne wanted rope tricks and it was as though fate was on her side. In one of her music classes, she asked if anyone could do some rope tricks and someone raised his hand. His name was Tomio Endo. He worked on farms and with animals and was wonderful to watch as he did his tricks. He was only in “Dream Ballet,” just to do that. At one rehearsal he even hogtied me, though no one took a photo in spite of everyone seeing it. Before someone could we had to begin rehearsal. Some nights his rope tricks were good, but other nights, his tricks were not as good. Fortunately, the night I chose to record the "Dream Ballet" from the wings for myself was his best night. I didn't notice it at first because I was too focused on making sure I got the whole dance, but when I watched it, it really was his best of the whole run. He did not mess up and have to stop once. I gave him a copy of the recording because I felt he deserved to remember it.
 |
| Tomio the rope man |
Also, only in for “Dream Ballet” was Alex Cummins, who was playing Dream Laurey, and Nichele Van Portfleet, who was one of the dream dancers. During one rehearsal when they added headpieces to the girls, Jon was running very late so Nancy asked me to step in for a moment where one went under his legs to see if she could do it with the headpiece. I stood with the four girl dream dancers around me all over me until Jon arrived. I wasn’t gonna complain about having to do this. Nancy had needed a pair of long legs and mine were sufficient.
Over the course of the six-month rehearsal period the cast bonded. We were all friendly and caring toward each other. It was as if we became our own community. We did this on our own without any acting exercises. I and a few other men in the cast were very tight. This little group consisted of Me, Noah, Zach, Jon, Chris Colburn and Kevin. We were always picking each other up, sometimes over the shoulder and carrying each other around. In the spring semester this group and most of the men in the cast plus a few other friends even had a guy's night at Noah's house after hearing of the girls having a girl's night.
Zach was a real goofball and that was his style. But what I found odd was how much he talked to me during the course of the show. He constantly stated that we were best friends (though in my opinion he and Noah were best friends). All the while all I could think was "Where the hell did this come from? We hardly said two words to each other during Die Fledermaus." But, whatever.
 |
| Me and Zach |
Jon was probably the last person I ever would've expected to be cast as Jud. Jud is supposed to be a big, burly, scary and imposing type and Jon, while standing at 6'4'', was not burly. He was very skinny. Also Jon was the nicest person I had ever met. When you met him for the first time he would hug you, not shake your hand. Jon was an Asian and I felt that it didn't work with the show because there is no way an interracial coupling would've happened in 1907 America, especially in a time when Asians were not even citizens. I'm was a history major in college and I'm a bit anal about such things. Anyway, Jon did give the best hugs. I remember once when I had a bad day at work and I asked him if I could have a hug. It did make me feel better. A joke I pulled on him was during a rehearsal one day when I said that I supposed he got Jud because they needed somebody who could use shifty eyes. Then he said, in a joking manner, "What are you saying Michael? You got a problem with Asians? Huh? Huh?" At which point I responded with "Wait. You're Asian? I didn't even notice." He couldn't keep a straight face and hugged me, laughing.
 |
| Me and Jon |
 |
| Me and Noah |
 |
Me and Chris |
After winter break, we resumed rehearsals. It took only half a rehearsal to remember everything. We had a slight problem once we moved into Person Theatre. The vocal quality in this show was a bit weak. Some people had no problem being heard, but most of the cast sang too softly and I could barely hear them even from a few feet away. I can't speak for myself because I never heard myself. Microphones were desperately needed; they had choir microphones hanging over the stage, but it didn't help because they were never turned on.
Lynne refused to use microphones and her solution was for the orchestra to play very quietly to where they could barely play at all. One member said to me after a rehearsal that he had never played so quietly. Needless to say, “Dream Ballet” was their favorite moment. The one time where they could really play full out. To this day every time I tell a musical actor that SSU doesn’t use microphones (not then anyway) in musicals they look at me as if I’ve lost my mind. I used one in Growing Up in Neverland while I was the centipede because I was underneath the stage, so they probably still exist.
A week after rehearsals resumed, I blew out my voice. I was taking the music theatre scenes class for the final time and was singing many different songs in class and I got a bit carried away. I felt my throat suddenly in pain and I could barely speak after class. I told no one though for fear of getting a lecture. For a little more than a week my voice was weak, but I could still sing, though not my high notes, and after about a week it returned. At one point I didn’t speak for two days.
Tech weekend was long as usual. During it, I had homework to do and, regrettfully, couldn’t hang out with the cast during lunch breaks no matter how much they asked me. During tech week I had to learn to age. I was shown how to apply age lines on my face and whiten my hair and beard, which was difficult. I tried baby powder which failed then a liquid whitener. They wanted me to use only a little, but since they live in an era where people can dye hair, I don’t think they understand that people’s hair can grey in their fifties. My father’s hair was grey by his early fifties, so I felt justified in doing it my way. Every performance I had to gel and style my hair, wait for it to dry then whiten it.
 |
| Me in full costume, hair and make-up |
I developed my character over time. I decided that since Ike was a rancher and had been riding horses all his life he was bow-legged and didn't stand straight. I decided that Ike and Aunt Eller were young lovers and Ike still carried a torch for her. I never discussed it with Kim or the directors, but I portrayed it that way during the scenes before and after “Kansas City.” I also had to be careful not to be too agile or flexible in my dancing. I didn't think Ike danced often and when he did, he would not be as good at it due to his age. For example, during "Kansas City" there was a moment where everyone jumped in the air with arms and legs wide. I couldn't jump as high or have my limbs out so far because of the age.
 |
| Looking through the Little Wonder before Kansas City. Photo by Linnea Mullins. |
Opening night, I had never seen the house that full for the musical show since West Side Story years earlier. I got a brief glimpse at the end of “Kansas City.” It was nearly full. In fact, except for our first Sunday show, we played to packed houses. I think if SSU did away with the operas brought in popular musicals and famous plays they might actually make some money to keep their program thriving. After the show many of us went to the restaurant Shari’s for dinner.
In this show we generally had no problems except for two nights. The first was a missed cue on the second night. Zach was ending “Surrey with the Fringe on Top” and I waited in the wings stage left for my cue. I was supposed to enter with Chris Colburn and Lawrence behind me. For some reason I looked behind me, I guess as a final check, and Lawrence wasn’t there. I panicked for moment and whispered to Chris, asking him frantically what we were gonna do. But before he could answer I heard my cue. We went on. The next few lines went like this.
Me: Hi Eller.
Kim: Hi Ike.
Me: Curly. You git the wagon hitched up?
Kim: What wagon?
Chris: There’s a crowd of folks comin’ down from Busheyhead for the box social.
Lawrence had the next line. I waited a moment, hoping maybe he came on when I wasn’t looking. Nothing. So I said his line. Kim responded with her next line and the scene went on. Then a group came on before Noah, though not everyone who was supposed to be on. The rest including Lawrence came on a few moments later. One person (I don't remember who) literally danced on as “Kansas City” began or so she said. We were told off for that and no one missed a cue afterward. I wasn't wearing glasses or contacts so I could not see Kim and Zach's faces clearly (in fact I'm not sure I was even looking), but I can only wonder what went through their minds when only two of us walked out on stage. Noah was not happy either about what happened in the least.
The other night we had a problem concerned Yvonne. One night she forgot her music at home because she thought she had left it at the theatre and had to go all the way back to Santa Rosa to get it. We started anyway, though it didn’t sound the same without the piano. She did not make it back until the fourth song “I Cain’t Say No.” Nobody gave her a hard time though because after all, she was Yvonne.
One night was a sing along night. The audience was given lyrics to sing along with, though not to every song. Some in the cast didn’t like it, but I did. It showed how much they were into it. Some even dressed in cowboy hats. Another performance was a student matinee for high school students. We couldn’t have the full orchestra due to their day jobs, just Yvonne at the piano. It wasn’t the same, though nobody had trouble getting over the music.
In this show we managed to obtain a real surrey that some of the men would roll out for the end of the show. It was an authentic piece. I don't remember where it came from, but it was rented and returned at the end of the run.
After every show the cast had a party, half of them at Noah’s house and the other half at Heather and Vanessa’s apartment with one also at Kim Hoffman's apartment. This probably wasn’t a very smart thing to do because being in a musical means being a monk as well as an athlete. I was at most of the parties, but I took it very easy drinking little and talking little. As a result, my voice stayed strong and healthy. I only had four solo singing lines and I wanted them to count. A couple others however, partied too hard and drank too much and as a result their voices weakened a bit.
At one party I brought a case of Coors with me that I needed to get rid of desperately. Tomio in particular was ecstatic. When one of Noah’s roommates (jokingly) called me a buzz kill, right that instant Tomio appeared right at my side and defended me saying "Whoa, you did not just call Michael Hunter a buzz kill! He brought a large case of beer!" The roommate took back what he said.
During the course of the run, I recorded the songs and other moments from the wings for myself. When I had to be onstage, I had a crew member record for me. Unfortunately, the one song I didn't record was "Farmer and Cowman" because the person I had record when I was onstage in my other moments was the one who fired a gun from offstage and then handed it to Kim who then came on with it. I also didn't get the finale, though I don't know why.
The strike for the show took only an hour, mostly because we couldn’t do much with the set yet. After it was done we took at least thirty minutes saying goodbye. Some people started crying. Then a moment later, I started crying. I was heartbroken to end this show, mostly because I was graduating and I had gotten so close to the cast. It was a bit strange not seeing everyone there on a regular basis after six months. Though I disagree with some members of the cast on how good the show was, I had fun and I wouldn’t have traded my time doing this show for anything. As people began to leave, I stood in the center of the stage looking out into the audience, remembering my time there and thinking "Until next time." Then I turned and walked out the door.
After the run, the cast, crew and directors met one last time as sort of a post-run discussion on what we learned and if we had anything to say. It seemed everyone spoke about something. I spoke too. I hope I didn't sound too corny when I said this, but I said that when I started doing theatre at SSU two and a half years earlier I never knew how good it would be. All the friends I'd make. I said that since I started, I was never happier in my life. And I meant every word of it.
That missed cue was the scariest thing ever. Thanks for covering, Ike!
ReplyDelete-Eller