ONE FLEW OVER THE CUCKOO'S NEST

The Official Poster Photo for the Production

"Michael Hunter deserves a mention for his work as “Ruckly”. While “Ruckly” is a man of few words (and they’re mostly profanities), what he lacks in dialogue he makes up in physical presence. Hunter is required to remain in some damn difficult physical positions for lengthy periods of time, and Hunter’s commitment to character and physical stamina honor the character and this production."
Harry Duke, forallevents.info/reviews, November 2013


Date of Run: October 25-November 10, 2013

ROLE: Ruckly

Production photos by Eric Chazankin

My final show of 2013 was One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest by Dale Wasserman, based on the novel by Ken Kesey. This was the first show I did at 6^th Street Playhouse in Santa Rosa. I had been auditioning there for a few years and was never called back once, but with this show I finally made it in. The director of this show was Lennie Dean. I had originally decided not to consider this show since, out of all my options, it was the last one I'd consider doing.

At the general auditions, I did a comic monologue, which I felt did reasonably well and a song. That's a first. For this audition I felt I did better on my monologue than my song. That was a first. I originally had no desire to do this show because I felt that I would not be considered anyway since I was too young for any of the roles, except one, but I never thought I’d get it because it's a role many would want. Before auditions, Lennie asked which shows I was thinking of doing and asked if I was considering Cuckoo’s Nest. I told her I wasn’t sure and what my reasons were for my hesitancy. In my ignorance I didn’t realize she was directing and if I had realized I would’ve said yes in an instant. I had admired Lennie’s work for a couple years by then and everyone raved about working with her.

A couple weeks after auditions ended, I messaged Lennie asking for her opinion on my audition. She said that she remembered my audition from last year and was impressed by my growth. All I could remember the previous year was being lousy. Then she said she would be considering me for the role of Ruckly. I decided to check on the role and what it would mean. I found that he is a lobotomized patient who stands in a crucified position all the time.

During the run, Lennie would tell me that the artistic director of the playhouse leaned over to her while I was auditioning and said “Ruckly” to her while she was thinking the exact same thing. I guess I gave that vibe?

When it came time for my callback, I was late getting to the playhouse because a big rig jack-knifed and crashed on the freeway, slowing all traffic going into Santa Rosa. When I got there, she worked with me alone. For it she had me more or less throw a temper tantrum, screaming “I’m angry!” and other things, tearing around the stage. I almost cried a couple times. At the end, my voice was hoarse, but I tell you I had never felt so alive onstage before. Lennie was impressed by the different things she heard in my voice: the anger, the fear, the frustration. I was not guaranteed the role, however. She said she would take a night to think it over. I waited all day the next day for the phone to ring and when it finally did, I got the part. I was thrilled.

I had also been offered a part in the musical Brigadoon at a different company, but I turned it down because my last three shows had been musicals and I felt it was time for another play. I also wanted to play a character role rather than do another ensemble role and to this day I stand by that decision. I know I made the right choice.

The rest of the cast consisted of my friends Lito Briano, Nick Christenson, Arnie House, Justin Keim, and Alexis Long. The rest included Tice Allison, Nicolas Augusta, Crystal Carpenter, Taylor Diffenderfer, Jim Jones, Alan Kaplan, Stacey Kerr, Ed McCloud, Dallas Munger, and Jill Zimmerman. Many of them were people who I had seen before or who I had heard good things about and I wanted to work with.

We had trouble filling one of the roles, Aide Williams. Lennie wanted the role to be African American since that’s how it's traditionally cast, but African American actors are somewhat scarce in Sonoma County. We had one who was considering the role, but he decided not to do it. Then we found another, and all was going well until about a week before opening when he didn’t show up for rehearsal, and never contacted them. Then he came back a few days before opening saying he was ready to go, but he was dismissed.  In the meantime, we managed to find someone from San Francisco named Donyell Maurice. Nick Augusta, who played Aide Warren, worked with him to help him prepare for what he needed to do in the show, and he rose to the occasion.

My role was one of the smaller roles and in fact I believe most people would consider it a throw away role, but I took it seriously. Sometime before the callbacks, I found a copy of the original novel by Ken Kesey in a Goodwill store and set to work reading it right away. I also began preparing from the first read through. My role demanded that I stand in one spot for a long time holding my arms up, palm out, for long periods of time. The longest one was the second scene of the first act, and it was twenty-five minutes (I timed it during a performance). Every night, rehearsal or no, I held my arms up as long as I could to get ready for the run. I also spent time looking for the right facial expression I’d need. Lennie told me I also would have to wet myself and drool at times. I would have a special device for peeing myself. She had asked me if I was willing to do all that and I was. I also would have to shave my head, which I had no problem with because that’s what I planned to do after whatever show I did in the fall anyway. I mean I always looked good with a shaved head.

For rehearsals we were asked to wear things that patients would probably wear like scrubs or flannel pants and white undershirts and also slippers to help us get into character. When the show came, I wore dark scrubs for when I peed myself so that the water would show better and then either lighter scrub pants with a lighter scrub shirt or hospital gown, depending on the scene.

For one week, we had only two rehearsals that were devoted to character work before starting a full week of rehearsing. For one early rehearsal Lennie had all the patients come in without Ed (McMurphy) so that we would get an idea of how our characters were before McMurphy’s arrival. One by one we went up for various acting exercises. When my turn came, we discussed my character’s walk and stomach breathing for when I had to shout. I would have one line, which I’d say five times and it was “F-f-f-fuck em all!” Lennie wanted me to scream it because my character would be so angry that he couldn’t speak. For my walk I watched videos of babies learning to walk and also drunk people. Nick Christenson advised me not to use my abs or butt muscles when walking, which helped enormously. For holding my arms up, my friend and by then roommate, Kevin, advised me to hold weights up with my arms outstretched for as long as possible to help with that.

Before rehearsals could fully begin however, even before the individual character exercise rehearsal, I was struck by misfortune. I was hit by a car one morning while riding my bike on my way to work. I suffered only a hand contusion and some scrapes, but one of my shoulders was in a lot of pain so I had to stop holding my arms up until it healed enough. It was little more than a week before I could hold my arms up again without pain. Then, three weeks after that accident, tragedy struck.

On September 14, 2013, my father suddenly and unexpectedly passed away. I was devastated by it. I left for home for about a week and because of all that happened I did not feel like practicing holding my arms up. My father had worked in a mental hospital back in the 1960s as a psychiatric technician and a couple months earlier we were discussing what he did there and many stories on what he did and the types of patients there were. This was the one show I wanted him to see the most. In my absence the cast held a moment of silence for him one night and presented me with a sympathy card on my return, which truly touched me. While at home, I found an old patch of his from when he worked there which I framed and kept at my dressing station through the run. I resolved to dedicate each of my performances to him.



I remember when I first told him that I was going to be in the show. He asked which part I would be playing and I told him "Ruckly." Instead of asking who that was like most people would have, he asked, a bit excitedly, "Is that the one with no hair?!" So, he knew what my part was. He knew.

Lennie instructed me to always be in my crucified position even when the scene stopped and we worked through it. I did my best, but in the early stages, it was very difficult. The most could do was about eight minutes, but as time passed I got a bit better each time. Still it was quite a struggle. The one thing I waited for the most was one on one time alone with Lennie. I met a friend at a show who had worked with her before and he assured me I would get it, but as we moved closer to the beginning of the run, I began to wonder if she would have time. But then about a week before we were to start, she did.

Lennie had told me day one during my audition that she was not going to consider this a throw away role (I should hope not!). My one on one time began with my character’s back story. Lennie envisioned him as a former all American sports player who had lost weight since his lobotomy. She had other things for me to do other than stand there doing nothing. She told me to grunt and respond more to the action. She also had me do a sort of dance during the party scene and some motivation for saying my line. She also had Nick Christenson give me a drink (really water) during the party, which I put my own twist on by letting it run down my front, rather than swallowing it. I wouldn’t have drunk it anyway because the water was in a container that caused it to taste terrible. With all that, Ruckly began to take a stronger form; some in the cast even commented on the new things after rehearsal that night. I don’t think I ever stopped exploring him during the run.

I shaved my head a few weeks before the run to get used to the idea. By the time of tech rehearsal, it had grown too long so it was re-shaved during tech week It was not easy for me because there was no clear line for how they wanted my hair because the director, the costume designer and the costume shop coordinator all had different ideas for my scar, makeup and hair length. I decided to keep my head shaved as short as possible and they decided on drawing my scar on. For the two weekends after opening, I took a razor and shaving cream and shaved my head that way, which was tougher than you'd think. I only cut myself one time but, since it was behind my upper ear, no one noticed. During tech week, two make-up designers, Lani and Janelle Basich, who had done make-up for The Elephant Man, were brought in to help. They showed me how to design my scar and they designed my make-up to make me look gaunt, like I hadn't seen the sun since the lobotomy. I also decided to do the show barefoot rather than with slippers just so I could say I did.

Top: Close-up of make-up. Bottom: Close-up of scar.

  

My peeing device looked like this. It was a bulb used to suck snot out of babies noses attached to some sort of catheter. Both would be filled with water. The bulb would sit on my butt where I could press against the wall and the hose would run around my leg and be taped to the left of inside of my pants and would point up. I did my best to make myself as wet as possible, but it was tough because not all the water would go out and once the bulb was squeezed it was difficult to use it more. Later in the run, Ed (McMurphy) asked if I could wait a little longer on it because in between the time that I would wet myself and he would get to me, I would have dried enough for no one to see it. However, every time I did it, there would always be a puddle on the floor.



After adding the new things, the make-up, the drool, and the device, Ruckly was complete.

Me as Ruckly

Lennie and I also discussed where in the show I should be. I was in for many long periods of time. In fact, though I had few things to say I was on stage maybe 75% of the time. I also had to start the second act. At the top of the second act, there was a basketball game where I had to be the hoop. The game had to be staged and was done so by the assistant director, Clint Campbell. Before the show we had to have a call to run the moves almost every night. That part was scary for me. I was standing on a chair that was not the most stable because it was a cushy chair and it was hard not to look afraid of the ball coming at my face. I was always afraid that someone would get too caught up in the scene and accidentally hit me or run into the chair and knock me over.

The Basketball Game

This role required much concentration. I had to stare with a blank face for most of the time. I was usually looking at the floor so I usually never saw what was happening onstage. Later in the run I played a bit more moving my head, but never losing my facial expression. I also would move my shoulders and tighten my arms while holding them up, which helped a little, but even so it was agony. I had seen photos of some productions where the actor playing my role would rest his arms on pegs or something, but I had nothing like that holding me up. It was all me. Some people would tell me later that they noticed those little movements and that they did not envy my arms.

We were given one day off rehearsal on Wednesday before opening and then we had one preview performance before beginning the 13 performance run. The first night the house was about half full and the second two performances were the same. I was not doing too well the first weekend, because I was feeling very hot and light-headed at times. By Sunday I had to lay down at intermission because I was so hot and I felt that, as a result of all of it, I was not giving my all at that performance. Assuming the nurse role, Jill (Nurse Ratched), got me some water and told me to stay hydrated. During the first scene of the second act, after the game, I began to tear up. As soon as I got offstage I went to the bathroom and burst into tears. When I got home after the performance I cried some more. Exhaustion from the long week of rehearsals and performances and frustration from the thought of not giving my all really got to me.

I would peek at the audiences before the show started. I would look out a crack from the door that served as the elevator and also out of a hole in the wall on the stage left side. It gave me ample opportunity to see who was out there and how big the house would be. Yes, I'm one of those actors, so sue me.

A couple performances in I added something new to my character. The final scene of the first act has the patients are watching the World Series only to have the TV turned off by Nurse Ratched and sent back to clean. In the moment of silence, McMurphy gets the idea to imagine the game is still on. I don’t remember why I decided to do it, but in that silence I started humming, “Take Me Out to the Ball Game.” It was quietly the first time, so I’ve no idea if the audience heard me, but Nick Christenson did. I discussed it with Lennie after the show and she loved it. We decided to make that the inspiration for McMurphy to improvise the ball game. I didn’t hum it perfectly, but more labored as I felt that’s how it would’ve been done. 

The second weekend began on Halloween. That was definitely our smallest audience. It was probably a quarter full, if that. Other than that we played to packed houses. My arms took a large beating that weekend, doing five shows, two on Saturday. I would begin the week doing just fine, but when the Saturday matinee came they began to tire. Quite a few times I had to put my arms at a ninety degree angle, but they never went straight to my side. Every performance I knew that I just had to get past the second scene in the first act, which was the longest amount of time I stood there, and then it would get easier.

I cannot stress enough how doing two shows on Saturday were especially brutal for me, both weekends we did that. I did all I could to give my arms some rest, but it helped little. Both weekends some of the cast including Nick, Alexis, Justin, Donyell, our sound board operator Jared and I went to a restaurant in downtown Santa Rosa for dinner between shows. I did not go out to bars often after the shows due to having to work the next day. In fact I think I only ever went to a bar after the show twice.

On Sunday of the second weekend, my mother, aunt and uncle came. It was very difficult knowing my father would not be out there with them. A couple times backstage I felt a little teary, but I never showed it.

On the last weekend, my arms did not fare so well, not even in the beginning. On Thursday, I had to lower them a few times due to pain. On Friday we had a particularly responsive audience that laughed more than any other audience. My roommate, Kevin, came to see the show at the Saturday matinee. I peeked to see where he was, saw him and when it came time to yell my first “Fuck ‘em all” I hurled it right at him. He was amused. Since he was at this show I did my best to hold my arms up as long as I could. The second show was unbearable. On Sunday we had a sizable, but very unresponsive audience. At this performance I played a prank on Nick Augusta. At the end of the basketball scene he would take me off the chair by putting me over his shoulders and put me back on the wall, and at this performance I grabbed his butt, but not in a way that anyone but he and I would know.

The cast party was held at Jill’s house where we ate, drank and watched the film version of One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest in her backyard. And what a backyard it was! I brought a cheesecake, which again earned universal praise and also a chocolate cake.

This was definitely one of the better casts I worked with. It was a very strong cast where no one was miscast in their role. It was also a friendly cast, many of whom kept trying to boost my self-image. Quite often I would complain bitterly that I was unappealing to women and unattractive, but many of them kept trying to convince me I was wrong. It was bullshit of course, but I appreciated the gesture.


One of my favorite things about this show was all the candy we had in the dressing room for most of the run. Since it was Halloween during the run, we had much of it in little bowls all along the dressing room table.

This show gave me the chance to really get into someone else's skin and the result was a role I was truly proud of. I earned great acclaim from several audience members and also from members of the cast. In fact, my line “Fuck ‘em all” became the line everyone wished they could say. Many times after the show, weeks, months and even years later, I earned praise from total strangers who had seen the show, mainly people in the theatre community. In fact I heard that many in the audience kept saying “How does he do that?!” I think they were more impressed by my physical stamina than anything. But, whatever, at least people were noticing me. I was glad to have done this show and I consider this role one of my best, but I was happy when it was finished and I would not have to hold my arms up again and this is one role I will never play again. I don't think I could take it if I had to do it again.

On a final note, as Ruckly would say, FUCK 'EM ALL!

EVITA

Date of Run: June 21-July 21, 2013
ROLE: General and Chorus

My summer show of 2013 was Evita. This was my first show with the Raven Players or simply The Raven in Healdsburg. Auditions for this show were in late March. I had hoped very much to do this show because it would run for a month and then would end just before my vacation. The day that auditions were announced I signed up immediately. The director of the show was John DeGaetano, the music director was Les Pfutzenreuter and the choreographer was Melinda Murray.

I auditioned for the show on Wednesday March 20 at 7 o'clock in the evening. The other day was Saturday March 23 at 1 o'clock in the afternoon. I was forced to miss a rehearsal of Young Frankenstein due to that, but as it turned out I probably could’ve auditioned on Saturday and not been late to work since I worked the evening shift that night. However, since my schedule changed every week and my work week ends on Thursdays, I couldn’t take any chances. The auditions for this show were unlike any I’d ever done before. All who were auditioning were brought into the theatre and when we were up on the stage we were given a microphone to sing with. Unusual. I was the first one to audition for the show. They asked for a contemporary song so I sang “If I Can’t Love Her” from Beauty and the Beast. After everyone was finished we did the dancing.

Callbacks were on Sunday March 24 in the afternoon. At first I thought I would have to work so I said I’d come a little later, since I usually worked on weekends. Luckily I found that I would not have to work that day at all. Obviously I would not be considered for any of the three leading male parts since there were only three; two were out of my vocal range and the other was a much older man. So I would do the dancing. In the room there were about 25-30 women and I was the only guy. The routine they taught was very hard. So much kicking, jumping and turning. I was sweating big time when it was over. It took a while for me to get the moves down. At the end John said everyone had a place in the show. He picked the core dancers and secondary core dancers (not me) and everyone else was given ensemble. He then asked us to try to find “one hundred” men. His reason for so many was because this was a big show and he wanted a big cast. After he said that I checked how many were in the Broadway productions and it turned out the original Broadway cast had 50+ people and the 2012 revival had 45-50 people.

As soon as I got home I spread the word to people that they needed men. I said I could 100% guarantee they’d be cast. Only one person responded, but I guess he changed his mind because he didn’t do the show. The final cast itself is too large to list but consisted of exactly 51 people.

While waiting for rehearsals to begin, we were notified by email that they decided to extend the run an extra weekend so the show would now end on July 21. At first, I panicked because I was going out of the country for two weeks on July 18. I sent a reply stating that I couldn’t do that and that if it was a problem I would have to drop out. They told me it was fine, and I shouldn’t worry. Other people couldn’t do that weekend either.

Our first rehearsal was a meeting of the creative team and a first look of the cast. We received the contact sheet and a calendar of rehearsals. After reading it I saw that it was different than what I was accustomed to since some rehearsals were on weekends and in the afternoon. I would also soon not be available for a month due to my commitment to Young Frankenstein.

The first rehearsal where we started working was a music rehearsal on Saturday April 20. We spent two hours doing the first song, “Requiem for Evita.” It was necessary because we had to sing in Latin and get the tempo down correctly. Though we were given instructions on how to use an online accompaniment called Accompanese, I brought my recorder with me to all rehearsals for vocal pitch purposes. They decided to use this because they decided it would be more convenient than spending $400 on printing the script and score out for everyone. It took some time to memorize all of it.

After that rehearsal I did not return to the production for a month. Production for Young Frankenstein took up all of my time. The Evita rehearsals for May were mostly during the day on weekends and two days a week. This was weird for me because it caused me to have to juggle my job and other commitments. I worried that I was missing too much. There were many times when I thought that maybe I should just make a clean break and leave the production. I decided to wait and see how it played out and that I would not leave unless they asked me to. Luckily, I didn’t have to appear in too many scenes in this show. Or so I thought.

When I finally did return, I learned I would not be an aristocrat, but a general instead. No matter since either way I had to learn the blocking. So for the first half hour John had me go upstairs with five other guys who were generals. They reviewed it a lot, but no matter how much I asked they couldn’t tell me where exactly to stand or move. It took until the last five minutes before the entire cast reconvened before we got anywhere. The next two hours were for music. I had to sing more than I thought because apparently they wanted the ensemble singing everything, even if it was supposed to be a solo. For about 90 percent of the time we used the recording of the original Broadway production rather than use a rehearsal accompanist, except in music rehearsals.

 

The next rehearsal went better. I learned the first part of the General’s movement during “Peron’s Latest Flame” and then we learned some dancing for “Buenos Aires.” I did very well in that part. The two women I was partnered with to learn the steps for the partner section, Joy and Lauren, both remarked that I was very good. I wanted to keep going, just because I was enjoying myself.



With Lauren Trettin

 



On the first Saturday I returned we went through the first act and I discovered it would be rather relaxing for me. Over the course of rehearsal John threw me in here and there. In addition to what is already mentioned above, I would be a pallbearer in the very first song “Requiem for Evita” and also Eva's escort in “Charity Concert.” It wasn’t much, but I suppose I might have been in more scenes had I actually been able to attend earlier rehearsals. The following Saturday I found I was in the balcony scene, as was everyone else, and also in “Rainbow Tour” and “And the Money Kept Rollin’ In,” though for that song I didn’t learn what I would be doing a that rehearsal.

 

The Pallbearers in the Opening Scene

 

About a week after I returned, I met with Yvonne Wormer, the staff accompanist at Sonoma State University, to record my vocal part so that I could catch up faster rather than having to listen to someone next to me and possibly get lost. The music, however, was incredibly difficult. I can identify with Patti Lupone, the original Broadway Eva Peron, on this. She has stated in interviews that the music was very difficult and demanding and she practically screamed her way through the role. Most of the music in Evita is crazy belting, almost screaming (especially “A New Argentina”) and low and high notes jumping around all over the place. It wasn’t until tech week that the muscle memory was engrained in me, but I'll tell you now, by the end of the show I was in the best vocal shape of my life.

 

The principles were not there as often, at least not as often as the ensemble. They were given the full score. Since Evita has only three principle roles and they had the majority of the singing they would definitely need it. The role of Eva was double cast. One was named Lauren from San Jose and the other was named Ana from (wait for it) Argentina. Lauren, however, bore a closer resemblance to Eva Peron than Ana, in my opinion. I did not see Lauren until three weeks before we opened, but when we first staged the balcony scene which is the opening of the second act, Ana was the Eva we had. When she sang “Don’t Cry for Me Argentina” she started with the recording of Patti Lupone and then before John turned off the music a little into the song and she continued a cappella. She caught me by surprise by singing an extra verse in Spanish at the end of the song when it's solely music. She sang like an angel and at the end a few people were even wiping their eyes. Lauren was the same. I felt emotional after listening to both for the first time.

 

Costumes were going to be difficult this time around. The costume designer was Pam Enz, with whom I had worked with at the two Spreckels shows. She even told me at the cast party for Young Frankenstein that it was going to be difficult because The Raven didn’t have that many resources. She could provide a few things, in my case just the military jacket and hat, but we’d have to provide the rest if we could. I had the basics such as a black suit, white dress shirt and a white t-shirt. 

Then two weeks before we opened, I started shopping for costume pieces at the local Goodwill Store. Per Pam’s requests I found a bright colored shirt (red to be exact) for “Buenos Aires.” Whenever I think of what dancers would wear for a Spanish dance, such as the tango or the salsa, my mind jumps to bright red. I had an idea for my worker costume from viewing videos of the two Broadway productions. I thought of brownish pants or overalls and a beige or tan colored shirt. I found a shirt about the right color as well as a pair of suspenders I felt would match. I did not find the pants, but I would keep trying. I also had to find a pair of white pleated pants for my military costume. A hard find in a thrift store, but they did exist in the world at chain stores. Then a couple days later I found out that John changed his mind about what he wanted, and I would just be wearing black pants the whole time. Then after that I realized I would have to get rid of the tan shirt because I would have time to change in and out of it in the second act.

 

My costumes in the show, l to r: General, Worker, British Representative. My "Buenos Aires" costume is above.

In my opinion, and not to sound arrogant or self-promoting, I can say in all honesty that I think I was the best male ensemble member in terms of learning my material and even one of the better ensemble members because, even though I wasn't there as often as most of them, by the time the show opened I was more off book than they were. For a few simple steps in “Buenos Aires,” it seemed just about all the other guys in the ensemble was having some sort of trouble whether it was starting on the correct foot or turning the right way.

Some members of this cast I really never wanted to work with again. One guy was incredibly thick because whenever someone said something he often repeated it as if he didn’t know what it meant or asked me what they meant. One guy was completely incompetent, unable to remember even one single thing and always asking questions that had literally just been asked and answered by someone else while he was in the room. Obviously not a theatre person because even from day one he asked questions no true theatre person would ask because they would already know the answer. Apparently, he was also blind in one eye (as was Lauren, one of the Evas) and also had a bad leg and probably a mental problem (Not exactly fit to do a musical in my opinion). In short, he was a real piece of work. Another guy hummed along to the music and singing even while onstage, which I found very annoying. And one guy was just too mentally old to be doing musicals anymore, and he was not good at taking direction. In fact, a number of people had difficulty remembering many things.

I also loathed the assistant stage manager (ASM). Now, he was basically a real drill sergeant, the one trying to keep the cast in line. He was always yelling at us telling us not to put costumes backstage and to stop talking, goofing around and making noise backstage, a futile effort because people in general are incapable of such things. Ordinarily I would be grateful that there was someone like that, but there is a very, very fine line between handling the cast and being an asshole; I don’t care if he’s running around doing a million things at once. And this guy crossed the line. 

The final straw for me was two nights before we opened when they gave the ensemble microphones. I saw mics laying on the stage in the packs and assumed they were the principles. Granted, they did say they would hook some in the ensemble up with mics, but at no time did anyone say exactly who would be getting them or that the mics onstage were for the ensemble. Then just before we began the second act, the ASM comes over and tells three of us that they’re our mics and he was a real prick about it. Then he blamed us for not grabbing packs for them and we’d have to put them somewhere else. With the show being so disorganized and every technical detail being put off until the last minute even when it didn’t have to be and everything falling on his shoulders, I could understand him being frustrated. Regardless, I never spoke to him again and never wanted to work with him again.

In spite of him and the cast members I didn't like and contrary to what I wrote in the post about Young Frankenstein, I was friendly with some of the people, especially some of the younger cast. In the beginning I was definitely on my guard with the cast. I didn’t try to talk to anyone, but they kept reaching out to me and we ended up being friends. I especially goofed around with two guys Nate Mercier and Matt Doran. It took some time for me to truly warm up to the cast, but eventually the barriers were taken down somewhat.

The stage of the Raven Theater was very small, but the house was cavernous. The building was a former movie theater. The wing space was tiny and the audience would be able to see us no matter how much we tried to conceal ourselves, though this was lost on a number of people, who made no effort at all. The theater had no dressing room space. The set pieces was too big to be stored offstage without being seen or getting in the way and then shelves for props were added offstage which made it increasingly difficult to maneuver other set pieces off in the first act. And since they didn’t want people going outside and opening the doors, everyone was standing around and the little kids wouldn’t stay still. Offstage on both sides were microphones for the ensemble to sing into when not onstage. Offstage on both sides were a small television set hooked to a camera that focused on Les. Nicknamed “Les TV,” it helped keep us offstage left in time. He also mouthed the words with the singing, which was incredibly helpful.

This show had the worst tech week I ever had. I know it’s called “Hell Week,” but this really set a new low. Tech week began on Monday. In the past, theatres usually began tech week on Saturday and Sunday, both of which were cue to cue and lasted all day. But this time Saturday was a four hour day of rehearsal and Sunday was an hour and a half of rehearsal and most of the sitzprobe. This was the largest orchestra I ever had: 20 pieces. Looking back, I think it was a bit too large. Then on Monday and Tuesday we did the cue to cue. Tuesday was even worse because during the sitzprobe we only got through act one and now we had to combine learning the lights and music. There were mostly light changes, but both nights we got off at eleven. Then even worse was Wednesday where we ran the whole show, still filling things in and starting and stopping and we weren’t released until almost midnight. On Thursday we ran through some scene changes, amongst other things and were out by eleven. In fact we never got a full run through of the show without stopping as I constantly said we wouldn’t. I didn’t like this style of tech week at all. It deprived us of the chance to tighten the show before opening. But at least there were no notes at the end.

The Raven had no dressing rooms, at least not then. The leads had a dressing and make up area offstage right, but that was it. Due to the small space and little room backstage, we could not have costumes back there except for a quick change. The costumes and changing area had to be left outside in a tent. And to make matters worse they didn’t want us opening the doors going outside because then light would spill onto the stage. Of course, by the second act on all days except Sunday it would be a bit darker. I didn’t have a quick change until the second act, but what they wanted created quite a conundrum because I couldn’t have my general costume offstage and I couldn’t go outside to get it. I’m guessing they didn’t consider such things. The first weekend it was cool in the evening and quite windy and on Sunday it was cloudy, but the second weekend. In fact, it was about the mid-90s at times. The tent wasn’t much help. I think it held the heat in there and with so many people in there at times that made it worse. The third and fourth weekends were better, being cooler in the evenings, but the Sunday performances were still warm.

This program different from what I've seen. Rather than have individual photos, they had group shots. Unfortunately, they did them on a day when I wasn’t available, and they did no redos. They also asked for short bios from the ensemble, none of which made it in. And to further ruin it, my name was misspelled. TWICE! I’ve been dealing with people misspelling my name my whole life and all I can think is why is my name that hard to spell? It’s a common name, so it shouldn’t be hard to spell it. Apparently, they did ask us to proofread it when I wasn’t there, but they didn’t bother finding me and asking me to check mine. Honestly, I wouldn’t have used the program to line a bird cage.

I was afraid that opening night would be shaky because we never had a run through of the show, but thankfully, other than a couple minor technical mishaps and some missteps on some of the generals, all went smoothly and briskly. Unfortunately, we endured sound problems. Some said the music was too loud, others said the singers were too loud. Either way, it was very loud. The house was about half full. In fact, at every performance the house was at least half full. The largest house we had was on June 27, which was the discount night. We had the best audiences on my final weekend. I never saw if we had standing ovations or not sometimes because I was always standing behind others and other times because it was too bright to see into the audience.

This was not one of my preferred shows that I ever did partly because I was not doing as much. I was mostly offstage singing and standing around and in my few moments onstage I was on only briefly. Very briefly. In fact, now that I think about it, my entire stage time was probably twenty to twenty-five minutes give or take. My main part was one of the generals; that was the costume I wore the most. My two main moments as that were in “Peron’s Latest Flame” and “She is a Diamond.” In those moments we had to march. My years in the marching band served me well. I never once made a mistake in that part. We all got better and better at every performance. It always seemed to get tighter and tighter. For the final weekend one other guy, Paul, and I would be gone so only four would be left.

 

The Generals

I did not want to do another summer show at this theatre after doing this show, at least not unless they got dressing rooms, mostly because of the heat. It drained what little energy I usually had doing a matinee show. I also was not sure if I wanted to do another show in Healdsburg mostly because of the cost of the gas. However, the show itself was very successful. We were never given a review in any publication, but the audience members enjoyed it immensely. Several commented that we should be on Broadway!

I would not mind doing this show again simply because it helped with my singing tremendously. As the run continued, I felt I was singing better and stronger than I ever had in my life. I had an easier time reaching the higher notes. One of the two Evas even complemented my voice.

About a month after the show closed, I found, to my immense surprise, that I was paid for doing this show. I assumed I wouldn't be paid for doing this show. They said they would pay according to distance and role, but I did not assume for a minute I would receive anything. Go figure.

SONOMA STAGE WORKS PLAYFEST 2013

Date of Shows: June 1 & 2, 2013

This was a minor theatre venture during the summer of 2013, at the same time as the run for Young Frankenstein and rehearsals for Evita. However, it is worth mentioning because it was my first show of any sort in the city of Sonoma. This show was part of the Sonoma Theatre Alliance season and was also the inaugural new play festival for them. 84 plays had been submitted and 12 were selected. I first heard about this from a Facebook event post by my friend Chris Ginesi. He and, as I found out at auditions, two other friends of mine, Nick Christenson and Jessica Short, were also directing a short one act or ten-minute play in this festival of readings of new works. The purpose of this festival was to read them for an audience who would then vote on the ones they liked the most because the winners would be given a fully staged production in September. I felt it was worth checking.

I had had experience in reading new plays before at Sonoma State in the three semesters I took a playwriting course. I would go further into detail on those, but that's for another post if I can dig up all those memories. I also had experience from Thomas Madigan and the August Circus (see that post). So, I was no stranger to the experience of staged play readings. However, unlike the times I did the readings for the playwriting class, this time I would have to audition and prove my worth to the directors.

The auditions for this show were the first weekend of April and were in Sonoma at a church, while the show would be taking place at the Sonoma Community Center. They wanted two contrasting monologues which did not have to be memorized. Which was lucky for me because at the time I didn't have any memorized nor did I have the time to memorize. After some searching, I found a couple monologues for characters about my age and took them in. The auditions consisted of standing in front of the directors, of which there were about eleven for twelve plays. Surprisingly, I got a few laughs from my comic monologue. Up to then that had never happened before. Nick Christenson told me afterward that they were very good monologues and that he was tempted to steal them.

Two directors, Monica McKey and Jessica Short, spoke to me about reading the next day for the plays they were directing, The Answer and The Unabridged Kama Sutra, respectively. Another, Karen Devaney, asked me to do her play, He Had Wings as the EMT, who had a couple lines at the very end. I accepted that one. The following day I read the two plays at callbacks. Later that night, I was contacted by the two directors. Monica decided not to use me; Jessica, while not wanting me for Kama Sutra asked me to do another one that she was directing, Horny Like the Wolf. I said I would do it, but I would like to read the script first. She sent it to me. I was laughing out loud while reading it because it was so funny. It centered around an officer who tells a woman her husband died and she is shockingly overjoyed and then tries to seduce him, while he is bewildered and very uncomfortable. After sings the title a la the Duran Duran song, she succeeds in getting him to want to have sex. At that moment her husband arrives alive. Turns out the officer came to the wrong apartment. She asked me to be the officer and there was no doubt in my mind that I was doing it. The role was perfect and too good to pass on.

All that was required for this was a couple rehearsals. I thought they'd take a lot of juggling with my other commitments, but luckily it worked out somewhat since in April and May, rehearsals for Evita were not too frequent. I had two rehearsals for He Had Wings, the first of which was on a night I had off from Young Frankenstein and it was at Karen's house in Sonoma. This play is about a nurse who checks on a WWII vet and is startled to see that he had a problem with his feet and can't walk. The vet relives experiences of the war. His daughter, frustrated at him, has him taken to the hospital at the nurse's urging. Karen decided not to read the stage directions as some directors did in this show and instead decided to utilize my talent and have me do it. She said I had a wonderful reading voice. She never really had notes for me because I was doing my part perfectly. Also cast in this show were Saskia Baur, Sheila Lichirie, and Al Christenson. Our second rehearsal was a couple weeks later, which was when Young Frankenstein was up and running and I was a little more available.

It was around that same week that I was supposed to have my rehearsal for Horny Like the Wolf. Saskia was also in that play along with another actor playing the husband. Unfortunately, it backfired on me because at work they made me work the evening shift that night. Fortunately, Karen and Jessica worked something out. Since my second rehearsal for Wings was only one hour, Jessica came over to Karen's house. She worked with me and Saskia, first by having us read the script and then improving the script with the same idea. It was a lot of fun. Good thing Jessica and I were friends beforehand and she was understanding and also because Karen was very gracious.

The show was designed so that six of the shows would be in the first show and the other six in the second show. I had He Had Wings the first night and Horny Like the Wolf the next day. For dress we were to wear just black. For our dress rehearsal we weren't required to do that. Our dress rehearsal was on a night I managed to get off from Evita rehearsal. Rehearsals for Evita included weekends during the afternoon. The Sunday show for the readings was at two and, very luckily, I was not called to rehearsal that day.

A few times I carpooled with Saskia to and from Sonoma. I always looked forward to that because she and I would chat on and on about our theatre experiences and other Sonoma County theatre news, memories and goings-on. The one downside was that it made the car rides go by too quickly.

Before that weekend I wondered if we'd have a sizable audience for the show. Surprisingly, we did! For both performances we had packed houses, about 30-40 people in the audience (not including the playwrights and directors for the shows that would be presented for that performance). I'm sure we were all pleasantly surprised at that.

Both performances were about two hours. The first night went very well. My show was fourth in line and first after intermission. The only damper for me was that on the way home I did not feel very well in my stomach. It felt like I needed to throw up and when I got home and tried I couldn't. After I laid down on my stomach for a while I felt better.

The second performance was even better. It seemed like the funnier plays were in the second show. The first three brought the audience to a real high. My show was the second one up. In this performance I almost flubbed a line by saying something that would have skipped a section and caused the next few lines to be meaningless, but I caught myself. As they say, "Acting is reacting" and if that's true, then that's what happened in this play. Saskia really held nothing back in her performance, even adding things she hadn't in rehearsals. I had never heard so much laughter in any show I had done up to then, not even the two comic Spreckels shows I had recently done. This probably was the funniest play I ever did, and it was a struggle and at times not to laugh during it. We both got a lot of laughs. Many people congratulated me afterward saying I did a good job.

After both performances the playwrights of that performance had a talk back to the audience for 20-30 minutes. After the show on Sunday, I joined directors Chris Ginesi, Nick Christenson, his parents, the show's stage manager Diane, and my friends Alexis Long and Nora Summers (also acting in the show) at Mary's Pizza Shack for dinner. Nick, Chris and Nora were rehearsing for a show that evening in the same place as this show and had a little time to kill. It was a great time.

This was a wonderful experience. Eventually I found out that neither play I did garnered enough votes to make it to the full staged production. Shame really, because I saw that later on with many of the same actors, and I would've loved the chance to reprise my roles, especially the police officer.

YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN

Date of Run: May 10-19, 2013
ROLE: Ensemble

Production photos by Eric Chazankin

Young Frankenstein was my spring show of 2013. It was again at Spreckels and virtually the same team as Forum: Gene Abravaya, director, Richard and Sandy Riccardi, music directors and Mikey Snyder, choreographer. There were even six actors from Forum, seven including Mikey: Me, Sam Starr, Matt Lindberg, Chelsea Smith, Abbey Lee and Tim Setzer (again playing the lead). This production was the North Bay premiere of this show. That was exciting.

Forum reunion, l to r: Matt, Me, Tim, Sam, Abbey, Mikey and Chelsea

Auditions for this show were in December. A couple weeks passed and I heard nothing back from Gene about being cast or not. Around New Year’s I spoke to others who had auditioned and they said that they had either been cast or notified that they were not cast. Yet, I still heard nothing for a couple more weeks after that and I just assumed I wasn’t cast. Then a little into rehearsals for Forum Gene pulled me aside and asked me if I was still interested. As it turned out, I had been cast all along, but for some reason, when Gene sent out the offers he missed me. I accepted and was cast in the ensemble.

The cast for this show, in addition to those already mentioned, included John Shillington, Denise Elia-Yen, Jeffrey Weissman, Allison Rae Baker, Mary Gannon Graham, Dwayne Stincelli, Braedyn Youngberg, Abby Chambers, Don Clancy, Samantha Connelly, Brenna Erbst, David Harris, Sidney McNulty, Antoinette Paris and Tricia Siegel.

Between the final performance of Forum the first rehearsal of this show was a full month. It was a very long month. Originally, I was supposed to do Hamlet in that time, but it got cancelled. With that gone I had nothing to do and I was dealing with such boredom. 

Before the first full cast read through, Gene had three dance rehearsals: Tuesday March 19 through Thursday March 21. We staged the first song “Happiest Town in Town” on Tuesday. I couldn’t be there on Wednesday because I was auditioning for Evita at the Raven Players in Healdsburg. On Thursday we did “Transylvania Mania” for three hours. The steps were very hard and it was quite the workout; we were all sweating hard by the end of this rehearsal. I began thinking Mikey was a sadist. This dance became a little less exhausting after each rehearsal, though once we added in the singing we were slammed down again.

For a few rehearsals we continued to do the dancing, especially “Transylvania Mania.” In fact, now that I think about it, we did that dance at every rehearsal at least once. On the third day of rehearsals we started the choreography for “Join the Family Business.” The dancing for this song was difficult enough, but one move I had to do was a move you might see from a Russian dancer where you squat, stick one leg out the side and repeat. When Mikey asked if anyone could do it or would be willing to do it, I said I would. It wasn’t as hard as I thought it would be, but before I got used to it, it was murder on my thighs, especially after doing it over and over; it even started hurting only minutes after we started resting. I definitely thought Mikey was a sadist during this.

 

In all there were five big dance numbers in this show: “Happiest Town in Town,” “Please Don’t Touch Me,” “Join the Family Business,” “Transylvania Mania,” and “Puttin’ on the Ritz.” I was only in the second half of “Happiest Town.” I was not in “Please Don’t Touch Me” because of a lengthy costume change I had to do, and I would not be able to change in and out quickly enough. At first, I dreaded having to do “Puttin’ on the Ritz” because it meant I would have to tap dance, which I did not know how to do. The first time I tried it was at an audition for another show. It was harder than I ever imagined it would be and I sweated more from that than I ever did from “Transylvania Mania.” Weeks into rehearsal I learned I would not have to do that dance (Lucky me!).

Coincidentally in the two songs that required partners, "Family Business" and "Mania," I was partnered with Abby Chambers. I think it's coincidence because I never noticed nor even looked to see if anyone else was partnered with the same people.

 

About a week into rehearsals, we began learning the music. At first Sandy tried to have me sing the tenor part, but after trying to learn only the first song, I thought “Uh-uh.” I was not about to repeat the experiences I had in Reefer Madness where my throat hurt after every rehearsal. It was too much of a strain. My vocal teacher/coach at the time, Christopher Trujillo, took one look at the music for the tenor part and advised me empathically not to do it. I would try to apply the techniques I learned from Chris while learning the score and I truly believe it helped me. Sandy was more present than Richard this time, most likely because more ensemble singing, of which there was not much in Forum.

 

In the opening scene I was cast as the Herald or town crier. I know for a fact I was supposed to be a villager, specifically the baker. Fitting I think since I am very well known for my cooking and baking. I don’t know why they changed it, but they must have had their reasons. Being the Herald meant I had to start the show. My first line was sung, and it was “Make way! Make Way!” It was at the E above middle C and briefly touched the F, which made me nervous. I went over it with Chris, and he advised me on what vowel sounds to use. After a couple times I was able to do it. Immediately after that my first spoken line was “Make way for the funeral procession of Dr. Victor von Frankenstein. Maker of Monsters.” I projected the hell out of that line. Though I would have a microphone, I felt for this particular moment I wouldn’t need one.

My next big moment was in the second scene during “The Brain.” I did not have to sing or even speak. I was Mr. Hilltop, the man who gets kneed in the groin. I would be brought on the stage lying on a gurney pushed by Antoinette and Matt. It was fun making the exaggerated “hopping” off the gurney (though no one ever laughed at it) and then crossing my eyes and making the moan in pain when Tim got me (when I made the sound, people did laugh). The moment before I came on stage was my favorite in the show because I would get to lie down and rest for a moment before the cue came to push me on.

"Why you mother grabbing bastard!"

After that I had a break in which I would change into my Nazi costume for the train scene. Sam wanted to be the Nazi desperately, but Gene assigned it to me. It was a long piece by piece change into a costume for a moment onstage that lasted probably ten seconds, if even that, but the costume designer, Pam Enz, said it was her favorite part because it looked perfect. What that says about her, I don't know. After this I had to change into my horse costume, which meant putting on my clothes for “Family Business” then sliding into a paint suit and putting on a horse’s head. 

“Surprise” was the hardest song. Or at least it was supposed to be. The song is a jazz number and written with Elizabeth (Denise) as the lead singer, Frau Blucher (Mary) and Igor (Jeffrey) singing on the side, and a five member entourage singing in five part harmony. Due to the short amount of rehearsal time before the run, Sandy had everyone in the entourage sing Elizabeth’s part. The entourage consisted of Don, Sydney, Tricia, Antoinette and me. I was Bob, the astrologer. Mikey had Don and me lift Denise up in a square lift and spin around during part of it. Before that there was a moment where I would be on all fours with Denise sitting on top of me with everyone else around her. Originally the song was supposed to end with her fainting (trust falling) into my arms, but it was changed to where she fainted center stage. I think she was scared of the trust fall. Due to all the moving around the entourage did onstage, Sandy had everyone else in the ensemble sing the song in the pit.



As Bob, the astrologer. "Your moon is in Venus. So don't despair, love is in the air." With Denise as Elizabeth



The set pieces were enormous. We first used them in a designer run in late April. Even on a stage as big as the one at Spreckels, it was going to be tough due to the little wing space. After that first day, we’d have five days to tighten the scene changes. There were pieces that were only used once in the first act, but some couldn’t be moved out of the way until intermission because they were on stage left and the big holding area was stage right. My first thought was “Oh no, I hope it’s not going to be The Elephant Man all over again.” That first night several pieces broke for one reason or another, not to mention several needed to have locks fixed or added because it was scary when pieces slid onstage. Once we got some stagehands it became smoother, but some of the actors still had to help.

 

When cue to cue came, they would not give me the shifts I asked for at work and as a result I missed more than half of it. I spent two days trying to get them to change it, but they wouldn’t budge. The first day I worked 8-4. It was a rough day and when I got to rehearsal they had moved past “Family Business,” which was where I had a break in the show. Everyone was elsewhere so I sat in the lobby for a bit, reading. But I was so angry and frustrated at what had happened. So much so that after a few moments I locked myself in a closet in one of the rooms that wasn’t being used and I cried. I needed that release. On the second day I worked from 8-2 and when I got to rehearsal, they had just come back from lunch break and were running the scene transitions. I felt it very useful; It reminded me of when I did The Elephant Man, which certainly could’ve used a full rehearsal running the set changes.

 

As we entered the final stretch before opening, we ran into small problems here and there, mostly due to the addition of new things. The notes afterward were insufferable because after Gene, Sandy and Richard gave their notes, people voiced problems and concerns (some petty and some that didn’t really need to be brought up). Worse, at times people would start talking and joking about a note and that added unnecessary time. It was usually 11:30 by the time I got home. And I lived right in town! I couldn’t wait until opening when there would be no more of that.

 

One of the highlights of tech week for everyone was having a dog in the pit. One of the keyboard players brought his little dog with him and it sat on his lap or lay on the floor next to him while he played. It was adorable.

 

The night before we opened disaster struck during “Family Business.” Toward the end of the song, we were to be in two lines in a V-shape behind Tim and Dwayne as they passed between the lines, first facing stage left and then turning around as they went by. That night however as I turned around, for some reason my leg stuck out and Dwayne tripped over it, slammed into Tim and fell. It all happened so fast I have no idea why it happened or what it was that I did wrong, but it was my fault. Not all on stage saw it; For example, the person behind me in our line didn't because she was shorter than I am she didn’t see past me. Those that did see it however were in horror and thrown off for a moment. Dwayne was apparently fine and he joked about it after since he had a great sense of humor, but I felt so guilty. Gene apparently didn’t see it because he was writing notes. Since that moment I made sure to be very wary at that moment and not to turn until Dwayne was fully past me. Unfortunately, that was the night that a taping of the show was made, and it appears on the DVD we could purchase later.

I had eight costume changes in this show and played seven different roles. In the first act I began as the Herald then changed to a villager (just changing an outer garment and adding a hat) then Mr. Hilltop, then a Nazi, then a horse, then a mad scientist (already under my horse costume) then back to a villager. In the second act I began as a villager then changed into Bob, the astrologer and back to a villager. No photo of me as the Herald exists.

My costumes, in order: villager, Mr. Hilltop, horse, ancestor, Bob the Astrologer. Photo of me as the Nazi not included.

Opening night was a huge success because we had 250+ in the audience and they stood and cheered at the end. At the beginning as I stood offstage left with everyone else, waiting for my cue I was so nervous since I had to start the show, but I did it! When the show ended, the curtain closed and the cast jumped up and down, even dancing with each other in celebration.

On opening night Sandy surprised us with something special. She knew Shuler Hensley, the original Monster on Broadway. He sent us autographed flyers of the Broadway production as well as a personalized note, which Sandy copied and gave to all of us. He made a separate one for Braedyn (the Monster), this was ours.

It was positively thrilling.

This was the first time I ever did two shows on a Saturday. My schedule went like this: I would end the matinee and spend 15-30 minutes talking to friends (though they only came the first weekend), then I would go home, wash my hair so I could restyle it, eat a meal, rest, come back and get ready for the second show. Gene bought pizza for us on the second Saturday between shows. I also removed and reapplied my make-up because I felt it was messy after a show and I wanted to look my best.

 

The first Saturday matinee was fine, but the Saturday evening was even larger than opening night was, maybe reaching over 400 people. This audience was also more responsive than opening night. Quite unexpectedly, the next day (Mother’s Day) we had an audience that was more or less the same size as Saturday night. Quite unusual for any ordinary matinee let alone on Mother’s Day. I know it was a holiday and people take their mothers out, but a show with numerous sexual innuendos and jokes somehow doesn't come to mind as the place you would take your mother. They were not as responsive as the previous night, but we didn’t care. The only damper was that I had work right after that performance. All in all, it was a successful opening weekend, though I paid a heavy price for it.

On Saturday night after the second show at midnight Sam Starr rounded up a few in the cast and crew including me, Abby, Matt, Braedyn, and Sidney to go to Sonoma State to “pillage” the campus. In those days, at the end of every school year, students would throw out tons of clothes and appliances and put them in the laundry rooms, more so in the upper-class dorms. We all went around midnight to see what we could find. We all walked away with a few goodies. I almost didn’t go because I felt a bit uneasy toward the end of the show, but it was a fun night. I did not get home from that adventure until around three in the morning. I slept until eleven the next day, but it wasn’t enough. This, coupled with working on the busiest day of the year at my job, drained every ounce of energy I had. After the first weekend it took me two days to fully recover.

 

We received universal praise from critics and audience members alike, many saying we “raised the bar” for Spreckels and North Bay musicals and theatre. One review however, stated some problems with the show including the orchestra being off-key at times, pitch problems with the ensemble cast and some dance numbers being uneven. Guess you can't please everyone.

Then the second weekend came. Thursday was a big audience that stood and had many bows. On Friday the audience was bigger, and it also stood. This night was one of my better nights as the Herald. The Saturday matinee audience was small and unresponsive, even more than the previous Saturday matinee. The evening performance, however, was probably our most responsive yet and huge; most of the lower level was full and quite a few were in the upper level. It was only marred by the fact that there was no one I knew in the lobby afterward. Sunday was possibly our biggest audience of all. I'm sure there were very few seats in the lower level and more in the upper level than there had been. My parents were there, and it was possibly my best show as the Herald.

 

Though there were several moments the audience ate up every time such as Allison's yodeling during "Roll in the Hay," there was one moment in the show which never failed to elicit cheers from the audience even the unresponsive ones. And that was Mary’s performance of “He Vas My Boyfriend.” Her raunchy, powerfully voiced rendition of the song brought down the house every single performance. And I mean every performance. And when she came out for her bow, she always seemed to get the biggest applause.

 

I wish I could say that the show was a joyous experience, and it was at the beginning, but as time went on, I slowly began to suspect something was wrong. By the time the run started I realized there was. I felt like most of the younger cast members (I’ll say 30 or under) had issues with me. Over the rehearsal period I made comments which Matt called “backhanded.” I think I upset some of them by saying things that they interpreted the wrong way, though I stand by a lot of what I said, and I also said things that I meant as a compliment, but how I delivered it made moments a bit awkward. But some of them got upset because they disagreed with me.

To begin with, I simply did not think Jeffrey was right for his role (Igor). If it was a straight play, maybe, but he simply did not have the musical in his bones. Whenever he moved about the stage during his songs he did not seem to watch where he was going. While the show was in rehearsal the stage apron, which lowered to below the stage into the orchestra pit, was up and one night I saw his walk over it while he was singing. If it were a show, it wouldn't have been there, something that we needed to pretend. Not only that, but he often seemed to be off tempo with the music. I could see John discreetly moving his hands conducting him trying to help him keep tempo. Whenever I made any mention of these things, the only counter argument anyone could give me was "But he's so nice!" O...K?

Abby Chambers, in particular, had issues with comments I made about a show that she was one in that I had seen some months before. I told her exactly what I thought of it. I thought the two leads in that show were not very good, in their own way, and that was the only issue I had. And she just about threw a fit over it, mostly because they were her friends, and she didn't agree with me. God forbid there be even a little criticism in one of her shows.

I think I was just too honest in my remarks for them to handle and that I stepped on their egos, especially Abby Chambers. I’ve never felt very popular in a few casts of shows that I’ve done and there have been casts that I’ve never connected with, but this one hurt, though I don't know why. Perhaps it never hurt before because I did nothing to intentionally cause trouble. I’ve always thought that if I showed up, did my job and put all I could into my performance that would be enough. Maybe I was wrong, but I think I coexisted more peacefully with previous casts because I usually didn’t say anything to them. In this show I was also never invited or informed if the cast were going out or hanging out after rehearsal.

To make matters worse, I got on Gene’s bad side. Gene rarely ever got mad at anyone, unless they did something really bad, so I really messed up if I made him mad. In my Mr. Hilltop moment, I deliberately disobeyed a direction from him.  He wanted me to get off the gurney a certain way that was unlike the movie and more like how it was on a bootleg recording of the Broadway production. I was afraid it wouldn’t get any laughs. So, I did it the way it was done in the movie. Call me naïve, but I hoped my way would be funnier. Looking back now, I'm ashamed I did that. I did this until the second Saturday. That day Gene made it a point to come into the dressing room saying, in a very stern tone, it bothered him that I wasn’t doing what he asked me. In an effort to make peace I did it his way. It didn’t get laughs either. Tim said that he thinks it was because his next line “Nice hopping,” was the funny punch-line to clarify for the audience what I was doing; he was probably right. After that I decided to back away and not to audition for Gene's shows, at least for a while, in an effort to give him space and to let time heal all wounds.

Because of all this I couldn’t wait for the run to end, even though I could’ve easily done another weekend. I was literally counting down the minutes saying, "Just one more day, just one more day." It was making me very uncomfortable to feel like I was upsetting other people and ending the show put me out of my misery. It really helped to ruin the experience for me. It made me not want to talk to anyone in the cast of my next show.

About a year later we were nominated at the San Francisco Bay Area Theatre Critics Circle Awards and we won six awards for Best Ensemble, Best Choreography, Best Musical Direction, Best Feature Female (Mary), Best Principal Female (Denise), and Best Production.

This was possibly the most successful show that I had done up to then. Except for the Saturday matinees we got standing ovations after every performance. Complete euphoria. I’m glad to have done it, despite the turn for the worse. Looking back I’m glad that the production of Hamlet fell apart so I could do this show without any problems.