Well, dear readers, warning: Emotional notes ahead. And so L.A. Now and Then is, for now, done. But there are things afoot so keep your fingers crossed for a longer life for the show. We’ll know more in the next two weeks. Meanwhile we went out with two amazingly amazing shows yesterday, both of which were recorded live for the CD release that will happen in the next month or so.
So, let me just get all old and maudlin and say that this particular closing was super emotional for me – first off, I love the show, love my collaborators, and love the set, costumes, lighting, and stage manager and crew (each and every one doing a GREAT job), and our wonderful sound department. The band was fantastic – Richard Allen, our MD, and Randy Landas on bass, Ed Smith on drums, Grant Geissman on guitars, Dave Hill on reeds and Bob O’Donnell on trumpet. They were tight, exciting, and really understood the score.
But, as always, it’s working with the student actors that’s the most gratifying thing for me, and this cast was so lovely and so trusting and so willing to be taken out of their comfort zones, and boy did they deliver. It doesn’t matter if they were Broadway caliber it only matters that they stepped up to the plate, worked their butts off, and gave everything they had – and they were GLORIOUS and so much fun to watch.
Our two pros, Robert Yacko and April Audia were stellar and great role models for the kids – but they both brought real gravitas to the material. And the kids – let me just name them all and not in alphabetical order, but just as their names come to me: Elle Willgues (you watch for this gal, she’s something special and her performance of The Black Dahlia was one of the highlights of the show), Lamont Oakley (such a smile, such a personality, and such a willing and good actor), Kole Martin (funny, great energy, and the best Tricky Rickie Starr EVER next to the original), Sarah Barnett (a lovely soul and a hard worker who did a great job, Paola Fregoso (she began as an alternate and then got put in the show and it was one of the best things to happen to us – so sweet, so genuine and real), Jenny Bacon (our other alternate who also got put into the show and who was really fun to be around and to work with), Bedjou Jean (sweet, shy, and who really did a lovely job with my song Weekday Heroes), Shawna Merkley (another sweetie and a Canadian – fun to work with and a wonderful dancer and really good), Alexis Jackson (what a powerhouse she is – and a lovely person, too – great energy and uber talented), Kasper Svendsen (this kid is terrific and all his stuff in the show was wonderful), Michael MacRae (sweet, talented, and this show was a real challenge for him and not that easy, but he did great), and Prisca Kim (a bundle of energy and a great dancer and delightful person). I miss all of them already, but it looks like the one great thing that came out of this is that I’ll probably now come back once a year to direct a musical, which I’m thrilled about. And then many thanks to department chair Leslie Ferreira for being a great guy and so supportive, and Tony Maggio for always having our back. I’ll be seeing everyone again at the big banquet they do on June 6, the day after the Kritzerland show.
Both shows were completely sold out, not even one chair empty. Both audiences were wonderful and I had several chums there, including a few Kritzerland regular performers like Andrea Marcovicci, Keri Safran, and Sharon McNight. The cast’s energy was on high and while both shows had real highlights, for the recording purposes the matinee was the tightest and best for the musical numbers. After the matinee a few of us went to Café 50s – I had the same sandwich that I had on Thursday, but no fries. After the final performance, many teary goodbye for nows, and then a few of us went to Genghis Cohen and got some great food. At Genghis Cohen we had Adryan Russ, Doug Haverty, Robert Yacko, and student cast members Prisca Kim, Shawna Merkley, and Jenny Bacon.
Prior to all that, I’d gotten about six hours of sleep, I think, maybe less, but I didn’t really care. I did some stuff on the computer, then had to mosey on over to LACC to meet up with John Adams, our recording engineer. Getting there wasn’t so much fun, that I can tell you. I got off at Vine to take Franklin, but it was jammed and then closed at Gower – I couldn’t believe it. I doubled back, tried to take Hollywood Blvd. which was also jammed, went down to Sunset, which was also jammed, and finally to Santa Monica Blvd. which, thankfully, was empty. What should have taken twelve minutes took thirty. Damn them, damn them all to hell.
Today, I shall sleep as late as I can, then I’ll get up, make a show order, send singers their music, and begin writing the show commentary. Then at five-fifteen I’ll mosey on over to The Federal to see a show.
This week is very busy, mostly with Kritzerland stuff and preparing our next release for announcement, and I have meetings and meals, a work session with the MD of the Kritzerland show (a newbie for us), and seeing a couple of things.
Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must, for example, sleep in, do Kritzerland stuff, eat, and see a show. Today’s topic of discussion: It’s free-for-all day, the day in which you dear readers make with the topics and we all post about them. So, let’s have loads of lovely topics and loads of lovely postings, shall we, whilst I hit the road to dreamland, happy to have had a wonderful, if emotional, closing.