Busy bee

Hey all -

Please don't think that I'm a deadbeat dad to my very own blog. I don't mean to neglect. Things have been nutty busy, since, in addition to putting up a new show, I was also playing the role of Maid of Honor this weekend. I had bridal shower duties. And right now, I am brutally tired. So I will give a better update when I have a little more brain power. In the meantime, found this little nugget on Talkin Bway -

http://www.talkinbroadway.com/allthatchat/d.php?id=1771944

An honorable mention! You people are reading! Now look to the left of your computer screen and sign up to become a "follower." I promise I won't make you drink the Kool Aid. Ok, I'll talk at ya tomorrow, when I can see straight.

You better BeBelieve it!

I had my first Bebe Neuwirth sighting today in the green room of our rehearsal space. I knew it was only a matter of time. She was trying to get a soda out of the vending machine, which was broken. I did the same thing yesterday. A woman after my own heart. Everyone needs Diet Coke after 12. We're chuggin right along with Act Two. People Magazine was there today, taking pics and doing interviews!!! How cool is that? Very, I say. And with every passing day, I discover my Collie a little bit more. That may be cryptic to some, but all who are involved will understand... it's very tricky when developing your own dialect...Irish pirate.

Alright, back to chaos of life outside of New 42.

An afternoon off!

It's a rare happening, but I had the entire afternoon off. Done at noon. Whhhhaaa? It must be a sign of the apocalypse... that, and the fact that the marquee at B.B. King's says that Sanjaya is playing there. Tragic. I fully expect to see the four horsemen buying a ticket to that one. Since I was only there for the morning, not too too much to report, except the fact that we had multiple cameras there, filming B roll, taking pics of the rehearsal process, documenting the experience and what not.

Oh and I almost knocked Joan Marcus out. For those of you in the business, you know her name. For those of you not in the biz, you should know that she is THE primary photographer of all things theatre. She was moving around, taking candids and stuff. I was rehearsing a hip hop move with Garett and she walked clear in my hip hop exit path. So what have we learned from this experience? Never make me do hip hop.... and if you do, keep all important theatrical peoples far, far away from me.

Ok, I'm taking advantage of my hours off (aka napping)

Ahhh, the difference a day can make.

Or two. We had TWO days off. I, however, did more labor than resting. And so did a handful of cast mates. That sounds so... "pirate." I wonder if pirate will be the next trend in television, like vampire being so trendy now. Really, if I see one more ad for a vampire based series, I'm gonna hurl. I was really confused when AM NY did a whole newspaper insert of all the places vampires like to hang out in the city. It was all an effort to promote True Blood, though I thought it was for real. My favorite part was when they did "man on the street" interviews and gave people's ages... Jane, 126 years old, from Williamsburg likes blah blah blah. For serious. I was sucked in hook, line, and sinker... but I digress, as usual.

We are in our new rehearsal digs, which are FAB! Thank the maker for one whole wall of windows that looks out over Madame Tussaud's museum. Not only is natural light a refreshing break from the buzzing flourescents of Ripley, but the view of the people going into Dave and Buster's is worth the price of admission. We have huge high ceilings, twice the width, and The Addams Family is rehearsing two floors above us. Fingers crossed I run into Bebe Neuwirth.

We're moving onto Act two and chugging right along. We also had stilt camp again this morning, which is so needed, as I wanted to brush up on basics. You start to get comfortable and you forget about some basic safety bits and pieces. I tell you what, my abs feeeeeelll ittt!

Alright, I'm pooped, as I labored on Labor Day. Time to have leftovers and kick it old school, by watching "Parenthood." Ahhh Diane Weist, is there nothing you can't do?

No Laboring...

...on Labor day. And that means no labradors too. Yuk yuk. I sit here on one of my two days off (huzzah!), unwinding after a long and productive week, eating Sabra hummus and watching "The Eye" with Jessica Alba. Loving the hummus... underwhelmed by "The Eye." I live for horror movies. Moreover, I live for crap horror movies. This is somewhere in between - that gray area that is neither terrifying nor campy.

So back to the dogs... end of week three, we had a run thru of act one! I didn't realize how much I knew until we did it. Even though we're still in our pupa stage, I think it's pretty dang fantastic. It's so great to see all the stuff we haven't seen in rehearsal because we were elsewhere, stilting or singing or what not. We have an obscenely talented bunch. I can't wait to see what the next few weeks will bring. And I definitely can't wait to move into the new rehearsal space. We'll finally be able to step back a bit and get a better view. It felt like the last day of school on Saturday. You could tell that, A, we were ready for the holiday weekend and, B, we were ready to move to a place where we wouldn't be on top of each other, especially since now we were all in the same place at the same time.

But what am I doing talking about work on my two day vaca?! Back to "The Eye".... nothing makes me laugh harder than Jessica Alba pretending to be a blind concert violinist. I hope you find something that makes you laugh equally as hard on this fine holiday weekend!

Holla Act One!

End of week three approaches tomorrow and we have a work thru of act one to do tomorrow! Can ya believe it? I know you can't. Neither can I. I can't wait to see where we're at, since we're at the midway point of rehearsals here in NY. That means we have three more weeks before we hit the road. It also means we leave the confines of Ripley Grier and move over to the roomy, bright rehearsal rooms of New 42. Sooo happy for that. We're outgrowing our current surroundings. There's too many bodies for l'il old studio 16L. I don't know why, but it reminds me of the line from Muppets Take Manhattan, when Kermit says, "We need more dogs and chickens and things." Random reference, but we should all be reminded from time to time of the cinematic genius that was Muppets Take Manhattan... and all Muppet movies, for that matter.

So in homage to moving to our new digs, I am making a list of things I will miss and things I won't miss about Ripley Grier.... ahem....

Things I won't miss
*The slower than molasses going uphill in winter elevators. While I enjoy the fun facts and news tidbits the little screen in the elevator shares with me, I will not miss the lag time it takes between the time that you press your floor and the time the elevator doors close. I will also not miss the grated walls that pull out a chunk of your hair when you lean up against them.
*The smell of dance calls....particularly the day of the Taylor Swift back up dancer auditions. Wretched.
*The tanning salon decor

Things I will miss
*Butch's Oasis Cafe... they have amazing cookies that they make fresh every day. The smell is unreal.
*Running into random pals I haven't seen in eons. Why is Ripley Grier as social a hang out as Five Napkin Burger? Dunno. But I've seen people I haven't seen in years in the past three weeks.
*The tanning salon decor

Alright lovers, time to chill. I'll give a little week three wrap up tomorrow. And then sign off for Labor Day, as I plan to... not Labor.
E

Oopsy

Okay, so I missed a day of blogging, but you have to cut me a break... I'm a maid of honor. In a wedding. A wedding of my best friend. And I'm in this midst of trying to put together a bridal shower...all while on stilts. Maybe I should wear stilts to the bridal shower....I digress....so cats and kittens... or dogs and puppies... I had a big rehearsal day today. Rachel and I worked on our song, which is on the verge of hilarious wacky antics. Let's just say, this is the kind of show where I can't walk out the stage door without having taken a shower first. I haven't had to do that since CATS.... that was possibly the gayest thing I have ever written. Well, according to my deal friend Chuck, I am one of the gayest men he's ever met. Touche indeed.

So where was I? Oh yeah, rehearsal. Let me just say, in addition to all the wacky antics and the dogs and the fun that is in this show, it is chock full o'touching moments. I cried twice in rehearsal today. Some may blame PMS. I say it's great acting. There are some absolutely charming moments that will tug on your heart strings. And there are some very real genuine circumstances that, even though these are 'dogs' you are watching who are having these experiences, anyone can relate. I can't wait to see where we're at by the end of week three.. time is flying... soon we'll be moving to our new, larger rehearsal hall in midtown. So excited about that. I plan on, however, doing a top five list of things I'll miss about our current rehearsal space... but that's later in the week. Look what you have to look forward to!!!

Also, people are already in costume fittings. The design for this show is going to be wild. I love it when people are coming back and talking about what they're wearing as what dog or human. I've already started planning on what items I want to buy at the end of the run... and by buy, I mean steal, of course... but you didn't read that here.

Sidenote dear readers, you may note that I use the phrase "wacky antics" many, many.... many times. This, I can't help. It's part of my verbology, my lexicon, my styllllleeee, baby. I once told someone if I had to start up a company, I would call it Wackantics, and I would be CEO. The CEO of wackantics. You'd buy what I was selling, right? Damn skippy. So from here on out, I plan on merging the phrase, "Wacky antics" into "wackantics." It's really more time efficient this way. I'm always looking for ways to save a few minutes here and there.

And on that note, I'm off to take a nice long shower and watch some Top Chef... which I don't think I'm all that into any more. But I need a way to bide my time until America's Next Top Model comes back.

Over and out,
CEO of Wackantics.