Up with the sun by the riverside this morning to check in with you before returning to the office today; it feels like “forever,” since I’ve been away presiding over auditions at Chicago’s AEA Office. Gratifying beyond words is the feeling I get on the job. Million Dollar Quartet is near completion, and while Cabaret is in process, we’ve been enjoying the further contrasts of Elf and Once auditions for the second half of next season. (Talk about a season with something for everyone!)
Our staff has been kept in stitches during our hilarious and heart-warming search for “Buddy,” his family and his sweetheart “Jovie,” which ensued last week. This catchy score, delightfully infectious, has its sentiments of Santa Spirit tunefully playing non-stop in my head ever since; it’s Christmas in May! But I have to honestly qualify that the songs and melodies in Once offer a sobering, heart-rending, distinctive difference that is just as unforgettable! One day is full of the innocence and uplifting joy of the holidays, while the next spins the emotional and stunning beauty of contemporary love songs as “Guy” and “Girl” (the leads in Once) create some of the most artful indie-rock music you’ve ever heard (with some all-out, roof-raising, Irish folk music thrown in for good measure!). All of it full of ardor, pure and simple, a welcome, exhilarating, and dare I say, rabble-rousing tonic for whatever ails you!
Production and design meetings are ahead this week and of course two more weeks for Jesus Christ Superstar closing on May 28! If you haven’t seen it yet, I’m telling’ ya, folks are blown away by these stellar performances, and some return to see it twice!
Love & thanks,
Jim
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