The emotional ebb and flow of the past few days sits heavy in the heart. Wintry riverview pale and gray, all is still. Then pow! I’m smacked realizing I gotta run and beat the clock to Paramount’s Kinky Boots production meeting! This is the tonic cure-all! (for me anyway)! I get there in the nick; the conference room is packed! To see their faces, instant cheer takes over with joking, laughing, loving. (If they only knew how great it is to see them!) Production Manager Jonathan Allsup presides as Director Trent Stork, (Paramount’s Legally Blonde) with his prevailing buoyancy addresses updates on Kevin Depinet’s scenic design. Kevin (our Million Dollar Quartet, Fiddler on the Roof, and a Jeff Award for Les Miserables,) skypes in from teching his The Prince of Egypt opening next week on London’s West End. With our Jeff winning Lighting Designer Greg Hofmann (The Who’s Tommy), Projection Designer Joe Burke (Elf and Newsies) and the full complement of staff on sound and electronic music (Adam Rosenthal, Ethan Deppe) costumes (Shop Manager Matt Guthier), props manager (Jesse Gaffney), and wigs and hair (Katie Cordts), they check-list every detail of set, gear, placement, movement, cuts, additions, pricing and design finishing for collaboration and cooperation. Even Fight Choreographer Bobby Wilhelmson (Newsies) brings in a video rehearsal/demonstration of how he proposes the staging of a knock-out punch! Making his Paramount debut, Ryan Park calls in to discuss our biggest costume budget challenge yet for his high-end, elite fashionista costume design. (Audiences are not gonna believe their eyes!) Rose Quealy, VP of Productions sits at the table with her ever-present laptop as does Associate Production Manager Yesenia Esparza. These women’s fingers play their keyboards with pianists’ virtuosity note-taking non-stop while speaking to points simultaneously. The meeting ends well, all’s well, and there are several, what we refer to as “break-outs” (meetings) for a few small group special interests afterwards.
At my desktop writing to you, like out of nowhere, Tim pops up at the door of my office with a look on his face. Eyes lit up. Says nothing. Getting red. He looks like he’s gonna burst. I wait. I wait. Can’t wait, I ask, “good or bad?” He blurts out, “It’s good!” I sigh. He says, “But I don’t wanna jinx it!” He tells me about a lead to an exciting new work!
Forget your troubles and discover the brilliant cast, comedy, singing and score all here for you. This funny, warm, musical romp will cure what ails you. And Aurora will be the very first audience to see it!
Then, speaking of exciting new work, I’m off to The Secret of My Success rehearsal across the street in the Main Rehearsal Hall in the Arts Center. I had popped in Friday for the first time since rehearsals began. Watched a bit of the number “I Got This” with terrific Billy Tighe, Sydney Morton, Sara Sevigny and our super-fine ensemble. So guess what I woke up singing Saturday morning? You got it – I GOT THIS! (Now, I don’t think there will ever be a better song to earworm you outta bed! Wait til ya hear it!) This afternoon I caught the final three hours of a two-day “work-through” of the entire show. I could not get myself to leave until the end of day. So, here I am coming up on 9 p.m. thinking of Heidi Kettenring, Gabe Ruiz and Barbara Robertson. I mean, come on! I can’t get enough! And neither will you!
The arts have so much to offer. Forget your troubles and discover the brilliant cast, comedy, singing and score all here for you. This funny, warm, musical romp will cure what ails you. And Aurora will be the very first audience to see it!
Love & thanks,
Jim