January 21, 2014
It’s zero degrees as this Tuesday morning sun shines bright on Downtown Aurora. I’m lost in thoughts of opening night, the faces, the voices, the exhilaration of applause as the curtain rises to reveal the thunderous synchronized perfection of dancers and orchestra…how the glory and the power of the past is transported to the immediate now, right there on the Paramount stage. The place goes up, an uncontrollable ovation of cheers, tears, applause! Big, generous hearts on both sides of the footlights and behind the scenes are galvanized together in a moment! What makes it so stirring? Come to the theater and see if you can explain the phenomenon that is 42ND ST.!
RENT is ahead, beginning rehearsal in just four weeks! Meetings and planning and notes and staging are being readied for this extraordinary cast I cannot wait to get together under one roof. The comparison between these last two shows of Season 3 is remarkable. The young Broadway dancers desperate for work during the Great Depression on The Great White Way of New York City’s Time Square and the young soulful artists struggling downtown on Manhattan’s Lower East Side during the 1980’s marks such an incredible contrast of experience. What a ride this job is! Come on! Get on board this roller coaster with me!
See you at the theatre!
Jim
