New York City Day #2

So Thursday in NYC was the first day of the Broadway Teacher's Conference at Jazz at Lincoln Center. I've decided the conference is totally worth it for the elevator ride alone up to the cool rooms our conference is in. Basically, we're located in Branford Marsalis recording and rehearsal studios.

So, I was up bright and early and walked from my hotel to the Time Warner building. The elevators weren't open yet so I went and got a snack at Bouchon Bakery and watched people react to the huge naked sumo wrestler statues in the lobby.

My first session was a getting to know you- and for being a theatre teacher, I dread doing "getting to know you exercises"- which makes me a total hypocrite because I make my theatre students do them all the time. I, however, met nice teachers from Australia, Georgia and Canada- so I guess it was worth it.

I then took a puppetry session from John Tartaglia (Tony nominee for Avenue Q and also a hilarious Pinochico from Shrek the musical). Totally fun and inspirational- Theatre 3 will be doing a puppetry unit this year. If I can get supplies.

After two sessions, it was lunch time so up I went to my favorite Grey's Papaya then a frozen hot chocolate at Jacque Torres. I then picked up some more chocolate love at Levain Bakery so Jackie would have a snack waiting for her in the fridge when she arrived the next morning.

That afternoon I listened to current Broadway stars talk about their Path to Broadway and then it was time for dinner.

It was Spiderman that night (and it started at 7:30pm) so I had a quick dinner after hitting the Drama Bookstore and stocking up on scripts for my school.

Now on to Spiderman. Hmmm.

Let's say the following: You can certainly see the 75 million dollars as the sets are jaw-dropping (and sometimes actor dropping as well), the flying is amazing (as the head of some mafia organization sitting next to me said when Green Goblin whizzed by his head (as in flew...not pee): "whoa"), but I think this show is a prime example of WAY too many cooks in the kitchen- and the end result is like everything was thrown up on the stage to see what sticks (random hip-hop military dance? Check. Spiderwoman Archnae vaguely seducing Peter Parker? Check. Crazy supervillians that look like they have a hard time walking? Check. Absolutely awful music? Check (more about that as it related to a class I took the next day from the music director- who has earned her spot in heaven working on this show...and did you see the number they did at the Tony Awards? THAT was the best number in the show- which says a lot).

I guess I'm glad I saw it- but I don't want to see it again- and it could have been an awesome show if the music was amazing... but it wasn't.

There. You've seen the best parts. Save your money.

But...Reeve Carney (he plays Peter Parker) and the guy that fell 25 feet head first into the orchestra pit last December came out and talked to us and answered questions. That was cool.

Go Go Go...

So I'm in this little production called Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat at Hale Center Theatre in West Valley. I play Isachaar (one of the brothers) and the Baker (sentenced to death because he dreamed about birds and bread and baskets). (In the picture above, I'm top left. I'm really not facing the wrong direction... I'm just trying to cheat out so that side of the audience doesn't feel left out)...

Things I've learned about this production:

1. I am the 2nd oldest person in our dressing room. Last night, the 3rd oldest was planning a playlist for his high school reunion.... from 2001. I am an old man in this cast.

2. The only way I can get through shows is with Ibuprofen- and even then, I have to time it right so it kicks in during Act 2 when all of the brothers are on their knees for what feels like 45 hours.

3. If my microphone is turned on during my lift with my show wife in One More Angel in Heaven, the audience will literally hear me chanting, Please Jesus, Please Jesus on rotation.

4. It is next to impossible to sing a High A while jumping up and down.

5. All sense of modesty and decorum goes out the window when you have exactly one verse of Close Every Door to do a complete costume change from head to toe.

6. You know everyone in the cast sweats a lot when Hale covers every microphone with a condom. The oldest guy in our dressing room (who has seven kids) thought the actor playing Joseph was playing a trick on him... it took some convincing that the condoms were not a joke.

7. You should have gotten tickets yesterday because they have added about 20 shows (on one weekend I get to do the Friday 7:30pm, 10:00pm and the Saturday 9:30am, 12:30pm, 4:00pm and 7:30pm. I will just have to have a IV drip with Ibuprofen...) because the regular shows are sold out.

But if you want to try to see it, it runs through the 24th of Sept. and I'm in the MWF Sat. 12:30pm matinee cast. It really is a good show (to quote Ellis- Age 4- she can see Joseph's boob in one song...) and I sweat a lot.

90% Won't Care...But

So today was our August showcase for Hale Summer Camp. One of the girls (11 years old) told us her uncle was coming. We said, That's nice. She then said, we're singing Step in Time from Mary Poppins and he played Bert on Broadway and London...and the teachers looked at each other and asked who her uncle was...
and it's this Broadway star:

Gavin Creel.

I know 90% of you don't care (or even know who he is), but he was Tony nominated for Thoroughly Modern Millie (the original Jimmy with Sutton Foster) and Hair (with Will Swenson).
He was really nice and gave me a bear hug (that lifted me off the ground) after the showcase- even though we were a little nervous playing our Mary Poppins songs with him in the audience.
My kind friend Neal Johnson took these pics:


And if you want to hear how amazing his voice is, listen to him sing this song from Next to Normal.

30 Sec. Mark

Watch this video- esp. around the 30 sec. mark. You'll see the bad version of his message.
Basically they came and had me and Jackie improvise a big fight around balancing the checkbook. Millie was sitting next to me coloring and Jackie was holding Ellis and a big knife.

New York Day #1

So I recently attended the Broadway Teacher's Conference in New York City. Basically teachers (from elementary to high school) come from all over the world (this year Switzerland and Australia were the furthest) to attend workshops from Broadway professionals and attend shows.

I arrived a day early so I could do my own stuff. Here is Day #1.

After a lovely red eye flight (thanks Jetblue) seated next to an elderly woman who was as still and silent as a stone- even though her tv was set to wrestling the entire flight. Even when everyone else turned off their tv's to try and sleep, her tv stayed on watching wrestling- even though she slept the entire flight.

After arriving bright and early (6:20am) at JFK, and grabbing my shuttle (30 minutes later), me and 6 other passengers were headed to Manhattan. I was next to a really nice couple from Australia who were in NYC for the first time. hey asked a lot of questions about Broadway shows and I hope whatever I recommended to them, they liked. Otherwise, it could sully their entire opinion of Americans.

I was dropped off at my hotel (the Wellington) on 55th and 7th where I got a room upgrade (to the top floor, with a balcony overlooking Times Square). The room wasn't ready so they held my bags and I was off to check out The Book of Mormon musical.

It was 8:20am and already pretty warm. When I got to the O'Neill theatre, there was already a line formed for Standing Room tickets. I sat down next to a film student from Columbia (cinematography emphasis) when the stage manager (or someone official) asked me to continue the line on the other side of the sage door. I was lucky because when I sat down, I was protected from the sun from a street barricade.

I sat down and read the new James Bond book, listened to my Ipod as I made friends with other people that joined the line behind me (a teacher from Canada attending the same conference as me, a mother of 2 teenage girls from Southern California, a guy from mid-town Manhattan who wanted a ticket for his birthday...etc). Around 10:00am there were over 50 people in line.

Since this was a Wednesday, they were doing standby for both the 2:00pm matinee and the 7:o0pm evening show. They came out and told us that they didn't know how many standing room tickets would be released at 1:00pm but if you didn't get a ticket then, you could stay in line until 6:00pm to get a standing ticket for the 7:00pm.

At noon they had all of us fill out papers for the lottery- around 100 people entered the lottery with 12 names being drawn for $27 front row seats. I didn't get them but at 1:00pm, I got my standing room ticket.

After grabbing a gross turkey sandwich, drinking a Coke to stay awake during the show, watching a homeless woman grab bread out of the garbage can to feed pigeons, I saw The Book of Mormon musical at 2:00pm.

I really liked the show (I'll do a separate entry for it)- and it was definitely worth the $27 I paid- but to pay $477 like someone did in the cancellation line? No.

After that, I checked into the hotel, showered and went off for a nice dinner.

After dinner was War Horse at Lincoln Center. I had gotten a seat on the 3rd row, but the way the theatre is, I was right next to the stage- so close that I got brushed with some of the horse's tails.

In short, the play was breathtaking with amazing puppets and a great story. The man next to me was uncontrollably sobbing at the end of the show.

I then went and grabbed some cheesecake from Carnegie Deli and it was off to sleep.

Summer Fun

So in June, the fam packed their bags and made it to Disneyland- barely. I underestimated how long the security lines would be and got on the plane (Southwest) with only individual center seats available. I went to the back of the plane with Millie and loudly said, "OK Millie, sit between both of those nice business men and I'll sit right behind you." I knew I would be successful when Millie starting crying and one of those nice business men stood up and gave me his seat so I could be next to my 6- year old. Jackie was more direct. She stood in the middle of the plane and said, "Who's getting up so I can sit by my 4-year old daughter. She can't sit by herself." Her plan worked as well and we were off to Los Angeles.

We arrived late Thursday night to our nice room at the Howard Johnson (free upgrade- thank you!)

Over the next 4 days we did:

Friday- Magic Kingdom (normally not supercrowded this time of year- however, people had spent the night outside to get on the grand re-opening of Star Tours). We avoided that side of the park- but could not talk Ellis into going on Splash Mountain- esp. after Millie and I got off it SOAKED.

We played in the park til lunch, ate at Ralph Brennens, stayed up late for fireworks- had fun.

Saturday- Early entry. Ran like mad to get Star Tours fastpasses- not open at 7:00am- just rode it alone while Jackie and the girls hit Fantasyland. Met up with Jackie's parents and siblings and got to go on tons of rides because there were lots of us. We even ran over and (after waiting tons) rode the new Ariel ride at California Adventure. That night, came back for Fantasmic. Ellis fell asleep before the show and woke up just in time to see the Dragon. She was a little concerned.

Sunday- Did California Adventure- including getting SOAKED at World of Color (but in my opinion, worth it- amazing show). Had the picnic lunch which included our Fastpasses for the show. Got to ride Tower of Terror with other people- which is rare because I usually ride it with strangers because Jackie refuses to ride it with me. Even talked Ellis and Millie into riding on Grizzly River Rapids- and had fun.

Monday- Back in Magic Kingdom for Toontown Madness (pretty much had Toontown for ourselves for a while) and hit our favorite rides. Also had preferred seating for the new parade which was fun because we were the only people in preferred seating that had kids- so the cast members had fun with them.

Back in Utah on Tuesday so Jackie could be in class.

One thing: What was with all of the normal healthy looking people riding jazzies all over the park (and getting line passes?) Literally saw a family of 4 all pull up to City Hall all on jazzie while the dad went in to get line passes for the family. The dad came back out to tell everyone they needed to come inside, but the mom said, absolutely not. Jazzies were EVERYWHERE- and I don't mind if you are elderly or frail or have visible damage, but really, it was like the ship on the movie WALLE. They were obnoxious.

How True

You have no idea how true these awards are (even if you don't normally watch videos on blog- this is short and funny- read the scrawl at the bottom of the tech awards screen):


High School Tony Awards Honor Nation's Biggest Drama Club Nerds