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"Side by Side" - Pre-Press Night

So........in preparation for press night this evening, I decided it would be a nice little stress relief to bike from my apartment in the North End of Boston to the theatre here in lovely Watertown. I left myself a good 2 hours to get there, expecting I would get lost and get a flat tire, etc. (don't i sound like an optimist). Plus, I figured that I should probably shower before I suitted up for the performance this evening. LITTLE DID I KNOW that it would take me 15 minutes to make the trip, with absolutely no hitch (except for a serious car accident on the corner of Brighton Ave. and N Beacon Street). So, here I am in the administrative offices of the Arsenal Center for the Arts posting on this lovely blog for all you bloggers.

So, yes, I touched on it briefly before, but this is press evening. what that means is...absolutely nothing. honestly, I could care less. reviewers...do your thing. i won't read them, though I am sure that you are all fantastic literary scholars. its just not my thing. however, i am a reviewer sometimes, on air. i kind of hate myself when i do it. i find myself saying mea culpa. i will say, what i am excited about for this evening, is that according to the lovely box office personnel who are sitting to my left, we have a FULL house tonight. regardless, I am looking forward to the smiling, laughing, and crying faces that will be in front of us this evening. I heard a very funny Mitch Hedberg joke today that said something along the lines of "performing in front of an audience is as if you were being chased by a mob and then they all got tired and sat down." i think thats funny. do you? post a damn comment and tell me. i am quite offended that there have been no comments as of late.

during yesterday's show, somebody came up and left me a note saying "We Love Standing Room Only...You do a great job! Thanks for a wonderful show" and left their seat number. thanks again to the lovely box office staff at New Rep, I found out who they are. Aren't computers creepy?

during yesterdays show, Maryann jumped 50 bars of "I'm Still Here." Frankly, I didn't notice. Where was I? I have no idea. She's still the shit, though. the audience yesterday was so old that they didn't notice either, I'm sure. Actually, Maryann is ridiculously sexy. Her entendre song is pretty thrilling. i reccomend it to all. and after yesterdays slip up, she's still here.

tonight there will be a party. there will be wine and food. this shall be a good night. peace out all you bloggers. see you at the theatre.

Jonathan

P.S. leave me comments about how you love/hate me, or whatever. i like comments.

"Side by Side" - First Preview

phew...well thats done with. opening performance nerves were very present last night, but thats to be expected and even hoped for i suppose. the whole cast kicked it last night, and kicked it hard.

it felt so much more comfortable to get up there and do the show with a live audience. performance instincts kicked in instantly, and it just felt like a conversation with the audience. i can't wait to do the show again today, to get that relationship back.

i have to say that I am in love with watching these people sing. i am in quite a priviledged position, being able to sit onstage and watch these artists work. its kind of like if a huge rolling stones fan got to sit on the stage and watch keith richards and mick jagger do their thing. how did i get so lucky?

anyhow, hope to see you at the theatre.

Side by Side by Sondheim...first post

My fellow blog people...

To begin...my apologies for the late start on this blog. Working full time as a bartender, hosting a radio show, and doing a little show miles away from where I live (without the access to a vehicle), has made my schedule very full. but, anywho, who am I to complain...look at the people I get to share the stage with.

Brendan Mcnab. there's my first paragraph. if you haven't heard already, he has replaced Andrew Giordano in the show. Andrew exited the show at the start of the second rehearsal, and brendan was at the theatre...ready to rehearse by 2 PM. what a trooper! stand up guy! all the above, and MORE! If you don't know Brendan personally, perhaps you have seen him on every Boston stage in the past few years, including this seasons "See What I Wanna See" at the lyric, and the lead role of Leo Frank in "Parade" at Speakeasy Stage Company, and at the same company, last fall's "Kiss of the Spiderwoman." I had the opportunity to have him in the studio at WERS for each of those shows, and always knew that he was a guy id like to get to know. side by side has given me that chance, and his level of preparedness and dedication to putting this show up in 2 weeks has been very, very refreshing. props to you Brendan. mad props...

Leigh Barrett. paragraph number 2. Leigh and i have been friends for a while now, and we've been wondering when exactly we'd get to do a show together. if there's one thing you need to come to the show to see, its to see leigh sing "losing my mind." it is a religious experience every time.

Maryann. paragraph number 3. strangely...we'd never met before the show. I'd seen her onstage...she rocks.

paragraph number 4....the play itself. this show is weird. its so British. i will be the very first person to tell you that I don't think that the brits understand the American musical theatre. that being said, nobody or nothing can take away from these songs. i'll give credits to the brits back in the 70's for taking some of Sondheim's most interesting material, and putting it into an evening. the songs are very naked in this context, utilizing only a kick-ass actor and 2 baby grand pianos. that's all you need. the songs are fleshed out. you can hear, see, and feel exactly what Sondheim was thinking as he was writing them. its beautiful. i find myself shaking my head in disbelief in rehearsal a lot. i imagine my fellow actors think I'm disapproving of something they're doing, but what i'm really doing is shaking my head in disbelief at how masterful Sondheim truly is.

Rick Lombardo and i both are obsessed with a song called "I remember." Its from Sondheim's television musical "evening primrose." if you don't know the song, come to the show and take a listen. its so good.

p.s. whatever they think, all three of my fellow actors are kick ass dancers...they can really get down to the groovy Sondheim tunes.

i suppose I'll just post later about some other stuff. my boss gave me the night off, and i plan to make good use of it. any suggestions?