It’s official. In the company, I have always had the nickname “Junior Dog” but now I have the hat to prove it. Super boss, Kenny, made custom Memphis hats and I just about died when I saw it this on my desk this morning. (when one’s birthday is around Christmas time, one get’s very excited about presents that come at other points during the year- especially super snazzy personalized ones.)

Mental note: As evident from this photo, I must schedule a haircut before Opening Night.

Sarah (my co-worker) took this photo of me from her desk vantage point this morning and I had to feature the mini caffeine free diet coke bottle; it’s what’s keeping me going. Well, that and my supreme love of this show and the work I’m doing.

“Fun?” Fact: This morning, when getting a large tea before getting on the train, the barista looked at me and literally said,”You look really tired.” What the? Who actually says that to someone? If my brain was turned on, I would have have turned to him and said ” Yeah, well, this is what it looks like when your dreams come true.” But instead, I just sort of gave him the fake smile and nod acknowledging his very astute observation of the obvious.

[Insert smooth transition sentence here]

Last night during the talk back, I asked the cast members what was their favorite moment of the show- something that they do onstage or watch others do. Their responses were great and yes, Chad Kimball (Huey) did answer that his favorite part was kissing Montego Glover (Felicia). Awwwww….

As I watched the show tonight, I started to think about my own answer to that question. I’m not going to be able to choose so I am just going to try and bring focus to the moments that I find priceless.

Priceless moment #1: The winning moment from tonight’s show had to be cast member, Dionne Figgins, in the Act I church number, “Make Me Stronger.” When you see the show, you have to watch for her. She is wearing a wig with a side ponytail, has glasses on and is carrying a tambourine. Something about her absolute youthful exuberance + Sergio’s choreography x the tambourine= delightfully charming.

If YOU have seen the show, please feel free to send me your favorite priceless moments! Comment here or on Facebook.

Sarah got to watch the show from the balcony tonight and I have already asked her to write a blog entry about what the show is like from up there so tune in for that tomorrow!

Oh, how I missed the show this weekend!

To have missed four performances this past weekend felt like a lifetime and I was super excited to get back to the show tonight. And it did not disappoint. I got chills, had tears- the whole deal.

The show is still evolving, which means that the cast comes in during the day and has rehearsal. They get new pages of dialogue, new costume pieces, new blocking, and then incorporate things into the show at that evening’s performance. The creatives talk about it after the show, notes are generated and the cycle continues the next day.

For those of us who go to the show each night, it is a little like a Where’s Waldo of changes- some are easy to spot because it is a very obvious costume change or blocking pattern; others are harder to distinguish as they may be a subtle word change here and there.

Maybe because I was away for four days or maybe they made a lot of changes during rehearsal today, either way, the show was a Feast of new nuances. I wish I could tell you about them, but I don’t know how to do that without spoiling it for you!

I can say that this pace is grueling, even for those of us not onstage. This is the time when the work and the hours start to catch up with you. And with the arrival of Fall in New York City, the change in weather is bringing sniffles and colds and all those things that performers (and producer associates like myself) fear. Sometime around 5pm, I developed a throat tickle that by the curtain call had turned into a full blown sore throat.

Fun Fact: there is a kiosk on the west corner of 44th and Broadway that sells Ricola lozenges! In the middle of Times Square, you can get a Ricola. Halls cough drops as well, but they have TWO different flavors of Ricola. The lemon AND the orange kind. I’m an orange kind of girl. Ricola ALSO sponsors all the Broadway shows and provides lots and lots of lozenges for the hard working singing/dancing/acting folk- they are usually listed in the Playbill as well. Try and find “Ricola” next time you are at a Broadway show.

Secret Fun Fact: we took a tour of the Shubert Theatre during the run of Blithe Spirit. I may or may not have taken a Ricola lozenge from backstage at Blithe Spirit.

Memphis Blog Shout Out: Happy Opening to the talented (& handsome) cast of A Steady Rain!!! It is fun (& hot) having Hugh Jackman and Daniel Craig around the corner on 45th Street.

Tonight we also had a giant group from BroadwaySpace.com come to the show. BroadwaySpace is like Facebook for theater fans and they set up a special Meet-up to come to the show tonight.

They all sat in the balcony (which I haven’t been able to do yet- but promise to catch the show from up there and report on it) and then got to stay for a talk back after the show with Composer David Bryan, Music Director Kenny Seymour, and cast members: Cary Tedder, Montego Glover, Hillary Elk, LaQuet Sharnell, Bryan Fenkart, Chad Kimball, Ephraim Sykes, Jermaine Rembert, & James M. Iglehardt.

It was so fun.

Like this picture. Here it is again. But large and in charge. (click for full-size)

So the first week of preview performances are over! The response to the show has been overwhelming. But I have been away for three days so when I got back to rainy New York from sunny Miami tonight, I called our intern, Nick, aka Nick-tastic, to get the 411 on all things Memphis from this weekend. He had so much to tell me as I made my way home that I asked him to put it in writing as I did not want to miss a thing. Ladies and Gentlemen, guest blogger, Nick-tastic:

MEMPHIS is literally living in me 24-7.

Between working for JYD during the afternoon and selling merchandise for the show at night (stop by at any given evening in the mezzanine!,) I’m truly immersed in the Memphis launch on Broadway.

Some of my favorite “Moments from the Mezzanine” during this first week of previews have included:

-Multiple people asking, “Who is that girl with the bangin’ figure in the body suit during the opening number?!” Yes, people, Vivian Nixon really is that gorgeous.

-Broadway fancies like Stephanie J. Block walking away proclaiming our show a “big hot hit.”

-The daily ritual of watching the sassy Shubert ushers, who hang out while the actors warm-up on stage, discussing which ones they will date before the run is over. The news that J. Bernard Calloway is married has broken a lot of hearts in the Shubert these past few days.

-Small children forcing their parents to purchase them the “Big Daddy Got Big Love” shirts that are currently available at the merchandise booth.

-Attempting not to have a stroke from pure awe-inspired craziness while listening to Montego’s consistently belted high notes. I have yet to succeed.

-Smiling audience members like Miss Rita, who told me on Friday evening that MEMPHIS is “the most moving theatrical experience I’ve had in fifty years.”

May we be here for fifty more! Get down to Beale Street and join us. And by Beale Street, I mean the Shubert Theatre. If you have a sassy quip, feel free to share it with me in exchange for an equally sassed reply. Holla!

Carolyn here: Yes, if you find yourself in the Mezzanine, stop by and let Nick know what you think of the show….as you pre-order your Memphis Original Broadway Cast CD. Or while you buy a “Big Daddy Got Big Love” shirt. Or both.

You should probably get both.

I cannot tell a lie: I’m not actually in New York City, so I am not going to pretend that I have been seeing the show all weekend because the truth is I am in Miami. That’s right. I traded the land of concrete for the land of sand. A long-ago scheduled bachelorette party weekend is on my calendar during this first weekend of previews. I didn’t even tell my bosses, the Junkyard Dog Producers, that I was even leaving until maybe Tuesday as I wasn’t sure I was going to be able to go.

Thank goodness for my Blackberry. It makes it possible to conduct business while enjoying a delicious blended beverage, getting slightly sunburnt, and possibly seeing Josh Groban poolside at the Gansevoort Hotel.

Speaking of singing celebrities sightings, Nick-tastic reports that Broadway performers Stephanie J. Block (9 to 5, Pirate Queen, Wicked) and Kevin Cahoon (The Wedding Singer, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, Rocky Horror) came to see Memphis Friday night. (This may be up on the chat boards already but I can’t access those sites on this hotel business center computer- which feels sort of liberating in a way- and yes, they are playing club music in the business center early in the morning.)

Other grapevine news includes that the Rush tickets seem to be selling out- which is great! Except when you’ve sent 8 people to the box office to get Rush tickets and they go too late and they are sold out and you are in Miami trying to figure out what they can do. So this is my Public Service Announcement: try and get your $26.50 Rush tickets early in the day. The Box Office Opens at 10am. If you go closer to curtain time, even if you know me, there is nothing I can do at that point.

Important Note: the shoes I bought to wear to Opening Night got a test run in Miami last night and were a huge success. Not only passed the comfort test, but also passed the compliment test (receiving more than three compliments=success). Now, to find an outfit to go with the shoes…

The show has its first set of “double days” on Saturday- a term which means there is a matinee and an evening performance. I’m wishing I was there but will have to console myself with this frosty pina colada.

Show Power Alert: Sunday, September 27th, is the Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS Flea Market which takes place right outside our theater in Shubert Alley. Chad Kimball (Huey) and Montego Glover (Felicia) will both be at the celebrity autograph table from 1-1:50pm so make sure you stop by and tell them “Hockadoo!” (Side note: Stephanie J. Block is also scheduled to be there during that time so that’s sort of “full circle” for this blog posting…)

Here is more information on this awesome event:

‘The Broadway Flea Market, held each September in Shubert Alley, brings out the biggest and brightest stars from Broadway, Off-Broadway, Dance and daytime television to greet fans and sell memorabilia. Casts and company members of dozens of shows are joined by theatrical unions and guilds, producing organizations, local merchants, and many other groups to sell costume pieces, autographs, original scripts, rare photographs, and so much more. The event also includes the Celebrity Table, where celebrities gather throughout the day to sign autographs and pose for photos in exchange for donations. The highlight of the Flea Market is the Grand Auction, in which singular items and opportunities such as walk-on roles in Broadway shows, television programs and films are available to the highest bidder.”

I have only been to the Flea Market once, but loved rubbing elbows with different Broadway celebs and getting to see/buy cool things like Costume Designer Gregg Barnes (Legally Blonde, Drowsy Chaperone) costume renderings, all for a great cause. Check it out this weekend and then catch the matinee of Memphis!

The second preview is done. The Production Stage Manager’s report has already been emailed out.

Fun Fact: After every performance, the Stage Manager emails out a report to various production personnel reporting on anything and everything from the running time of the show, to notes for the various production departments (set, costumes, lights, sound), to the daily schedule. During the preview period, the cast continues to have rehearsals during the day (introducing new dialogue, staging, tweaks to choreography) and continues to perform at night; it is a very intense schedule, but it is a shared experience that often helps cement the tight bonds of a company.

I did not get to watch the entire show tonight but I did make another dream come true. That’s right, my dog, the Show Pup, Samson, got in the stage door tonight.

It was all because of Rose. Rose is the evening door person at the Shubert Stage Door and she saw me standing in Shubert Alley waiting for my boyfriend to come pick up the dog and invited us to sit in her nook inside the stage door and wait.

So there we were, Show Pup and I, sitting just beyond the wings on stage left: Samson getting treats from Rose and love from actors on their way to the stage, me getting an inside look at the show while hearing great stories from Rose.

Rose Fun Fact: When Spamalot was in the Shubert, Rose made little crests and lined the walls with pictures of the cast and crew’s animals. Each crest had the animal’s name on it-Of course, each one had a “Sir” prefix which I thought was too cute for words. “Sir Samson” if you will. If you don’t love Rose after that story…

Rose Fun Fact #2: The production of Gypsy that was in the Shubert used a live lamb. Rose used to sit in her nook, the same nook I was in today with Samson, and hold the lambs- they switched lambs every three weeks as they would grow too big-eventually using 20 different lambs. Rose not only took a picture with each of the lambs, but she used to walk them up and down Shubert Alley. Can you imagine strolling through Shubert Alley and seeing someone walking a sweet, adorable, precious lamb? That took me over the edge.

It wasn’t until after Samson got picked up and I made my way to the back of the house that I realized what had just happened. I had watched part of a Broadway show from the wings. Listening to the live feed of the show through the backstage monitors, watching technicians check mics before actors run onstage while being told stories of lambs…there is a whole show, neigh, a whole world backstage and to this theater nerd, it was thrilling to be a part of it.

The Invited Dress went great. Thank you for organizing all of those passes, especially the last minute RSVPs. It was wonderful to have a few hundred of everyone’s friends, families and colleagues in the house.

However, I did notice when I was leaving that there were an awful lot of socks in the aisles.

Apparently, the show is rocking people’s socks off.

I’m not sure if we should be thinking about hiring someone specifically to pick up the orphaned socks after each performance or if it is something the Shubert house staff wants to handle internally.

Either way, we definitely need to start a “Lost & Found;” there are a lot of people who will be trying to retrace their steps to figure out where they lost their socks. Perhaps we should start a sock reuniting initiative on the website? I don’t know. Maybe this idea is premature.

I guess we should see what happens tomorrow night at the first preview.

Let me know your thoughts.

Hockadoo,
Carolyn

Memphis Blog Shout Out: Happy Birthday to Sarah of New Time Productions!
Thank you for being my desk neighbor, for your technology “consults,” for your willingness to jump in and do video release forms when it is so not in your job description, and for knowing that I take my bagels “poppyseed, toasted with cream cheese”- and for making me eat one tonight as dinner. You are fantastical. And your new haircut is super cute.

I think this is Week Seven.

I think today is Monday.

I think the cast & crew must have enjoyed a much deserved day off today.

I think that Samson (Show Pup) looks handsome after his grooming appointment.

I think I better get those Opening Night gifts ordered.

I think the Stage Managers really enjoyed having Joe, Kevin and I in their office yesterday whilst we “tweeted.”

I think everyone is thrilled that we got through 2 full run throughs this weekend.

I think I am loving that Lin Manuel Miranda (In the Heights) is on House right now.

I think that there are changes to the blog coming.

I think I have everyone on the list for the Invited Dress Rehearsal tomorrow night.

I think I learn something invaluable from my bosses everyday.

I think the show is ready for an audience…I don’t think, I know.