The Covert Report – Week 13 (YIKES)

Three Digits and Counting

Well, if you are a fan of MEMPHIS you know that we hit the 100 performance mark this past week!! One hundred and going strong! It seems crazy and surreal to me. Obviously, if you include the workshops and the out of town tryouts and Broadway previews, I have no idea how many times I have performed MEMPHIS. Well, whether it is 100 or 1,000 times….I am still having a blast.

People often ask me if it gets boring or if it is difficult to do the same show over and over again. Honestly, with some shows the answer is yes. However, with MEMPHIS…I am still finding new things and truly look forward to getting into the show every night!!

One of the characters I play is good ole Buck Wiley. The “rhythm and blues” DJ who get’s his job ripped away from him by that upstart Huey Calhoun. I think that Buck is probably misunderstood. He isn’t a bad man, really. He just has an odd taste in clothing and a penchant for a curly hair-do.

As an actor, I try to make a distinct difference between Buck’s radio personality and his demeanor when he is outside the booth. His on-air persona needs to be a little more upbeat. He truly believes he is hip and with it. When he steps out of the booth, he is his true self. I think he is a little arrogant and completely unwilling to change.

For me, this is SO fun to play. Even though we are over 100 and counting, I try to find little differences nightly while keeping the character and Chris’ direction of the intent in tact. That is one of the most exciting things about being an actor. The life coming at you on stage is different every night, and as an actor you get to play off the different energies.

So, even though Buck may not be the most sympathetic of characters (I mean, no one seems all that sad that Huey cost the man his JOB!!!) – I have a feeling that when he leaves the radio station after getting the heave-ho, ole Buck Wiley probably heads straight to a bottle of brown water.

Long running shows also develop long lasting friendships. Montego and I were already friends from college. Michael McGrath and I were friends from the original company of SPAMALOT and our mutual love of the brown water. This show has given me the opportunity to get to know so many amazing people.

I first met Derrick, J. Bernard and Chad at the North Shore Music Theatre (which I am happy to hear is going to re-open!!). Crazy to believe that the 4 of us and Ms. Glover have been involved in this since 2003!! WHAT?

Chad and I went to see “AVATAR” last night – my 3rd viewing and his 1st. Well, if you have seen that movie you know that you gotta get there early to wait in line!! We were talking about the show and how cool last week was with the 100th performance on Broadway.

I reminded him of the first night in La Jolla when we went to eat at The Rock Bottom Brewery. How excited we were to be working on the show again, and what we thought would happen after La Jolla and Seattle!! Of course, we hoped Broadway was the final destination…and how lucky we are that it was!!

Funny story….Chad loves him some Starbucks. So, on his way to the movie theatre he stopped and got himself a tall iced something or other (I don’t drink coffee, so I don’t know what it was)…well, we were talking and totally forgot that you can’t bring “outside food and drinks” into the theatre.

So, as we give the lady our tickets she says to Chad “You can’t bring that in”…..Chad says with a straight face “It has my medicine in it”….Lady says “What?”…I jump in completely seriously “It has medicine in it…he needs his medicine”. Lady calls over manager….and Chad is denied entry with The Starbucks…medicine or not.

I went in to get seats while he finished his tall iced what-cha-ma-call-it. I really thought the medicine excuse would work…they are tough at the AMC!!!

How great that this show has not only given me such joy in the performing department, but I have met some of my dearest friends. The fact that I didn’t even flinch in backing Chad’s “medicine” story up is hilarious to me. This cast is in sync!!

Speaking of N SYNC….we celebrated our amazing milestone at Justin Timberlake’s restaurant “Southern Hospitality”. It was a blast and my dear friend Enders joined me for the celebration!! It is always nice to hang with her (she recently had a beautiful baby boy -Clasen- so sometimes it is nice to let a new Mommy out on the town!!). I think we should have a party every 100 shows!!

Hockadoo!!

-Kevin

Celebrity Sighting – This week we will go with the super talented and VERY tall Zachary Levi! Yup, CHUCK himself was in the house and on his feet!!!