Yesterday, we bid Happy Trails to Vivian and Cary- both original cast members of Memphis on Broadway. It completed the sequence of Summer Happy Trails that saw us also saying farewell to James Brown III at the end of July.

So I made a video. Apologies to JBIII as he is underrepresented in photos as he joined our Memphis family after Opening and was not part of the initial photo calls. Doesn’t mean he wasn’t loved!!!!

It’s hard for me to write too much about this process as, prior to Broadway, the longest show I was ever a part of were limited 4 weeks runs, so I am still processing what this feels like. It is a blessing to be still on Broadway, still rocking it out, and with that, comes eventual cast changes. Except for that guy at Phantom who has been there for 22 years or so. I’m not sure I could handle the music of the night EVERY night…see? I’m deflecting to mask the sadness. Let’s just roll the video before I collapse on the floor in sobs.

Thank you Rooftops for letting us use your song as our official goodbye song! It’s very American Idol of us.
http://www.myspace.com/rooftopsband

In June of 1993, I had just graduated 8th grade. Sentimentality was high as my group of friends got ready to split up to various high schools- some going public, some choosing private roads to get us to the ultimate goal- college.

In June of 1993, I had been to plays, but had never been in one, except for a classroom production of 1776 in 5th grade as part of our Colonial America studies.

In June of 1993, I was looking forward to be on the Freshman Volleyball team, the basketball team, the tennis team.

In June of 1993, I was 5 months away from the PE class that would dislocate both my knee caps and ultimately change the course of my life forever.

But the most important event of June 1993, was the Bon Jovi concert at Shoreline amphitheatre in Mountain View, CA.

My two favorite things about the ticket stub above? First, that I even kept it as ticket stubs are not necessarily those keepsakes I have tended to collect over the years. Secondly, that the concert only cost $9.23.

This was my first concert where we went alone, no parents. I can’t even remember how we got home- we must have been picked up…That’s me, in the maroon, with the pink scrunchie and the braces and the unplucked eyebrows (8th grade was my “uncute” year).

We had an amazing time. It was a time when people still held lighters in the air. Concerts going in the subsequent years never seemed to eclipse the experience of that Bon Jovi concert.

In June of 1993, I could never have imagined working on a Broadway show with one of the members of Bon Jovi.

In June of 1993, I would have laughed in your face if you told me one day, I’d be attending that same band member’s wedding.

And so, as I congratulate Lexi and David, I humbled by the fact that 17 years after that concert, I have found myself in this most strangely amazing point in my life. May it serve as a reminder that the path unfolds in the most gloriously fantastical way sometimes.

Best wishes to our TONY winning rockin’ Composer, David, and the lovely Lexi from your Memphis the Musical family!

What I love and what makes me laugh looking back after one year of Memphis living in me online:

Best Blog Title:
Living on a Prayer and a Diet Coke

Best Blog Entry:
“Worst Blog Ever or The Potluck Blog”
http://www.memphisthemusical.com/blog/2010/05/11/worst-blog-ever-or-the-potluck-blog/

Best Caption:
Singing and the Rain, 9/11/09
http://www.memphisthemusical.com/blog/2009/09/11/singing-and-the-rain/

“Like these ladies. The one with the fan is clearly happier than the one without the fan. Don’t be the lady without the fan”

Favorite Blog Photo:
1st place- TONY nomination day- celebrating the signage being put up on the theatre. “I can’t help but think that this is what love looks like.”

Celebrating at Sardis, (naturally) the Hartman Group (Press Office), Type A Marketing, and the Junkyard Dogs watch the underslings being put up on the theater.

Runner up- Taken during tech rehearsal. I heart this photo so much.

Favorite Memphis Video:

A video from Tony Nomination day- probably because this day was so completely magical. Just to be in the “race” felt like we had already won.

Favorite Non-Show Video:

Only because Producer Randy Adams does an AMAZING impression of this kid saying “Looking good!”

Number of times Samson the show pup’s photo appears on the blog: 23 times

Number of Diet Coke Mentions: 41 times

Number of Sardi’s references: 67 times

Number of Blog Entries: 304

Number of days without a blog entry: 64

Number of times I thought my boyfriend would break up with me for spending too much time blogging: 6

Number of times I thought I would stop blogging before the year was up: 0

Happy Birthday Blog.

See you tomorrow.

The jig is up. I have been called out for what I am. And what I am is apparently good at doing silly things.

So much so that I just received a box of small plastic trophies from a Producer that said “I saw these at a garage sale for 25 cents each and I thought you of all people could do something with them.”

Offended? No way.

My reaction? “awesome lil’ trophies!” I figured that I would start using them to acknowledge the things that people in Memphisland do to make my life easier, more livable, or bring a little more laughter. I have said it before that running a Broadway show is like running a small country which means that there are several times a day where me, a lil’ associate, needs to rely on the kindness of others: to get me out of a ticketing jam, or help me with video/blog content, or remind me to order food, or bend the universe to accommodate my requests.

So the first lil’ Memphis trophy goes to Associate Company Manager, Tegan, to whom I refer to as “homie,” “humpy,” or its derivative “bumpy.”

Objects in the photo are smaller then they appear:

Ever thought about going into company management? Plan on working 6 days a week. And crunching the numbers of the nightly box office report. And getting lots of “high importance” flagged emails most oft with the subject heading “Last minute ticket request.” Expect to be on the phone all day Tuesday calling in payroll. Get ready to be intimate with the telecharge ticketing system, coding, zoning and pricing. Look forward to being cc’d on every email and having to find your call to action being buried somewhere deep within the email thread. If this doesn’t scare you off, perhaps you are well suited for company management.

Tegan saves my butt on a regular if not daily basis. And I’d like to think that I get her out of a few jams every now and then. But the balance is tipped way in her favor so clearly she needed the first lil’ trophy for time served. Plus, she adores trinkets like Kevin adores brown water.

I am a bit overwhelmed that the one-year blog-aversary is tomorrow. My lil’ blog is turning ONE. Singular Sensation. (right theatre, wrong show).

Hockadoo.

Do You Want Some Tacos?

First of all…I can’t believe that this is the 40th installment of The Covert Report. WOW. And strangely, it feels like it is only the beginning here at the Shubert. 40….like my age. Now I’m depressed.

Anyway…as we were gathering to attend Charlie’s going away party this past Sunday (now I’m really depressed….) we were sipping wine and enjoying conversation when I said that Charlie and I wanted to make tshirts for the lyrics that Bryan F. made up for The Gator Dance. Imagine my surprise when Carolyn had a total look of shock on her face. She had never heard the lyrics!! There is something at MEMPHIS that Carolyn doesn’t know about? (Now she’s depressed).

So I told her!! WARNING: Major spoiler alert if you are a big MEMPHIS fan! You will never be able to watch the gator dance again without these lyrics flowing through your head!! Here goes. So, it turns out Bryan does a mean Michael McDonald impersonation…so imagine the gator dance with these lyrics:

“Do you want some tacos?”

“Yes, I’d like some tacos.”

“Do you want some tacos?”

“Yea”

Carolyn has already started designing a tshirt with “Do you want some tacos?” on the front and just “Yea” on the back be a riot? I love an inside joke.

Which got me to thinking about all of the backstage shenanigans that go on and all the little idiosyncrasies that happen here at MEMPHIS.

Trust me when I say there is nothing better than watching Betty (Montego and Cass’ dresser) do her version of “It Ain’t Nothin’ But a Kiss” offstage right.

My dresser Ryan and I have a thing where I have to throw him my cameraman shirt on the playoff button of “Stand Up”.

Jennifer, Brad, Charlie (still depressed) and I are absolutely outlandish before the show starts (I would tell you about it here, but suffice it to say that in any other line of work we would have been fired for sexual harassment or misconduct….).

Fenkart and I have to sing “Baby! Baby! Baby” at the beginning of “Love Will Stand” to each other and then I have to poke Chad three times on “See You Through” while he is drinking water.

The list goes on and on. When McGrath is not out on a leave for knee surgery (even more depressed) we play password offstage right during the final dressing room scene.

It’s crazy how these things become as much a part of the show as the lines you actually say onstage!

I have to give a shout out to both Brad Bass and Tracee Beazer who in the past 2 weeks have made their debuts as Huey and Felicia, respectively. They were both absolutely mesmerizing. I am so in awe of just how deep the talent runs in this cast.

Over here at MEMPHIS we also welcome the beautiful and talented Erica Dorfler who is vacation swinging while Miss Montego soaks up the rays in Ochos Rios. A MUCH needed addition to the cast is Bryan Langlitz who is our official white man swing – and he is a super great guy (which makes me a little less depressed that boo bear is in LA).

I also have to give some love to Gregory Haney who is holding it down in the ensemble while Toderick Hall rehearses for the JBIII track. (JBIII is James Brown III who just left to join the Priscilla cast).

Finally, Paul McGill will move into Carys track and Bahiyah Gaines will replace Vivian who is going to do “Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown” (just got depressed again). And FINALLY we welcome Andy Mills to do Charlie’s leave of absence.

Wow..that was alot. Well, it’s what happens when you are in a looong running HIT!! (although it is depressing when people leave….)

Oh…I just thought of another backstage thing. As the photographer, I snap a picture of Betsy right as Felicia sings “Nothin’ but a…SNAP” right before Radio!

A big shout out to Jen Allen for hosting an awesome potluck on Sunday! I ate and drank way too much!! I think we all did!! Anytime this crowd gets together outside of the Shubert….watch out!!

Now, I think I’ll go grab a quick bite before the matinee. The question is….Do I want some tacos? Yea.

Hockadoo!

-Kevin

For years, I used to go online and order posters from Triton Gallery. And then I had them all framed. My dream was to have an office where I could have all the posters up surrounding me, wrapping my in a cocoon of musical goodness.

Only six of that total collection made it with me to New York City, the rest are sitting in a storage unit in Colorado.

Side note: Nick-tastic tells me there is some video highlighting people from Colorado on Broadway– where was my Press Memo? Is it because I wasn’t born in the Mile High City, is that why I was omitted off the interview list? Moving on…

Never in my wildest dreams did I ever think I would actually go to Triton Gallery and see a show poster on the wall that was mine- you know, like one I work on.

For a theatre geek, it was pretty rad.

And reminds me that I have to get my Memphis windowcard signed. It’s only been 10 months. *

*For opening, each cast member got a windowcard signed by the company. I delivered them on opening night. James Monroe Iglehart’s poster is still hanging in his dressing room from a hanger in a plastic bag. He refuses to do anything about it nor will he decorate his room. It still looks like it did in previews- like he just moved in. And he wonders why Broadway.com doesn’t come in and photograph him in his dressing room…

Once On this Island? Anyone? Anyone besides Nick-tastic?

Anyway, Happy Monday! So far, so good. Typically Mondays present technically difficulties, and so far, I only seem to be having trouble with my email…so, you know, pretty good so far.

One of the greatest things about working Memphis is the “team spirit.” What I mean by that is it feels very old school theater around the Shubert; everyone is invested in the show.

Exhibit A: I constantly am told from the staff and personnel around the building that the way the show is run reminds them “of why I got involved in theatre in the first place” or “it feels like a big family”. Since this is my first Broadway Show, I have nothing to compare it to, but it does my heart good to know people like coming to work.

Exhibit B: The merchandise staff has learned the “Steal your rock ‘n’ roll” finale choreography and performs it along with the cast at the back of the house once they are finished setting up the merch in the bar area. They are pretty good, too.

Exhibit C: Melissa, Beautiful and Bubbly Bar Manager, snapped the photos below for me on Sunday of the line for tickets because she knew I would love it. For more on Melissa, check out her Behind the Title entry: http://www.memphisthemusical.com/blog/2010/02/05/behind-the-title-melissa-bar-manager/

So the box office opens at noon on Sundays. Melissa first texted me around 10:30am to tell me that there were people in line with lawn chairs waiting for the box office to open. Presumably, these are people waiting to buy the small allotment of student rush tickets available day- of for each performance. Check the Home page under the Student section for more details on student Rush policies.

Check out the line for tickets extending all the way to the start of the Mary Poppins 3 sheet***!

***Industry lingo: “3-sheets”: The reason for the name is that originally they consisted of three separate sheets of paper, wheat pasted to the surface to create a single image or poster. There are 1-sheets (just a single sheet) and 2-sheets (2 separate sheets pasted on the surface to create a single image). In the subway there are 1-sheets (vertical) and 2-sheets (like we’ve done for MEMPHIS, which is the equivalent of two vertical 1-sheets pasted side by side to create a single poster). Nowadays these are printed as a single poster as there are presses large enough to do so. – From SpotCo, our ad agency, when asked about the history of why we call them “3 Sheets.”

We are very happy to have happy people in line to see MEMPHIS! Kudos for spending your Sunday morning in Shubert Alley and your afternoon with us at the show.

Today, we say goodbye to Ensemble Member, Charlie Williams, while he takes a four month leave to do the out of town production of Leap of Faith in Los Angeles. Charlie- Mr. Memphis, Mr. Broadway, gets on a plane tomorrow and heads out of Memphisland and right to LaLa land.

It is also the 300th blog entry for the Memphis blog (hockadoo to that), so I thought I would combine these two momentous occasions with a 100 Things I will miss about Charlie Williams list.

100 THINGS THAT WE WILL MISS WHILE CHARLIE IS AWAY:
1. His smile
2. His laugh
3. His energy
4. His friendship
5. His triceps
6. His biceps
7. His trapezoids
8. His latitude
9. His longitude
10. His lack of an apartment lease
11. His wandering spirit
12. His approach to life
13. His approach to the day
14. His approach to the hour
15. His approach to the moment
16. His love of the work
17. His quads
18. His calves
19. His hip flexors
20. The way he says “trust”
21. His attendance streak
22. His surprising sassiness
23. His participation
24. His BCEFA donation drive coordination
25. His BCEFA poster signing coordination
26. His BCEFA Gypsy of the Year coordination
27. His AIDS Walk coordination
28. His grace
29. His complexity
30. His willingness to forgive proofing/printing errors
31. His willingness to try
32. His willingness to try playing softball
33. His youthfulness
34. His old soul
35. His wisdom
36. His hair
37. His follicles
38. His forearms
39. His shoulders
40. His clavicle
41. His text messages
42. His occasional emails
43. His once in a while phone calls
44. His Stripopoly outfit
45. His Stripopoly poster
46. His Mr. Broadway crown
47. His Mr. Broadway Speedo
48. His Mr. Broadway Speedo photo
49. The way his Mr. Broadway Speedo photo registered off the charts on our social media metrics
50. His no longer sprained ankle
51. His stories
52. His get up and go
53. His summer wardrobe of tank tops
54. His cuticles
55. His red blood cells
56. His white blood cells
57. His ingrown hairs (if he had any)
58. His belly button
59. His nickname-ability
60. Hearing Kevin call him “Boo-Bear”
61. Referring to him as “Mr. Adorable”
62. Or calling him “Charity Charlie”
63. His “Underground” bridge cross
64. His Collins Store shopper suit
65. His Perry Como Trap Door cover cross
66. His occasional Frank Dryer
67. His tap dancing with Cary
68. His barrel rolling
69. His lift with Hillary
70. His “come here!”
71. His mean man “Hockadoo”
72. His bat skills
73. His “non stop be bop du wop baby”
74. His “time to get down, time to get down”
75. His mashed potato
76. His not appearing in Memphis Lives in Me
77. His “obey it”
78. His “nah nah nah”
79. His head
80. His shoulders
81. His knees
82. His toes
83. His knees and toes
84. His Eyes
85. And Ears
86. And mouth
87. And Nose
88. His stage door manner
89. How people came to the stage door tonight just to wish him well
90. How he feels like an old friend even though you’ve just met
91. “Besides being one of my dearest friends, I will miss laughing with him at bad movies” –Kevin
92. “I will miss surprises at restaurants”- Kevin
93. “I will miss talking to him everyday on the bridge at the end of Act One when we are stuck upstage right after the fight” –Kevin
94. His dedication
95. His technique
96. His strength
97. His character
98. His hugs
99. They way he has scratched his itches
100. Mostly, I will just miss seeing him steal our rock and roll night after night

See you in November Charlie!!

It is pretty common to surf YouTube and find people singing their renditions of their favorite songs or show tunes.

It is less common to come across a video of someone PLAYING along to a song on a recording.

And probably even less common that the drummer on said recording would find the video and post it to his personal facebook page which was then stumbled upon by the administrator of this blog, who, while writing this very blog entry, got an email from stage management of the show of the previously mentioned recording making sure that I had seen this video.

So from Clayton, the show’s original and current “Chester, show me what you’re working with” percussionist, we are clearly all excited to share this video from Corey, who is playing to “Everybody wants to be Black on a Saturday Night.” What is incredible to me is that he has the talent to deduce the correct percussion simply from listening. I did not do so well in Aural Skills Class, even at the remedial level, so this is impressive to me.

Hey Corey- welcome to Broadway! Well, the Broadway Blog at least.

One of my favorite things as well documented by this blog, the Memphis Buses:

My new favorite thing, the Memphis bus kaleidoscope REMIX!!!

Thanks to Fred in Wardrobe for making this and for Kyle in Wardrobe for sending it to me- those Wardrobe people are mighty crafty.