The Covert Report – Volume 37

Back in Business and Ain’t It Grand

Well, as some member of the chorus probably said upon Ethel Merman returning from vacation….”The Bitch Is Back”.

And I am back from one gloriously relaxing week of vacation. The Jalousie Plantation in St. Lucia was absolutely breathtaking and just what I needed after over 10 months straight of letting MEMPHIS live in me. I think that we take for granted the wear and tear that a long run has on your body and spirit. Especially with the build up of award season (which luckily for us had a VERY happy ending).

I don’t really know what went on at MEMPHIS last week except that alot of white people were out, and that Bryan failed in the one request I had of him which was to take over the Report for a week with a special edition of “The Fenkart Files”….coulda been funny….alas, an opportunity was missed. He claims he was overwhelmingly busy…so I’ll give him a free pass. This time.

I guess the only thing to do is to give you a day by day of the happenings on my vacation….

Monday- Arrive in St. Lucia after and incredibly easy flight on Jet Blue (I LOVE THAT AIRLINE). Take a van to the resort…the van had beer for us. In St. Lucia they have a local beer called “Piton”…tastes like a Corona. Check in (that was a little wonky….took forever). Go to the beautiful villa and get settled. Test out the private pool in the villa. Head down to the beach for a bite. Take a boatride to the city of Soufriere to purchase “provisions” for the room. Here is where I discover that the country has no brown water. Have a small panic attack. Decide that Jack Daniels will have to do. Boat ride back to resort. Meet friends in the bar. Mingle. Re lax. Go to bed.

Tuesday- Wake up and have breakfast by the water. On to the pool. Pretty Much swim and layout all day. Consider playing beach volleyball…think better of it. Order a banana daiquiri instead. Have dinner at a different resort “The Ladera” where Oprah likes to eat when she goes.

Wednesday- Wake up and have breakfast by the water. Spend the day reading and playing yahtzee by the pool and the beach. Consider going snorkling….think better of it. Order a Rum Punch instead. Go to the spa and have an Island Manicure while my friend Mia (the one who got married there) gives her hair a test run for the wedding. Have fancy schmancy dinner in the Great Room which is the nicest restaurant there.

Thursday- Wake up and have breakfast by the water. Spend the day playing Phase 10, reading and laying out by the pool. Consider going kayaking…think better of it. Order a Margarita instead. Go to the spa and have a Peppermint Scrub and a Full Body Massage. Consider applying for a job at the resort. Get ready for “The White Party” thrown by the bridal party for Mia and Al. Everyone wears white. Mia wears bright orange.

Friday- Wake up and have breakfast by the water. Spend the day at the beach and pool. Consider taking a yoga class….think better of it. Order a Pina Colada instead. Get ready for the rehearsal dinner which was held in The Great Room. Amazing meal with amazing friends. The Bride and Groom look astonishing.

Saturday- Day of the Wedding. Go back to The Ladera for lunch. Amazing. Running around doing errands for the Bride. I was an usher. Go to Mia’s room. Laugh, Cry, have a champagne toast. Go to the beach. Get everyone seated. Beautiful Wedding. Great Reception. In bed reading by 10pm…that exhausted.

Sunday- Wake up and have breakfast by the water. Swim, layout and enjoy my friends all day by the pool. My friends Justin and Stephen tell everyone that they are engaged!! Big celebration!! (For the record, they were wearing their engagement rings all morning and not one person noticed…so they finally had to bust out and tell us!) Consider going on a trip to the waterfall….think better of it. Order a Jack and Ginger instead. Stay outside until the sun goes down. Eat by the water. Pack.

Monday- Shuttle to the airport. Another easy flight on Jet Blue (where I watch the Miley Cyrus movie “The Last Song”…cry like a 3 year old…even the flight attendant was like “Get It Together Man…it’s a bad Miley Cyrus movie based on a Nicholas Sparks novel” Customs and Immigration. Home Sweet Home.

It was a pretty amazing week. That having been said…around Friday I really started missing MEMPHIS. I missed “Buck” and “Martin” (two of the characters I play). I missed my MEMPHIS family. My friend Christian asked me yesterday if I was glad to be back and my text response was “Yes. I love my show” and he said back “That’s the best feeling”. I truly do love the show. I love doing it, I love every single person involved, I love that Carolyn will put up with my crazy actor outbursts, I love the audience reactions.

Even though I was half a world away, my heart was very much at The Shubert.

Hockadoo!

-Kevin

Celebrity Sighting of the week – I wasn’t there so I don’t know. Maybe Carolyn will add something here!!

Carolyn here: Jason Segal was loving Memphis. High=fiving the bar staff, the whole thing.

The author of the Covert Report who usually posts on Wednesdays, needs another day to get his entry ready, so I will post some of the pictures from the Playwright’s Horizon Event yesterday featuring Chad, Dan’yelle and Joe.

Arrrghhh- if only this picture wasn’t blurry!!! But I guess that is what happens when you are flip caming and taking pictures at the same times. You set yourself up to miss the money shot. Ah sigh.

SHOW POWER ALERT: Broadway in Bryant Park- Tomorrow, Chad, Montego, and the “Change Don’t come Easy” Gang are performing, 42nd & 6th Ave, 12:30pm. Check it out!!! Fingers crossed for no rain…

It’s so gross out. Like too humid for words. And it was pouring today. Nothing like a New York summer…

In other news, tonight marked the first performance for Allen Fitzpatrick (yay), who has come in to play “Mr. Simmons” while Michael McGrath is out. Welcome Allen!! Allen played Simmons in both out of town productions at La Jolla Playhouse and Seattle’s 5th Avenue theatre so it is great to have him back..

I was also lucky to spend part of the afternoon with Author Joe DiPietro, Chad Kimball, Dan’yelle Williamson, and Music Director, Kenny Seymour, as they all participted in a discussion/Q & A session at Playwright’s Horizon as part of a Broadway Teachers Workshop. Playwright’s is a gorgeous facility and I feel tremendous guilt that I have never seen a show there. How have I managed that?? Perhaps it is akin to having never seen any of the Star Wars movies. No judgement-it happens.

You’d also think that after more than three years of workng on this show, I would have heard all the stories…nope. I hope to post some little tidbits from the videos at some point.

For instance, I didn’t know that both Chad and Dan’yelle graduated from the same college- Boston Conservatory- so they had stories about the same teacher!

I DID know that Dan’yelle is fantastic as “Felicia”. She has gone on six times so far and pretty much is ridiculously good. I mean, when the girl auditioned, I remember Music Supervisor, Chris Janke, requesting that she “sing the ‘Whitney.’ ” Let’s be real- you do not put Whitney Houston in your audition song book unless you can SING Whitney (old school Whitney, not crack is whack Whitney). Dan’yelle did it old school and, obviously, got the job.

I dedicate this video to Nick-tastic. Things Nick loves: the Rasberry Lemonade at the Olive Garden, Show Power and sassy, terrific, roof-raising belting. This one is for you, kid:

If you are alive, then you have probably had a conversation, or two or twelve, that start off by saying “did you see that video on youtube?” We have all been there and tonight was no exception. Office Pal, Sarah, and I were working in a little project at the homestead (the actual homestead, not the office which oft feels like we are living there), in which we were going back through the blog entries. Two things happened. First, we laughed and laughed at the blog titles, which are particularly “pun-ny” in many cases and sometimes better than the actual blog entry, and second, we watched a ton of videos we hadn’t watched in a while.

Like this adorable video,
currently at 762 views
William (Chad Kimball’s nephew and doppleganger) sings Memphis Lives in Me, with the help of his puppets:

This inevitably led to us discussing youtube and the role of it on this blog and in society itself. On this blog, I have spent a fair amount of time making and editing and uploading videos. Some have had more substantial views than others. I get it. You can’t always watch the video because you are at work and it would be inappropriate or perhaps your work computer are really extra super slow and loading videos takes half the day. Like I said, if only 84 people watched my Derrick Hand Model Story video, I’m not sad about it. Well, not too sad. There is hope though. The engagement video is my most successful video on my youtube channel according to view count, but I didn’t even film so I can’t even take credit for it.

3,014 Views
Getting Engaged at Memphis:

Then I just got curious, what else is out there on the world wide web that is Memphis related and how “viral” is it? I searched “Memphis the Musical” and found that the most viewed video is Chad singing “Memphis Lives in Me” at the kick-off BBQ in Shubert Alley last August. Fun Fact: At 2:26 into the video, you can see a little kid in a blue and white stripped shirt on his dad’s shoulders- that’s Justin, as in “Crazy Little Justin.”

20,002 views
Chad in Shubert Alley

Then I did a little more digging to find out who else is putting Memphis videos up.
225 views
Beau Davidson sings “Memphis Lives in Me” featuring video and photos of Memphis, Tennessee- cool to see the real places…

So far the Memphis videos have done pretty well between the channles: MemphistheMusical, JMIglehart and carolyndmiller1. But nothing has become a mega viral hit quite yet.

I’m not sure what we could capture that would be seen by millions, unless of course, a double rainbow appears in Shubert Alley….

3,026,021 views
Double Rainbow (Original Version):

Then Music Director, Kenny Seymour, could create an autotune to it and then we would be set. It would be “so intense.”

1,544,096 views
Double rainbow song:

Did he or didn’t he? That is the question.

Did Samson get a new friend during today’s Broadway Barks Pet Adoption event in Shubert Alley?

There was plenty of temptation:

He, unfortnately, was not up for adoption.

Shubert Alley was packed. Many were there for the animals and many were there for the celeb sightings. Bernadette Peters, Mary Tyler Moore, and of course, Memphis stars Chad and Montego! I wasn’t able to stay to see Chad and Montego (One hour in the parking garage was $30) but there were plenty of real photographers there so I am sure that those photos will be up and out soon… (just checked, they are not out yet).

Oh, and check out our new banner! This is what happens when scaffolding goes up and crates a slight problem in seeing much of your front of house signage on 44th street and in Shubert Alley. I love this picture. I think it says big, joyous, Broadway Musical. Look at their faces. That kind of joy is hard to manufacture. It must come from singing the “nah nah nah” chorus performance after performance.

Thank you to all the organizations who were part of Broadway Barks today. Fingers crossed that these wonderful animals find wonderful homes. And although we did not walk away with a Delilah for our Samson today, we spoke to alot of people and got some great information regarding adoption.

If we did get a Delilah, I wonder if they would let me bring both dogs to work…the company is called Junkyard Dog Productions after all.

I’m backstage a lot. Usually in the stage managers office where I use their computer and snag a peppermint patty or two. Peppermint patties, like thin mints, are best when frozen. Agreed? Agred. I digress. The best part about hanging in stage management, besides the access to the interweb and the free peppermint patties, are the stories.

Production Stage Manager, Arturo, had a particularly fascinating one the other day. Here is his story:

A very good friend and colleague of mine, stage manager Jim Woolley, was cleaning out in his apartment and brought me a present. It was a program from 1974 when I stage managed my first AEA job. It was a touring production of HAIR and it ended at Westport Country Playhouse where Jim was the house production stage manager.

I leafed through the program and saw a name, a simple name, but one that was just like one in our company, Memphis Music Director, Kenny Seymour.

So, the other day, I was kidding around with Kenny Seymour and remembered the program. Knowing he and I only met on the Seattle venture of Memphis, I said, “Hey Kenny, do you remember when we did HAIR back in ”74?”

He laughed. “You must be talking about my father.”

I froze but not enough to prevent me from saying, “What?”

“Yeah, my dad did HAIR. He played guitar and was in the cast.”

I showed him the program and he looked at the bio and said, “Yep, that was my dad.”

I just discovered I’m working with the son of someone I worked with 36 years ago. Small, small world.

Hockadoo,
Arturo

The text came in this afternoon: Derrick Baskin was going to be “out” and Rhett George would be going on as “Gator” for the first time. Jermaine Rembert, the other “Gator” understudy who went on previously when Derrick called out, is on vacation (see the last thirteen Covert Reports in which St. Lucia is mentioned- St. Lucia is were you will also find Jermaine).

Needless to say, when someone goes on for the first time in a certain role, there is always a bit of excitment around the theatre. It is the fun of live theatre! So this text, sent by stage management, had a lot of people buzzing.

Rhett is also the “Bobby” understudy and has gone on when James Iglehart hasn’t been able to but I’m not confident that Rhett has ever had a rehearsal as “Gator”…I COULD TOTALLY BE LYING about that- I’m just piecing together various information from random texts…

I was sooooo wishing I could go to the show, and was even more tempted when J. Bernard’s wife called me at 20 minutes to curtain, giddy with excitement as to what was coming. (I was gettin a pedicure at the time- the pedicure I had been meaning to get for the TONY Awards- here I am, getting my TONY pedicure nearly a month later. Alas. Essie: Gucci Mucci Pucci for those wondering.)

ANYWAY, I was able to call the backstage phone right before Intermission and they held the phone up so I cold hear Rhett sing the final verse of “Say a Prayer.” It was amazing! I was so happy that I could be a part of the moment and from my couch no less. Bravo Rhett.

For those who follow these sorts of thing, the Covert Report was not posted yesterday as the Covert was on vacation. I believe he will be back and blogging next week. A week without the Covert Report is like New York without trash- it just needs to be there to feel right.

In other housekeeping news, thanks to James and his awesome phone, we have a photo of the 300th performance poster that was backstage last night. For those of you who sent messages via Facebook, those messages were printed and added to the poster- thanks for those!!

Brad Bass holding the sign that featues his adorable son dressed as “Huey Calhoun” from the TONY viewing party.

Those mailboxes in the background are for the actors and Chad’s dresser, Jim, and I have been plotting to change the hideous interesting paint color. We are thinking zebra stripes. We have been talking about this since the 100th performance. Perhaps we will get it done by the one-year anniversary. And yes, I have already started planning that party. As Kevin would say, “I have thoughts.”

One year on Broadway: October 19th. I can’t wait. Bring it on.

Tonight’s evening performance marked the 300th performance of Memphis since the October 19th Opening.

How do you celebrate?

With Mrs. Field’s cookies of course.

I bought so many cookies that the manager of Mrs. Fields gave me a Diet Coke for free. (They were out of bottled water at Mrs. Fields, which indicates that, yes, it is still hot in NYC). I also learned that it is not enough to buy cookies without nuts; for those who have nut allergies, food prepared in kitchens that use nuts become a potential threat. This presents an interesting problem for providing stage door treats for the cast and crew. Any thoughts as to what I can get for the next stage door treat? And where from? There are some gluten allergies too. It’s enough to drive a person crazy…

Thanks to all the fans who wished us well on our social media pages! I will post a picture of the poster I made as soon as I can; it came out super cute.

Perhaps one of my favorite well wishes came from former cast member, LaQuet Sharnell:

My wish is that Memphis has 300 more performances.
Then 300 more after that.
And so on and so forth.

Well said, LaQuet. Well said.

OK, so it may be July 6th, but we at Memphis still wanted to send a bit of 4th of July your way: New York Style.

Times Square:

The Empire State Building:

The Macy’s Fireworks display as viewed from Chad Kimball’s apartment. That’s right. “Huey Calhoun” himself was kind enough to extend an invite, saving me from the heat and crowds of the West Side Highway, which was shut down to accommodate the massive amount of spectators. The view, and the company, was spectacular.

The theater was packed for the matinee on Sunday the 4th-super close to a sell out. I actually sat in a real seat for the first time in a long time. I tend to hang in the back of the theatre- running in and out, back and forth, in between blog entries (like right now) and trips to Sardis. So to have the opportunity to sit in a seat, my attention totally on the show was a real holiday treat.

All of the new cast members are finally settled into the show: Monique, Tanya, Paul, Sam, and Preston. In fact, with Rhett George out, James Brown covered his role in the “Be Black” Trio- so it was the first time, since Daniel and Ephraim left, that I watched that scene with a whole different trio of people. Very strange, but very cool to see what different flavor they each bring to the stage.

Charlie is still sidelined with an ankle injury-we know its killing him to be out of the show- and new Main Street swing, Paul McGill, has stepped up quickly to fill his role.

With August rapidly approaching, it’s crazy to think that it has almost been one year since Broadway rehearsals began. Ah, where does the time go?

Oh, and in July 6th related news, it’s hot here in New York. Apparently, it is all over the news as everyone I have talked to on the west coast today has asked me about it.

Happy to report that the Shubert Theatre air conditioning is working perfectly (unlike at Sardis) and will be a lovely respite from the demon heat on the mean streets of the Big Apple.

Grab at ticket and stop on by!