Anyway. Back in August. Recommended. Alix couldn't do the show, so she suggested me, among others. Rena emailed me, I was on board. I wasn't doing anything else at the moment although I had my prospects (and then disappointments...though it defiinitely worked out for the best!) The show ran at the Triad theatre from October 6 or 7 through I think November 11th. It was a great run-mostly pretty full houses...we had our moments....there were some tense moments among the small group of us...but we worked them out and had a really fantastic time! At that time, the show consisted of Rena, Bill (Musical Director on piano and claves), Joe (on violin, mandolin, guitar and banjo), Mark (on Bass), myself on video projections, and then the house TD on lights and sound. The latter could not make it to the final show which left us scrambling a bit and there were some delays, some reworking of scripts, some...mess....but it was a really really great final show and FINALLY I got to call the show which was fantastic because that's what I love most about what I do. Stage Managing...in general is a pain in the ass. The rehearsals, the coordination of persons, the working with directors, the issues with dancer schedules....it's a pain. But calling a show....calling a show is the closest that I will ever get to conducting, since my musical talent (especially when it comes to reading music) can fit inside a miniature dollhouse-version-size tuna can. Calling a show is like a mantra. It brings peace. I love it.
After the run in November, we scheduled a gig at the National Arts Club which is somewhere south of Gramercy Park and hoity toity and, for the most part, anti-Semitic. Which is pretty interesting considering it's a show about and starring a young Jewish woman exploring her roots. I mean, literally, there were people in the audience PASSING NOTES about how disgusting Jews are and why the fuck would she be performing at the NAC. Not gonna lie, the people who ran the place were nice enough to us. They gave us everything we needed, they fed us well (wow, the French Onion soup was delicious), and the reception was okay. But this place had ugly carpeting, ugly paintings on the walls, and downstairs (down the marble hallway where the restrooms were), there was posterboard up, advertising an upcoming seminar (remember I don't make this shit up) titled: "Trophy Wives: A Career Choice, A Tribute To Women Working Just As Hard As Working Women."
Photographic Proof:
It was just...not the nicest place to be, you can imagine. But there WAS free alcohol afterwards, and they didn't kick us RIGHT out, so...hey. Can't complain. After the NAC, which was just myself (on the soundboard), Bill (on piano/claves), Rena, and Dean (our director/Rena's brother) on projections, we took a break, but knew that we'd have another gig shortly.
The third gig came tonight, at the Brae Burn Country Club, a members-only club in Purchase, NY that brought the show up to perform for their cabaret evening. Again, the reception was very nice--they fed us well, they took care of us, the guy who was taking care of us KNEW how things WORKED. THAT was pretty awesome. AND He speaks Spanish so he can communicate with the staff under him and is very impressive. I really liked that guy. This time around, Rena was already in Westchester with Daniel, so Mark drove up with his bass, Bill and I took the train to White Plains where Rena & Daniel met us, and then our new strings player also drove up.
I say new strings player because, this time, we decided to go with a really rad guy named Stephen Benson who played Italian Mandolin, Acoustic Guitar, Banjo, and Electric Guitar...and he's awesome...we uh...dropped Joe. Joe....was the source of some issues back in November, some of which concerned the way that he and I communicated. Even in these little productions, there's a level of professionalism that HAS to exist in order to keep a show functioning. Joe just doesn't have it. He confirmed the date for this gig (June 21) back in February. Now, only a few weeks before the gig, he tells us that he's too busy. Well fuck you. Stephen worked on the CD that Rena and Bill just cut, they pulled him in, he learned the music, he adapted incredibly well to our pace, and the show was awesome. The response during the show was not the most enthusiastic but it was certainly not the worst we've had. And what was really nice, for me at least, was that while I wasn't CALLING the show, I was still running sound from my laptop and from their soundboard....and it allowed me a semblance of stage-managerial-peace. Sweet.
But the place was nice--really nice--the staff was great, as I said, they had a swimming pool (but I don't think they let Gentiles swim there :( ) and Daniel was able to sneak us awesome snackies from the appetizer bar once everyone moved to the Dining Room. AND the room we were in (the card room) was stocked with a bowl of candy (probably for the diabetics) so we had a crazy pre-show sugar buzz going. My favorite moment, I think, was when I decided that I wasn't going to change my pants, instead I threw my black pants on OVER my jeans...and looked AWESOME. We finished the show, packed up...Mark lives on the upper west side, so he offered to drive me home which was sweet because we didn't get lost, it's a fairly short ride to the city, and I only had to take the train from 96th street straight home instead of waiting and waiting for the Manhattan-bound Metro North train, getting off at 125th, hoofing it to Lenox and then limping up to the apartment. Car=way better. Although, we did see a potential drug dealer with his purple headlights pulling out of a non-street onto the exit from the West Side Highway....PURPLE. HEADLIGHTS. Not a cop. guys. Not a cop.
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