Standby, Organ Boys...

(That's what they call them. Whatever gets you through your six week run, I guess.)


The side of my brain that likes fixing things enjoys doing one-off coverage of other people's shows in the same way an extreme sports expert might enjoy jumping off a cliff: it's a rush, you don't know exactly how it'll end, everyone's hoping for the best. I find it weirdly fascinating that the person who actually could have the most control over how a production goes can be completely replaced without the audience's knowledge. As I said in many emails* today, theater is weird.

It's obviously better when there's some heads-up (I like checking my bungee cord) so paperwork can be clarified, notations explained, even props reset to minimize the number of things the replacement can screw up. I still have recordings on my phone from two separate productions that I covered: nearly all the numbers in Godspell (so I could practice calling light cues on their proper bumps) and the ending of "The Beams Are Creaking" (to practice conducting and calling cues simultaneously). I'm glad today's SM had the time to walk me through life before tonight's show, as it helped to know so much was taken care of when the world tried to fall apart elsewhere. (Let's do 'Miracle Worker' with a functional-now-nonfunctional water pump? Sounds great!)

Or, no heads-up can be fun, I guess: the stage manager who knew I was in the building, so she buzzed me to come up to the booth so she could throw up. That Saturday when the morning version of BCPE had an actor not show so we brought me in to run their version while the stage manager went in for a Herdman. I sometimes wonder if part of why I try to be so meticulous in my own paperwork is to ward off theater gremelins from causing me to miss a performance - and thus call for meticulous paperwork for the last second cover.

It's midnight now, so I will quickly sum up by saying that I guess this all means I like my job. Some days, though, there's that extra kicker to get you through the three-four-five-forever weeks run.




[* These emails were asking various cast members if they have a preference for the flavor of gum or cough/Vitamin C drop we'll use in an upcoming production because the props designer doesn't want anyone stuck with an unwelcome flavor. Of course they were.]

From the minds that brought you "Standby Velociraptor," now comes "Standby Velociraptor with a Taser"

Because sometimes it takes the big guns to get people to put turn off their phones.

[I hope the one and a half people (or so) who know what I'm talking about like that.]


Super-Anyway, I feel like all I'm doing today is answering emails and watching radar maps. We're clearly going to get rain, but no one can agree yet on just how much. The meteorologist are walking a balance of 'don't panic the people' and 'don't make everyone feel so calm they accidentally drown tomorrow,' and I don't envy them that tightrope. Meanwhile, I'm planning for meetings that may or may happen tomorrow and congratulating myself on *not* buying the fancy tickets to see "Inside Out" early, as the movie theater or bus service or any other number of things may very well be flooded out by tomorrow evening.

three hours, ten minutes

Currently considering purchasing a plane ticket which will include an extended layover in St. Louis - probably just long enough (and cheap enough, compared to the direct flight options) to hop in a cab, get some Ted Drews*, and make my way back to Lambert.




* I phrase that as if I don't know what I would buy. I would buy two Cardinal Sins: one to eat immediately, one to [likely] unsuccessfully try to fit into security-approved bottles to take back with me.

Things I looked up during the Tony broadcast (in no particular order):

* Daisy Eagan's age when she won for Secret Garden

* Peter Gallagher's entire history to figure out what project Megan knew him from

* How many Tonys does ____ have?
- Tommy Tune: now 10, from 13 nominations
- Brian d'Arcy James: zero
- Michael Ceveris: because I can never remember how many Sondheim-based awards he's won
- Scarlett Johansson

* When in relation to the schedule of Smash did Christian Borle win his Tony

* Did we really have a tie for the best book over the commercial break, or did the website have a misprint?

* Cheno's acceptance speech from 1999

* Jackman's hopping opening from last year, because somehow Megan had missed it

* Does Helen Mirren somehow have a Grammy, whereas she just became an EGOT winner?


And, if you've never watched Tommy Tune's choreography for Grand Hotel, I give you Michael Jeter's lack of legs.

"Would Brian Stokes Mitchell be singing by now? ... If I'm actually on Eastern time, maybe?"

I've spent a lot of the past week thinking back to a year ago. I could probably do this more frequently (we keep solid enough calendars that I could figure out what paperwork was stressing me out when), BUT it's a lot more interesting to think back on the milestones.

It was a Big Deal Week, in a number of ways. It wasn't on the floor level (someday perhaps, young self), but I was still there - sitting at the Tony Awards. We saw two of the year's big winners. The side of my brain that also geeks about music still cannot believe that I own the recordings of casts I saw live. I've been obsessed with Forbidden Broadway since 1998 (thanks Lion King-Napster-Ragtime/Gagtime), and finally made it to the mylar curtain.

We got to hang out with people I hadn't seen in years, and let them help us feel a little like locals. My brother met people who were (and still are) important to me - whether in 315, S Office, or weaved throughout my ADP career.

And, all the ways it was a Smith Sibs trip - Caleb hanging out with the paparazzi after Letterman (which is why he has better Jackman pictures), taking notes on what comics I should be reading, checking out the children's literature exhibit at the NYPL, him falling asleep in the [outdoor] line for Shakespeare in the Park. Above all, not wanting to murder him part way through (making it a step up from London '09).

I [mostly] don't feel the need to live in NYC anymore. My own city has theater and museums and parks that I don't have time to see, and I expect it would be the same there. Fun to visit for a goof-off week of the best of theater? Yes, please, always.

Gonna finish my Tony homework for this year (I have about twenty minutes left of On the Town), cook some grilled cheese, and watch this year's telecast - minus heels.

(Technically, this isn't helping.)

My only act bandage is in my SM kit in the office, and I forgot to grab a wrist brace while I was at the store, so I'm improvising with a washcloth and hairbands.

I maybe need to stop typing so many things at work for a few more days.