Seth's Broadway Diary, Volume 1: Part 2 (17 page)

He graduated AMDA and got a job as a waiter. The actor who was originally cast as Simba in
The Lion King
got a TV show, so they gave the role to his understudy, the late Jason Raize. Chris got an audition to be the understudy and showed up at 11 AM to sing for Julie Taymor and the creative team. At 11:20 AM he got the part and at 1 PM he began rehearsals! It was literally the first day of rehearsal! I asked if he got the tasty bagels, etc. that they serve on the first day, and he knew exactly what I meant and told me he's still annoyed all of that happened in the morning. Instead of a carb-laden bagel slathered in cream cheese, he arrived just in time to start learning "Endless Night." He eventually took over the role of Simba and stayed with the show for five years. He finally quit after getting surgery on his knee for the
third
time. Did you know that the stage at
The Lion King
for the first few years was made of
steel
. That feels great on your body… if you're a robot.

James and I went out with Andrea Burns from
In the Heights
for a dinner between shows on Saturday. We were sitting outside on Ninth Avenue and 46th Street at Yum Yum Thai restaurant. Suddenly we saw Gavin Creel on the corner. Then, walking down the block from the other direction we spotted Norm Lewis! They both came over to our table to chitty chat, and I felt like we should elect an Equity deputy. I complimented Norm on looking so buff. He blew off my comment and said he wanted a "chubby." I was uncomfortable
slash
intrigued, but before my mind could land in the gutter, he asked us if we liked chocolate. The next thing we knew, he had run over to delicious Amy's Bread and gotten us two Chubbys which, it turns out, are chocolate brownie cookies. Yes! It put the "Yum" in Yum Yum.

At Broadway Artists Alliance, I interviewed Tony Award-winner Norbert Leo Butz whose voice I am totally obsessed with. He said that he was embarrassed to do musicals in his high school, but he found a way to have leads all over town. He grew up in St. Louis and there were tons of all-girl Catholic high schools that were desperate for boys to be in their shows. Norbert said that he'd find out about the upcoming musicals through some crazy underground network and would shuttle from school-to-school playing Harold Hill, Sky Masterson, etc… He studied classical theatre in undergraduate and graduate school and spent most of his twenties working in regional theaters and being based in Alabama. He finally moved to New York, and one of the publicists of
Rent
heard him sing at a benefit and got him an audition. The show had just opened and Norbert tried out to be the understudy for the two male leads. After five auditions, he got it. He began rehearsals and
two days later
had to go on for Adam Pascal! I couldn't believe how little time he had, but he said that, throughout the audition process, he was learning the music, so he felt like he knew it very well. Well, turns out, there already
was
an understudy for Adam who didn't know Norbert was going on. So, of course, that guy wasn't happy. Norbert said that he began Act One and right after he sang the first big Roger song ("One Song Glory"), one of the producers went backstage and fired the other understudy! Norbert said that he left the stage and as he was walking up to his dressing room, the other understudy was walking downstairs with his stuff. Ouch! Norbert found out that the other understudy didn't come from the world of theatre and was not prepared for what it took to understudy five parts. He also said that many times, he'd do a matinee as Roger and then play Mark at the night show or vice versa.

After Norbert, I interviewed the fabulously talented Marc Shaiman. The first Broadway show Marc saw was
Fiddler on the Roof
and he remembers studying the souvenir program and being obsessed with the picture of the woman who played Tzeitel. He loved how her smile made her eyes get super-small. Then, when he was in junior high school, his chorus teacher gave him two albums to thank him for accompanying. They were Bette Midler's first two albums, and he became
obsessed
. He then realized that the woman in the Tzeitel picture and the woman on his album was the same person! He loved her so much, he used to go to the Village and wander down the street where Bette lived, hoping he'd see her. He told me he really didn’t know what he was hoping he'd see — he said maybe Bette watering her flowers in the front yard? P.S. Does anyone even have a
front
yard in New York? He saw Bette's concert on Broadway and fantasized that he'd run down the aisle saying, "Oh, Miss Midler! I know how to play every song from every album you've ever recorded!" Then he'd sit onstage and play and she'd say to the audience, "This kid is good!" Well, one day when he was 16 years old (!), he wandered into Marie's Crisis in the middle of the afternoon with some friends and began playing piano. Old movie-style, the person sweeping up behind the bar said, "You're good, kid!" He told Marc that a comedy group, The High-Heeled Women, was looking for a pianist, and Marc got the gig. He stayed with one of the women in the group, and she happened to live across the hall from one of Bette's back-up singers! Marc found out that the three singers (The Harlettes) were putting together an act of their own. He auditioned to be their pianist and got it! They got great reviews, and Bette said they could open for her in Los Angeles! Suddenly, Marc was in an L.A. rehearsal studio, and there onstage was Bette Midler! He was freaking out! Bette suddenly asked the band if they could play "No Jestering" from her third album. They were just a bunch of pick-up musicians and not her actual band, so they didn't know it at all. Suddenly Marc saw The Harlettes talking to Bette and pointing at him. Bette asked him if he knew it and Marc literally got to run up to the stage saying, "Oh, Miss Midler! I know how to play every song from every album you've ever recorded!" Exactly what he dreamed! He played it and she told him to stick around for the tour in case she needed him. Instead of paying for a hotel room for him, she had him stay in her guest room! He said he went from walking down her block hoping to get a glimpse of her as well as covering his room in posters of her to literally eating breakfast with her across the table from her not wearing a bra! I told those kids that this story goes to prove that they can be obsessed with someone today and wind up hanging out with them in a few years. Hopefully with a bra on.

Marc also said that Scott Rudin first asked him to write the score for
Hairspray
and he said yes. Then, ten years passed. Margo Lion acquired the rights and asked him to do it. He said he wanted Scott Wittman to write the lyrics with him, and she was nervous because they were romantic partners and what would happen if they had a fight? She asked him to write some songs on spec, and they wrote four songs… all of which stayed in the show: "Good Morning, Baltimore," "Welcome to the ‘60s," "I Know Where I've Been" and "Big, Blonde, and Beautiful." He did the interview from the piano and every time he started playing one of those songs, the kids all immediately started singing and knew every lyric. At the end of the interview, he was asked by one of the kids what the most rewarding moment was in his career. Someone made a joke and said that it was today. But then Marc said it
was
amazing. He asked, "Can you imagine how thrilling it is for me to go to the piano and start playing a song I wrote… and suddenly have you all singing at me? That's as rewarding as I can ever imagine." Brava!!

All right, people. This week, my sister Nancy is coming in! She's hilarious. We're going to see
[title of show]
(I think it's my seventh time!), and I'm taking my nieces to see
Legally Blonde
. And then Wednesday and Thursday night, I'm playing for Andrea McArdle's act at the Metropolitan Room and then driving up to P-town to play for Varla Jean Merman. Peace out and put a bra on!

Working Vacation in P-Town

August 18, 2008

Greetings from Provincetown! James and I are sitting on the porch of our bed and breakfast looking out over the beautiful garden and hearing the nearby fountain splash… with our computers in our laps. That's right, this is a "working vacation." I got invited up here to play for Varla Jean Merman's annual concert called
Classical Varla
, which benefits AIDS Support Group Cape Cod. This is her fourth concert and it always raises a
ton
of money. Last night, I saw the show Varla is doing in P-town all summer and it was, as usual, hilarious. At one point, a stagehand "accidentally" left a box onstage that was filled with all of Varla's clippings, so she was "forced" to read them. She showed everyone the
New York
Times
review of her Off-Broadway foray
Enough About Me
and pridefully said that they called the show "insane." She then looked closer and noticed that the
Times
"made a mistake" and left the "s" out of the word.

Anyone that does a show in Provincetown has to have a hawker who strolls up and down the street handing out flyers. One day, when I was visiting here a few years ago, Varla's hawker wasn't available so I said that I'd help out. I started walking up Commercial Street and, as Varla smiled and waved and walked in front of me, I handed flyers to anyone who passed by. Varla had many fans fawning all over her, but at one point, two guys ignored Varla and instead came up to me to say how much they loved my show on Sirius radio. As soon as they left, Varla whirled around and told me, "You're fired!"

P.S. This Wednesday, the
Project Runway
models are all guys in dragand Varla is one of them! How amazing is that?
!
Her outfit wound up winning!

Last week, I played for Andrea McArdle's show at The Metropolitan Room. Andrea belts up a storm in the show, but the "patter" is mostly her answering questions I ask. She played a young Judy Garland in the TV movie
Rainbow
and found out that it was seen by... Liberace! He liked her so much, he hired her to be his opening act and wound up designing all of her costumes. She had never seen a bugle bead, but she was suddenly covered in them. One night, she was at a party in his house. A whole group of people were in his room and Andrea wondered out loud why he had high-heeled shoes in his closet. And why were they such a large size? Remind me never to invite a 15-year-old over to my place without first locking my closet/drawers.

Monday night, I performed at an Obama Fundraiser put together by Ryan Mekenian and, when I showed up, I read the program and saw that I hardly recognized any names on the list of performers. I was thrilled to see Teri Ralston, who was the original Jenny in
Company
, listed. Of course, I've been obsessed with that cast album ever since I played Harry in tenth grade, so I was psyched to see her perform. She sang David Friedman's beautiful song "Help is on the Way," and every time she sang that refrain, she pointed to the big Obama face on her T-shirt. Regarding the rest of the performers, I sat in my seat thinking that I'd try to be supportive no matter how clanky they were. Turns out, the talent on that stage was
incredible
! I was completely intimidated starting right at the beginning when Carrie Manolakos sang "America the Beautiful." She sang phenomenally, and after the show, I approached her and decided to give this newcomer a tip on how to get her Equity card. Turns out, she's starring as Sophie in
Mamma Mia!
. Huh. Perhaps she has a tip for m
e
.
A few years later, I cast her as one of the leads in DISASTER! What a voice
!
Then, a young woman named Lindsay Mendez sang a new song Andrew Lippa wrote, and yet again, I thought, "I must give this newcomer some pointers." After Googling her, I realized she plays Jan on Broadway in
Grease
! And I've been obsessed this whole last year with how she sounds on "Mooning." What is my problem? The other person I was obsessed with was a woman named Shaina Taub who arranged the cool and creative back-up harmonies for "America the Beautiful" and then sang a great song about Halloween being scary, but election night being even scarier. She had the coolest, soulful, smoky sound, and I assumed she was a chanteuse who’s been playing in all the coolest clubs in town for years. Turns out, she's 19! Why do I assume that established Broadway performers are fresh off the bus and actual newcomers are aging jazz-tresses? That reminds me… I must write and give some professional encouragement to a certain C. Rivera whom I think has potential.

My sister Nancy came to visit this week from Virginia, so we hightailed it to my long-time fave,
[title of show]
. The craziest thing happened that night. Around two-thirds of the way through the show, Hunter and Jeff exit the stage through a door, and Susan and Heidi remain onstage and sing about being the secondary characters. Well, I saw Jeff start to leave and the next thing I knew, he was flat on the floor and all that we could see onstage were his feet sticking out of the doorway. Everyone awkwardly stood there, and Jeff
did not move
! Nancy leaned over to me and asked if that was supposed to happen and I knew if I said it was an accident, her co-dependence would kick in and she'd hail an ambulance, so I muttered a combination of yes and no and kept staring at the stage. Finally, Hunter said with an odd line reading, "We'll be back," and it looked like Jeff was
dragged offstage
! What the-? I was freaking out! What was with the immobilization? Heidi and Susan sang their song and I later found out that whole time they were terrified he was a) really injured b) terribly injured or c) dead. How can you go on with a comedy scene when you're wondering if your co-star is dead?