ActorQuest 17: Kristin Goes 'Inside the Easter Bonnet'

In November, Kristin Huffman made her Broadway debut as Sarah (flute, piccolo and sax) in John Doyle's production of Company.  The actress continues her collection of stories about a 15-year career that has led her to the door of the Ethel Barrymore Theatre.

So many people participated in the Easter Bonnet Competition this year, and even more attended the performance. I wanted to give you an "insider's" view of this event.  

Remember, you can also see me and about eight of my other COMPANY castmates in a cabaret at ARS NOVA (511 W. 54th street) on May 7th, Monday night, at 8pm.  Tickets are only 15 bucks and can be purchased on smarttix.com under my name, Kristin Huffman.  P.S.: we also have a lot to be grateful for in our Drama League, Drama Desk and Outer Circle Critic Nominations!!

EASTER BONNET

"We do this because our own good fortune leaves us with much for which to be grateful." Those were the words that jumped out at me from the program of the 21^st Annual Easter Bonnet Competition.  As I sat in the audience, after performing in our COMPANY skit for the event, I felt those words hit home.

Written by the Executive Director Tom Viola in the opening pages of the program book, he was discussing the reasons and actions of this charity, Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS, and the need for actors to continue in our fundraising efforts.  I write stories because I want to share a "backstage" look with you all and because I want to remember all this! 

I had been debating for three weeks or so about whether my own involvement in this project had been worth it.  Our show, COMPANY, had put together a skit, written by Amy Justman and Fred Rose mostly, that spoofed our own show concepts.  Each Broadway company that was involved had three minutes to have fun or present something poignant.  We chose "funny" in the form of an "audition" for "John Doyle" for the show, A CHORUS LINE.  No soundtrack or other orchestra for us - we actually danced and also played our instruments thus fulfilling the "quadruple threat" requirement.  The reason we chose A CHORUS LINE was because it seemed like the most ludicrous choice to apply instrument playing.  I have actually heard some of my actor friends say, after seeing COMPANY, "Oh great, now we all have to start learning to play instruments to get on Broadway."  So using our instruments in an absurd and extreme example of that statement in A CHORUS LINE seemed like the best way to poke fun at them and give them a bit of a reality check. 

We spliced together some of the more popular numbers from A CHORUS LINE with our own lyrics like, "God I hope I get it!  I hope I get it!  How many trumpets does he need? How many strings how many reeds, how many woodwinds does he need?" If you know the melody please sing along.  My own line after that was: "Who am I, I don't know. Am I my piccolo?"   Some other great ones were, (sung to the tune of "Tits and Ass"), "Winds and Brass.  Bought myself a fancy pair. But I can still play six or seven more!"  And to the tune of "One," our lyrics were, "One, orchestra of actors, I can sing and play trombone. One, other bands may be 'exacter', but we do it all on our own.  We are the band geeks that everyone once ignored. Now we're onstage doing every last Sondheim score!  Once, all the Broadway gypsies were hired for their triple threats.  Now this new director bets on four, or more! Well it's one, more, union dues deduction.  Band, and, actors, all in ONE!."  Works best if you go back and sing it.  I don't suggest jumping around with a sax around your neck, a piccolo down your bra and a flute in your hand like I did though. 

I was just so proud of our show and its cleverness and talent!  And as I watched the other groups perform, I was equally amazed at their dedication and talent.   If they had as little time as we did to rehearse and make up these terrific, clever or moving skits, they should be running the country instead acting!  But we are doing what we can in our own creative way, to show how grateful we all are for being able to live out our dreams on Broadway.

And not just on the Great White Way either.  For six weeks, across the country, theatres have raised money for this cause.  Our show, COMPANY, raised $58, 873 by collecting money after the shows.  The largest amount collected was by the national tour of JERSEY BOYS in the sum of $ 236,844! Like the other theatres, we had cast members standing at the back of the theatre with buckets and signed Playbills and posters to sell.  We even had an auction at the end of our shows in which I was dubbed "auctioneer" and had to "sell" the kazoo that Raul plays in the number, "Side by Side."  This two dollar kazoo never went for less than 100 dollars and at most sold for 575 dollars! All that money went to this charity.  I would use lines like, "Hey, this kazoo has Raul's spit in it and after you win the bid you can take it home and make little tiny Rauls out of the DNA".  I don't know why, but that helped bump up the price every night.  All joking aside, we had very generous audience members!

Easter Bonnet Competition. Good cause, generous people, funny skits…yadda yadda…..  You know me, the thing that put me over the top was in being backstage and seeing or meeting all the celebs and theatre noteables!   First of all the backstage of the Minskoff Theatre, aka LION KING's theatre, is amazing!   There are huge masks hanging up and gazelles and giraffes all over the place.  Our dressing room was the "male hyena's" room.  I got to ride up in the elevator with the dog from LEGALLY BLONDE…oh and Laura Bell Bundy too.  And then I stood backstage with Amy Irving and Joanne Worley.  Had a nice conversation with "Rod", the puppet from AVENUE Q.  And stood close enough to David Hyde Pierce and Vanessa Redgrave to feel the trickles of stardust coming off each of them.  Ok, yea, I realize that sounds corny, but I can't believe I get to do this stuff!

Whenever I felt like complaining about the rehearsals for our skit using up precious free time and days off, I would think about the end result and the benefit itself and try to be more positive.  After watching all the other skits and marveling again at the dancers from LION KING and the costumes of WICKED and the cleverness of all the bonnets themselves, I just felt so proud to be apart of this amazing community of folks.

Our own Raul Esparza sang the touching finale and as I sat in my seat in the audience I silently vowed to continue using my good fortune to benefit causes like this.  To whom much is given, much is expected.  And it should be.  The "rewards" of being involved in the Easter Bonnet competition go beyond "winning" the prize at the end.  And if I could help you all enjoy some of this with me and realize that you, too, can contribute a 'note' to the cause, then it really all has been worthwhile!

Photos of Company cast members (Kristin Huffman, middle in first picture) by Mark Rupp; click this link and this link to see more pictures from the Easter Bonnet Competition