BWW Blog: Ed Dixon of Pittsburgh Public Theater's L'HOTEL - Final Rehearsals

Tuesday, November 11

My lifelong friend, Jane Parham arrived in town for the invited dress rehearsal tomorrow and I had lunch with her at Sonoma Grill. Have I mentioned that Sonoma Grill is awesome? So is Jane. We had a marvelous time and then I took her to the theater to see the set. While we were standing there, Zach Moore ran a sound cue, Bizet's Symphony in C... loudly. Both Jane and I burst into tears. Got to introduce her to Ted Pappas who greeted her like an old friend. Good times.

The evening dress rehearsal, the last one before people start arriving tomorrow, went so marvelously. I didn't even take any notes. I just sat there watching what this amazing group of people has put together.

Wednesday, November 12

I awoke with a sense of great expectation. After ALL this... people will see the show for the first time tonight. And there was nothing on the schedule until the evening performance so I had a whole day to fill.

Arrived for the performance in very high spirits. There were only about thirty people at the invited dress. My friend Jane was there with her husband Sydney and Jordon Ross Weinhold, my orchestrator for CLOAK AND DAGGER was there with Lili Davis with whom he's performing GREAT EXPECTATIONS at Classic Rep.

I was very pleased that so few people made so much noise during and after the performance. A very good way to start.

Thursday, November 13

There was a line run-thru in the afternoon which I did not attend. The evening show, being the first preview, was a smallish house. I sat nervously in the back thinking that the audience wasn't reacting but everyone assured me that they were. Then there was a standing ovation, which I assumed was standard fare here. My old friend Kathy Wise was in the audience.

I was very surprised when Ted pulled me aside at the end of the performance and suggested a rather large rewrite and substantial cut. I thought we were past that point. But, like so many of Ted's suggestions, it had the ring of absolute truth to it, so I went home and did it immediately. By one in the morning I sent it to him and sometime around four thirty AM he okayed it.

Friday, November 14

We all met at two PM and rehearsed the massive change and a few other smaller corrections. It appeared that we had done the right thing by making these changes. Then I met Kathy Wise for dinner and we discussed old times. The second performance began... second performances are often dicey, since the adrenaline of the first one is spent. But this show was much better than the first... so was the audience. They were very responsive and the new material really landed. At the end, the audience leapt to its feet as one. Ted informed me that this was NOT standard behavior in Pittsburgh. Very happy making.

Thomas Ryan Barkman from the original company of LES MISERABLES was in the audience and we had a joyous reunion before during and after the show.

Saturday, November 15

No daytime rehearsal so I had the day free. Had dinner with Cissy Rebich, also from the original company of LES MIZ. What next? Will Colm Wilkinson suddenly show up in Pittsburgh? The theater was packed. First time we had a really big crowd, and they were great. After they picked up the gist of the show (very early on) they started laughing at almost every line, even things that I had never thought would get laughs. I always thought the show would be more thought provoking than a "knee slapper." This was very encouraging. Also encouraging was that the marvelous casting director, Pat McCorkle saw the show and called it "completely original." And considering that she sees EVERYTHING, that's really something. (She cast L'HOTEL and helped us come up with this marvelous cast.) Huge standing ovation at the end with people screaming "bravo!" So, of course I exited the theater behind a garish matron who turned to her friend and hissed, "Boring!" Ah, balance.

Sunday, November 16

My old friend, KJ flew in from New York to see the show. We went to dinner at McCormick and Schmick and he said, "Isn't that Mr. Sulu sitting behind you?" I thought he was joking so I didn't look around. Then we went to the theater and Ted Pappas said, "George Takei is in the third row!" Somehow I missed getting to speak with him, but Ted said he loved it. Hope to hear about it in HIS blog. Ted took the whole cast out for drinks for another great week's work.

Monday, November 17

Went grocery shopping with the cast (it's a schlepp) and then they all trooped over to the rehearsal room and I did a reading of GEORGIE: THE LIFE AND DEATH OF GEORGE ROSE. We were joined by Cissy Rebich, my old pal, and Jordon Ross Weinhold and Lili Davis from GREAT EXPECTATIONS. I have been working on the memorization and relished a chance to try out all the new material. They were a great audience and then we all trooped over to La Vela, the Mexican restaurant on Market Square. What a great week!