BWW Blog: Jeff Blumenkrantz - BRIGHT STAR Pre Show Rituals

This week, I put out a request for questions for me and the Bright Star cast.

(Offer still stands - send me a dm @blumietunes or tweet using #askblumie.)

Today, I'll be addressing an excellent question from Judy Molnar (@JudyMolnar):

"What are some of the cast's pre show warm-ups and/or rituals?"

First of all, there are what I would call the superstitious rituals:

Hannah Elless can't go on unless she's traded "Break a leg"s with cast mate Paul Alexander Nolan. What did she do when his understudy Patrick Cummings went on? "Well, I held up my end of the bargain, but he completely ignored me."

Dee Hoty selects a Louise Hay Power Thought Card and pops it in her little bee card holder, puts on her essential oils, says the card out loud, and then squeezes the squeaky-toy Happy Buddha Bearing Coffee and Cell Phone.

Then there are the serious warmer uppers, who congregate onstage an hour to thirty minutes before the show, with a selection of rollers and balls.

AJ Shively does breath exercises, a voice warmup, checks for chest/nose/head resonance, throws in some tongue twisters ("Topeka Bodega Topeka Bodega...," then "Bodega Topeka Bodega Topeka...") all while using a foam roller.

Paul Alexander Nolan's warm up involves working out his upper body/rotator cuffs, and since a recent lower back injury, also his abs, glutes, and hamstrings. Plus a little yoga, a cup of coffee, and some (intense!) tongue-stretching.

Patrick Cummings does some yoga and some breath "stuff."

Tony Roach: "I stretch my hamstrings, I get on the roller, and then I go 'fah fah fah fee fah fah, fah fah fah fee fah fah, fah fah fah fee fah fah...'" (sorry there's no audio for this)

Michael Mulheren stretches and does breathing exercises.

Stephen Lee Anderson: "I roll around on the floor in the fetal position, then put my feet up on the radiator and breathe into the floor and hum, then I sit up straight and stretch, stretch, stretch!"

Steven Bogardus, his dressing roommate, says: "Then I walk in and see all that and that gets me so excited that I'm warmed up."

Sarah Jane Shanks: "Prayer and pushups!"

Allison Briner-Dardenne: Bikram Yoga

Max Chernin: "Water. Mousse. Gel. Glue. Hairspray."

Michael X. Martin: Fifteen minutes of singing in the car, i.e. vocal warm-up exercises, then upon arriving at the theatre, fifteen minutes of stretch and/or PT for the legs because "the legs feed the wolf." (It took me a while to get what he meant, but FYI the gist is: without being able to use its legs to hunt, the wolf starves.)

The women's dressing room: Drinking kombucha and looking at cute animal pictures.

The men's dressing room: Listening to music, esp. Beatles Sundays.

As for my warm-up, it pretty much consists of 1) eating a sandwich from Num Pang (conveniently located next door) and then 2) sucking on an Olbas pastille, aka "Magic Warm Up." There's also a little bit of stretching, but I save that for the middle of Act 2, just before "Another Round," in which I dance for an impressive two counts of eight. The end.

Emily Padgett, my show twin, also saves her big warm up ("planks, pushups, and abs") for just before "Another Round." But I've hung out with her in her dressing room before the show, and I'm here to tell you, she will invest some quality time, thought, and energy applying her makeup. I think it might be a sort of a pre show meditation for her. (Hi Em!)

I thought I had one of the lightest preps, but our leading lady, Carmen Cusack, beats me. Her pre show ritual? "Moisture mask." Full stop.

And finally, with perhaps the most extensive prep, there's Bill Youmans, whose up-to-90-minute warm up includes some aerobic exercise (either swimming or sun salutations), some yoga, and some barre exercises, plus a full vocal warmup. Then he eats ("a rain forest" according to Michael X.) right before the show for the rush of protein. ("I have to do all this because I get in my head otherwise.")

And there you have it! The Bright Star pre-show ritual run-down!