Sept. 9, 2003 10 AM - First rehearsal for 'Wonderful Town' at Theatre Row Studios, 41st & 10th

OK, so it's a bit of a shaky start...have you ever been to this part of town?

Right under the Port Authority? It's kinda shabby, you know. We're going into the backside of Theatre Row on

42nd St.

, that row of nice little theatres on the "good" side. Well, this side not so nice. So we're all scratching our heads and saying, "why are we rehearsing here?" Well, the answer came very quickly...but we'll get back to that. Our first hour is spent with our Equity rep., Kimberly. We're enduring some wholesale changes to our medical coverage because of costs, we're mounting a campaign against non-equity tours (which seem to be springing up everywhere) and contract negotiation time is on the horizon (and after our unions support of the Musicians Union strike the producers are NOT happy). And so! Welcome to Broadway!!! Yikes!

After that first happy hour we move to the Clurman Theatre next door with a lovely spread of nice things to nibble and drink and the festivities begin after a little schmoozing. As with every show I've done, the first order of biz is for the powers that be to give a series of short welcoming speeches and Fran and Barry Weissler (our main producers), Kathleen Marshall (our director and choreographer) and Roger Berlind (our co-producer) did just that. I'm sure most of you know that the Bdwy community is pretty small, so this is also a chance for all of us to catch up with old friends and celebrate or bemoan our fates. Personally, I answered a whole lot of questions about my experience with "Dance of the Vampires" and I'm still bewildered that so many people had such a strong opinion about a show they never saw. It's surely a testament to word-of-mouth in our biz.

Next! Back to Studio 1 and a demonstration of the set, a hint of the costuming and a taste of all of the aspects of the show...but first, a little history...

  Somewhere around 1933 a series of stories appeared in New York magazine about the adventures of two sisters from Ohio and how they fared in The Big Apple. It was the style of the times to present the stories in serial form and they were an immensely popular series called "the Ruth McKinley Stories" by, naturally, Ruth McKenney. They were such a hit that they were turned into a play titled "My Sister Eileen." Also wildly successful. Then came a movie, the musical, "WonderfulTown"...which is a story unto itself, so I'll tell it...

 After the musical opened on Bdwy to great acclaim and to winning several Tony's, there was a great deal of talk about a movie being done. And as Hollywood is prone to do, they gave the go-ahead without making sure that the original creative team was involved. So the movie that was produced was NOT the show that appeared on Bdwy! It wasn't even Bernstein's music that was used! Did that stop 'em? Nope! There was however a truncated version of the show that appeared on TV in 1958 with most of the original cast including Rosalind Russell.

You gotta find it! If nothing else then for the LIVE commercials! It's a hoot!

 Where was I...oh yeah, history. Well, for some reason, the show dies a quiet death after that and has never received a revival on Bdwy until now. There have been other productions, at N.Y. City Opera, in various regional houses and LOTS of recordings. One of the recordings has Greg Edelman as Wreck (my current role) who plays Bob Baker in our production. In 2000, "Encores" did a production that included myself as Wreck, Donna Murphy as Ruth, Laura Benanti as Eileen, Richard Muenz as Bob Baker, Ray Wills as everybody and several others that appear in the current production. There was immediate discussion of the show moving to the

Great White Way

but like so many other things it just never worked out. Of course the most urgent factor was to be sure that Donna Murphy (who bears an uncanny physical resemblance to Ros Russell, by the way) was the headliner. And until she was free from her TV duties in "Hack" (along with Jennifer Westfeldt, our Eileen) there was no go. When all the stars finally aligned it was a rush to put it all together. Which was the reason we ended up in the rehearsal studio in which we started because there was no other space available. Taboo, Boy From Oz, Wicked and Sound of Music (Papermill) were all in the studios.

 So here we are in Studio One at Theatre Row Studios with the lovely view of Port Authority...if you're standing outside, because the studios are below ground with no natural light. And we're looking at a beautiful model of the set design by John Lee Beatty. The Al Hirschfeld Theatre at 8th and 45th used to be the Martin Beck, built in 1927 (it says so at the stage door) where "Man of La Mancha" just closed. It has been completely refurbished and restored and we are the first show to open since the work was done. It's beautiful! Lots of deep red and gold leaf and the ceiling is just amazing. It seems that the set design follows that theme. There's lots of deep reds and burgundy and gold leaf and it's lovely. In "Encores" the set pretty much consisted of window frames and door frames that flew in. This set is a more elaborate version of that.

Now there are decorated scrims that fly in and a couple of small palettes that bring on some furniture and a couch that slides in and out. We have a flying chain link fence for "Conga." We have small balconies permanently mounted and a set of stairs that appear every now and then. AND! The orchestra, the big beautiful orchestra, the 26 piece lots of trumpets and horns and string orchestra is on stage in all their glory. Wait till you hear them!!! Rob Fisher of "Encores" is there to conduct and they wail!!!

 Next up was the costume designer, Marty Pakledinaz (Millie; Kiss Me, Kate; Wild Party, etc.) who had about twenty minutes to prepare his presentation which was about how much time he'd had to even think about it because everything was done at the last second! And, of course, Mr. Genius Two Tony's came up with absolutely beautiful designs! Lots of color! Lots of that 50's fashion sense with a sprinkling of 30's in there. Theoretically. The show is set in 1935 but even way back in 1953 at the original production, the shows sensibilities were so 50's that it might as well have been modern world. And he has captured that perfectly. Another genius job. Marty is one of those people who really appreciates the actor's input so I did my part by researching the football uniforms of the 1930's and what he came up with was fabulous!

 We had a quick lunch then to a read through of the play sans music. It's immediately apparent why each person was cast in their role (thank you, Jay Binder) because each piece fits beautifully. Donna does such a great job of underplaying the comedy...very casual, understated and self-deprecatory, Very nice. Jennifer Westfeldt seems to be a great choice for Eileen. I couldn't figure out who they were going to replace Laura with but here she is! Great line readings and inflection. Can she sing?

 

 We ended day one learning the opening number and waiting to be fitted...I'm ready to go!