Hmmm.... it's been awhile and I want to record what I was doing before I forget:
The show opens at Al-Mae-Lu and I'm downstairs in the Green Room, and making sure my costumes are there; watching scenes upstairs from the monitor below and hanging out. There's nothing to do onstage until after "Put On A Happy Face." Some of the usual suspects dance and sing along with James and Camilla up there and I make sure my trench coat, hat and snazzy jacket- aqua plaid, are ready.
As reporters, we rush onstage from stage right and have our pencils and pads in hand. One or two cast members, unnamed; don't get on the stage very quickly so instead of wandering on in a clump slowly, when we're supposed to be looking like we're in a hurry, I pause a moment and rush on a little later like I'm in a hurry, and late- you know, like a reporter would be. I like that scene; where Denise and Shelly and Katherine and Patrick and I vie for Birdie's attention; wonder why he doesn't speak for himself, get cynical about the stories we're given and then give in to the hype as good Americans.
It's quite cynical, really, using America the Beautiful to cement the idea that stars are marketed to us with pure lies. Like later when Shelly marches on with his Uncle Sam outfit and we do it again; using patriotism as a cover for idiocy: "See how brave soldier boys of yore said goodbye as they went off to war..."
It was the realization that Elvis' service was publicized to get Americans ready for Vietnam that hit me during this show. What else would they be doing in 1957, of course? And Birdie's putting that in front of them so soon after the fact? Who noticed?
After being convinced by the marketing of Albert I go back offstage and my next scene was as a Dad. I was assigned to be Harvey Johnson's Dad and Lucas was a great kid. He's actually not a kid but he seemed like one; so he's an actor- like Heidi and Patrick; able to play very young. Lucas was hilarious from the start with his Harvey Johnson voice-change singing role; but the audience hardly noticed. We in the cast loved the joke and his delivery but by the time audiences were seeing us, the kids were so off the chain that his performance was barely noticed.
And then of course there's the fact that I stole the gag for later in the show, using a hiccup-like sound as he had for my own line. What a brilliant touch, expanding the voice-gag of an adolescent's changing voice into a genetic speech impediment- but nobody cared too much about that in the audience either. The show was so full of schtick and energy that they couldn't laugh at them all. Each performance different jokes caught some laughs and it was interesting to see which ones brought a reaction each time.
As a Dad, I stood behind Lucas and Kai and we adults were barely seen until the kids starting running to the left and the right- a good choreography touch so the audience could see we adults starting out perplexed and ending up won over by Birdie's antics. There's a picture of me, caught while running into the clump and I love it. I just wish I hadn't worn my own hat that day, but one of the darker ones... Each day some of the costume elements were used in different places. Looking back I think I should have had a buff hat with the overcoat as a reporter and a dark hat every other time. That scene was exhausting; falling on the floor twice a day a couple times.... really fun.
As a Dad, I made sure and wore the argyle sweater, but it wasn't nearly as nerdy as I wanted it to be. And I wore glasses as a Dad, and not as a reporter. I liked having physical things to do as a reporter; licking the pencil; writing, flipping pages and wandering over to catch an earful of the malarky Rose was selling on the other side of the stage. Then as a Dad I loved copying Manny's perplexed and staid arm movements while encountering the Birdie hysteria for the first time. He's such a natural. As a reporter his comments were ridiculous- which of course is great. That crowd loves them some schtick.
After falling over, bowled over by Birdie- I was Harvey's Dad with one line- with the voice jump- and with John in a bit backstage (before that) with a funny line about a crowd member in a wheelchair. Nobody laughed their either. Unless a joke was over the top there was no audible reaction. But I found hilarity throughout the show and hope some people out there did too.
Then there was Maude's Roadside Tavern and Erin the Director's brilliance in putting me out of my misery- otherwise standing there with nothing to do- by having me be a drunk passed out at the bar. What a great idea. She's a natural too- and the only reason I'm now in shows, I think. If it wasn't for her seeing something in me that isn't apparent to everyone and maybe not apparent to anyone else in the Evita audition; I wouldn't be here. I don't know where I would be.
Cole, Patrick, Manny and I started as the quartet and then due to Manny's troubles another brilliant Erinism emerged. In our production, Gloria stayed in town and hung out with the drunk Shriner at Maude's. And she does her best to be noticed at the TV live show. Brilliant. I don't think she's in the sequel; but why not? If Mama can be the former star why can't Gloria be the future one?
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