Today, Monday August 21, marks the first day of the second week of rehearsals. The pressure is now officially on since it means we have just two weeks before we begin tech for the show. Because of our Randy Myler's (our director) commitment to opening a new version of It Ain't Nothin' But the Blues at the B.B. King Club made him unavailable for rehearsal after 2:30, we've had the incredible good fortune of a nearly solid week of rehearsal devoted to music. This is a great benefit in a show with music of this complexity. Albert Ahronheim, our musical director, has taken advantage of this time and I think it puts us in good shape to begin blocking -- having given the actors enough of an exposure to the material not to risk forgetting it all once they move away from the piano.
(Beautiful logo design by Leah Becker)
Since this "diary" is jumping in in the middle, some
background is undoubtedly in order. Our musical, The Immigrant,
began rehearsals on August 14 in preparation for a September 13
first performance and September 19 opening night. The book to
the musical was written by Mark Harelik, based on his play, The
Immigrant, A Hamilton County Album, -- one of the most produced
plays in regional theatre in the 1990's. Lyrics are by Sarah Knapp
and music by, yours truly, Steven M. Alper. The all-star cast
is comprised of Jacqueline ("Wrong Mountain") Antaramian,
Walter ("La Cages Aux Folles," "A Christmas Carol")
Charles, Cass ("Pump Boys and Dinettes," "Capeman")
Morgan, and Evan ("My Favorite Year," "Parade")
Pappas. Musical direction is by Albert Ahronheim and stage direction
by Randal Myler. It's being extravagantly (by off-Broadway standards)
produced by CAP21 as the premiere production of their first ever
season. The show will run in the new CAP21 Theatre, 15 W. 28th
St.
The creative team and producers feel that we're in pretty good shape. One scene has gotten a major rethinking, rolling the second half of the scene into the first half; the rewrite appears to be very successful, although music requires adjustment. There's, of course, a lot of potchkying around with words, phrases, looking for just the right turn, the "good" laugh.
Today's a bit of a loss as far as rehearsal goes. We've got an hour for actual rehearsal, then we record the hymn, "Take the Comforting Hand of Jesus" (which opens Act II), and then a photo call for the rest of the day. Necessary evils of a production. The rest of the week will be putting the show on its feet.
We have the luxury of rehearsing on the base set: platforms, stairs, levels, although none of the fixtures, doors, large props. But it's such a jump start to be out of a rehearsal studio working on the actual surfaces, being able to look at how the different heights affect the staging, to really be able to understand the depth.
What a cast! We always had hoped we'd be able to hang onto
some of these actors who had done the readings, but that they'd
all agree to do this production -- and for the kind of salaries
they get for a 99-seat off-Broadway house -- was more than we
would have believed. Three of the four have done both of the readings;
Walter came in for the second reading. We had incredible luck
in that they all had -- and were able to maintain -- a gap in
their busy schedules that coincided with our rehearsal period
and run. It's the kind of cast that every first production wants,
but few can afford. They're all exactly how we imagined the characters,
and we've had to do barely any adjustment for keys!
To read more about the production, see actor, staff, and creative team bios, and etc., here are a few links.
The Immigrant,
A New Musical
CAP21's website
The Knapp-Alper Pages
Originally published at Suite101.com Theatre, 8/22/00
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