(Left to Right: Amy McWilliams, Tracy Lynn Olivera, Danielle Eden, Channez McQuay, Suzanne Briar, and Eleasha Gamble)
MJD closed this past Sunday, and I am just coming back into the real world today. After closing, Matty and I had a lovely visit by Lynn Filusch and her husband, Ivan Sherry, and their beloved dog, Sadie, who had spent the previous week with us. Lynn just left this morning, and I had a full day of work yesterday with Happy Hounds, and today with Ticketplace, my new part time job.
I have not really had time to post since, so forgive me.
Here are some great photos of MJD closing. The above should be entitled, "Girl Gang". All they need is a few Tommy Guns and they would be good to go. The brick background makes the picture: beauty juxtaposed against city grit. Grrrr...
It had come to Beany's attention that certain rumors about his sexual orientation had started to circle around the New American Times office, due to his wispy and submissive nature...let this picture end the discussion on that subject.
(Left to Right: Edilma Batista, Marcus Hobson, Rica, and Marlene Webster)
Unbeknownst to the cast, Beany and the wardrobe crew would have an offstage dance party during "Page 8 at the Top".
Channez McQuay and I trying to take a nap between shows, but alas, the paparazzi interferes...
(Photo by Mark Ramont)
Should we but journey through time to late February, when we had our first rehearsal for MJD, you see me here, I'm sure trying to wrap my head around the character of Beany, who started as one thing, but ended as something totally different.
I had great guidance along the way, but on this first day remember being a bit at sea as to how to voice and physicalize him...in short, how to be this rat in a way that was inventive and unexpected...I don't know if I suceeded or not, but it was a fun go at it these past few months.
Beany was most surely OCD. He relentlessly made lists and lived by them. I doubt that he ate or used the restroom if it was not noteated on his list. He navigated his day by scratching off all of his tasks as the day went on.
Beany fixed his hair about 30 times a day, and would sooner cut off a stray hair than recomb it. While I didn't try to play Beany as neccisarily gay, his sexuality was something of a neutral factor. He seemed to gain more masculinity as he gained more status, money, and power in the show. He was the most effeminate and submissive in the first act of the show. The things that you have to draw up in your head to make a life history of someone is always funny to me. No one ever knows or cares but you. All of this was just information that lived in my little head, that was in this show, that was at Ford's Theatre.
After the final show, we had a cast party at Bistro D'OC.
It was great fun, and bittersweet as all closing parties are. I joked as I walked into the restaurant that "They better have French Fries at this French restaurant...minutes later the ladies who lunch (Chan McQuay, Eleasha Gamble, and Amy McWilliams) conspired to get me a bowl of french fries. Funny. They also had the TO DIE FOR ham and cheese in a croissant melted goodness things. I had four. (They were smallish).
I said my goodbyes to Miss Edilma, who danced with me most nights backstage as the cast onstage executed their precision newspaperography. I adored her, and will miss her dearly...
Heidi Blickenstaff is a force of nature, and she knows it. She (as Ann Mitchell) would beat me all around the stage every night, and I loved it. She would apologize backstage every night for "Ann's" actions, explaining that it wasn't her. "She's a bitch, that Ann Mitchell", she would say shaking her head.
I would liken her to the character of "Ann Bomont" form Psycho Beach Party, and thus became her nickname. She loved it. "Ann Bomont took hold of Heidi, and she would beat and shove me around the stage without mercy.
(Photo by Mark Ramont)
Speaking of nicknames, Guy Paul, portraying Connell, the editor of the New American Times, earned quite a few from me.
1) "HBC" from a self reference that he made in act two where he said, "Me...Old Hard Boiled Connell". Everytime that Guy would be walking up the alley of Ford's as I smoked and drank Red Bull before the show, I would spot him and say, "Well...if it isn't my old nemesis, Hard Boiled Connell". This was quickly shortened to "HBC".
2) "Crusty"....this was a late nickname that stuck hard. When we got our review packet, that hardly any of us read till after...kind of...I spotted a great one word description of Guy in the show..."The Crusty Guy Paul". This made me scream laugh, and I had to share it with him...he thought that it was just as funny, and found a good one in the packet for me, "The Slimy Stephen Gregory Smith". We called each other "Crusty" and "Slimy", respectively all closing weekend.
3) "The Drunk"...this comes from a story that Guy told. He was walking on the street and was recognized by a passerby who said, "Hey-you were in Meet John Doe, weren't you? Yeah, you played the drunk!". I reminded him of this every night as he loaded his raincoat with beer bottles and shot glasses before he did the song "Lighthouses".
Which brings me to a sad goodbye. Uncle Jokey, AKA The Colonel, AKA Joel Blum. Joel and I were each other's nemeses in MJD, but off stage, we became surprisingly close. Once we started to create together, along with Karma Camp, we found our vocabulary together, and since have understood how each other ticks on many levels. I adore this man. I bought a fart machine that I would punctuate sentences with during dressing room conversations. He was always my captive audience, giggling like a 10 year old every time that I hit the button. I will truly miss him, but feel faithful that this is not a goodbye to him, but just the start of a friendship that will travel on.
What is stranger still is being at my new job, and being within blocks of Ford's, yet knowing that my things are no longer there and that I can no longer get back stage to my dressing room. I enjoyed working there so much, and all of the employees and crew so much that it is weird to think that they are temporarily out of my day to day. I will miss them all and look forward to the day that we play together again. Doing MJD at Ford's Theatre has been a highlight of my acting career. The history in that building is present always, and it has been wonderfull adding my own to the aging walls of that amazing building. I rested my hands on the wall where so many before me had done the same, and you could feel the energy past present and future everytime.
Till we meet again, here's lookin' at you, Ford's.
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