"I Guarantee It"

Wowza. Week three.

To say things are busy is putting it mildly.
Well, it would be lying.

The cast is working on a Run Thru of the entire show at rehearsal, dry tech begins at the theater tomorrow, and several marketing initiatives are getting ready to launch.

Show Power Alert: The cast of Memphis will be performing as part of Broadway on Broadway, Sunday, September 13th. 11:30am. Times Square. Be there.

So needless to say, I literally sat in front of my computer this morning as Outlook was launching my email inbox and did some deep breathing. Focus is perhaps the most important trait to have at this stage and, not surprisingly, it is the easiest to lose.

For instance, I've stopped bringing reading material on the train with me in the morning- that's right, commuting in New York without some sort of entertainment- I've found I need that time to just focus...on nothing.

Here's the thing. One would think that having worked in theater for over a decade, I would know all the lingo.

Nope.

For (a rather boring but important) example: to "guarantee" can actually mean to agree to be liable for the cost of something. (d'uh I say now with hindsight). Not, as I thought earlier today, in the Men's Wearhouse sort of way, where you just "guarantee" that you will be a satisfied customer.



Even the Off-Broadway shows I've worked on have fallen short of helping me understand the full scope of mounting a Broadway show.

Basically, my learning curve is so steep, that I'm practically doing backbends.

Speaking of backbends- such a smooth transition- I noticed that there was time allotted on the rehearsal schedule today for tumbling. Tumbling! Yet, another skill these amazing dancers have. And while I did not witness the aforementioned tumbling, I did stand in the corner today and watch a few minutes of some Act II staging/choreography.

Fun Fact: Memphis has live video feed that is taken through an onstage camera and projected onto the set, so Director Chris Ashley and Choreographer Sergio Trujillo use these monitors during rehearsal to direct the camera moves.

Fun (Random) Fact: did you know that there is a Broadway Bowling League?? I had known about the Broadway Softball League that plays in Central Park during the summer, but I was bowled over by the existence of a Bowling League. Must get more info.

Tomorrow's agenda includes a little bit of this, a little bit of that, a whole lot of rehearsal and probably a ton of emails in between.

It's a hard knock life, I know.