A Room with No View

I have been walking by the Hilton Theater almost everyday for 21/2 years. Technically, the 43rd Street entrance, I guess. Apparently, and I feel as if I'm the only one who did not get the memo about this, but there are rehearsal studios in there! Had Memphis not booked it for rehearsal, I may have gone my whole life without knowing that little factoid. I'm sure not everyone is feeling the same kind of impact upon hearing that news as I, but who am I to judge what information is important or not to reveal on this blog? There's a place for you here random factoid.

I did get the memo that the Hilton is where Spiderman, Turn off the Dark is headed. I used to work for Opera Colorado in Denver where the Opera House and the Buell theater (which houses a lot of the touring productions) share a stage door- so there were Opera singers walking by Lion King people or Phantom people or Dr. Dootlittle people and I always wanted there to be a super stylized confrontation: Carmen takes on Carlotta, O.K. Corral Style. Or I just love the idea of everyone in the greenroom together, having tea, doing vocal warmups. Phantom and Scar and Figaro as if its totally normal. How excellent would it be to ride the elevator with the actor playing Spiderman...in full costume.

But for now, Memphis has taken over the third floor, window-less rehearsal studios.

The Large Studio Rehearsal room:

We are wrapping up, trumpets please, Pre-Production week! Stage Managers have been in: taping the floors, generating paperwork, keeping up with the creatives who are busy continuing to get the script and score ready to go into rehearsal.

Sergio Trujillo (choreographer), August Eriksmoen (dance arranger) and Chris Jahnke (music supervisor) work out one of the new sequences:

I'm not sure what they were working on as I was mostly focused on trying to capture a "candid" moment. Here is a not so candid, gem, of Chris:

There have been some new changes to the script and score since the most recent production at Seattle's 5th Avenue Theater-some new elements to the script and score that will be exciting to hear once the cast gets a crack at it.

We have some new cast members joining us for the Broadway Production and they begin rehearsing on Monday-learning the music and dance routines- before the rest of the cast comes in on the 17th.

I cannot wait for the actors to be here! It was weird to be there yesterday; almost slightly melancholy without any actors. This empty callboard...

...it seems so lonely. As if at any moment, it was going to start singing "Use me. Choose me."

We are ready for you, Memphis cast. Ready and waiting with open arms.