Quarterback for a Night

Sorry it's been a while since my last post everyone. I've been battling a cold and laryngitis...missed a few shows.

Anyway, as you probably know by now, a replacement for Kelli has been cast. Her name is Katie Clark and she's moving her life from college in Texas to starring on Broadway this week!!! I met Katie last week the day of her final callback. She seems GREAT! And she seemed really calm about the whole thing. It's gonna be a crazy few months for her...wow! Congrats Katie and welcome!

OK, so I'm a big football fan (Go EAGLES!) and as I was watching my team play this Sunday (the only good thing about being home sick), I really started to like our new quarterback--the third stringer turned starter Mike McMahon. He hadn't started an NFL game since 2002 and here he was with the weight of our team's season on his shoulders, leading our offense in a crucial NFC east rivalry game againt the Giants.

As the game progressed, so did McMahon's level of play. At first he got his ass kicked. He didn't appear to have any control of the offense, seeing the field, reading defenses, finding the open receiver, managing the clock--rather he appeared to be completely out of his league. But over time, he improved. He even gave our team a real chance to win this game (which is more than anyone could have expected).

Throughout the game the announcers compared McMahon to Eli Manning the QB of the Giants. They discussed how difficult it is for young quarterbacks to step into the NFL and adjust to the speed of the game. Apparently it's just a zillion times faster than the college game and infinitely more complex. Manning, in his second season commanding the Giants offense, had adjusted, and adjusted well. McMahon was adjusting right before our eyes. The game had slowed down for him.

So I'm on stage tonight and from the moment i set foot on the deck backstage before my first entrance, things felt calm. Then I'm out there in the first scene and things feel calm. Flash forward to 'Passegiatta' and despite the quicker than normal tempo Kim conducted, things felt calm. And then it hit me! I'm standing on stage looking at Kelli thinking, "Man this is what those NFL announcers were talking about! The game has slowed down for me. I can see everything happening and I'm in complete control." It was crazy!

Now there's good calm on stage and bad calm. Bad calm is when you feel bored, or detached, or too relaxed; cues aren't picked up fast enough and the show drags. Good calm is what i felt tonight. I've NEVER felt it before.

I thought I had. I've had plenty of shows where I've felt relaxed and at my best. But never like this. I talked briefly with Michael B. about it who thinks maybe because I was taking extra care of my voice tonight (I'm still sick and just clear of steroids from the weekend...until I actually got through Il Mondo I wasn't sure if I would)...that as such, I was breathing more. Could breathing have calmed me? Sure. But I'm trying to breathe on stage and keep centered and check in with myself constantly...I've done so in every one of the 90 performances I've done as Fabrizio. Why tonight?

I think it's a combination of things. 1) Breathing 2) Missing 2 shows this weekend, I got an extra day of rest. Not much extra rest considering my time was split between nursing my cold/auditioning for the reading of Dr. Zhivago and Encores Kismet (auditioning when sick is a topic i'll have to devote a whole post to). But really, since I got the job in Piazza back in August, things have not slowed down at all! I haven't felt 100%, I've lost weight, I'm constantly tired...it's been a battle. So maybe 3 days off instead of 2 made a difference. I do remember stretching and doing my physical warm up tonight in my dressing room and thinking, "This can't be. This is too easy. I'm loose, I'm not sore, I'm not tight, I'm not exhausted...what's wrong?!" 3) Maybe after 90 shows, I've adjusted? Mark Harelik told me before he left, "Aaron, give it time. It took me three months before I felt calm about things." Well, it's my three month Piazza anniversary next week.

Who knows? I may never experiene that same blissful calm onstage again. But it was so cool! To be out there and know that I wasn't pushing, I wasn't overworking my body or my voice, but I was still fully in it! 150% Fabrizio living this story...what a gift. And I always wanted to be quarterback...