Town Hall Broadway By the Year

Thanks to all of you who came out to our Broadway By the Year 1938 concert last night! It was truly a wonderful evening.

Basically we actors learned/rehearsed/memorized the music over the course of 1 week of rehearsals. Emily Skinner, our director extraordinaire, helped shape our material with some great staging; and then we "tech" the afternoon of, and go up in front of the one-night only audience that evening.

It was incredible to perform music from 'an era gone by' composed by the greats--Porter, Weill...and the lesser known greats Fain, Lewine...with some of Broadway and Cabaret's greatest talents.

We were accompanied by a fantastic quartet of instruments led by the incomparable Ross Patterson. And certain numbers were unmic'd--brought to the audience as they were intended to be heard 70 years ago. I had the opportunity to perform unmic'd for the Act I finale. What a rush!

Thanks to the Siegel's for such a memorable experience in the theater!

And for those of you who missed it, check out the next Broadway By the Year 1959 dir. by Marc Kudish on Monday April 30th.

One Month More

So I think its been "officially" "announced" on many of the Broadway news websites that I will be leaving the show on April 22nd. That gives everyone one month more to come see me, Celia, Norm, and Jenny before we all leave the company.

I will be sad to go. This has been one of the best groups of people I've ever worked with. But I'm excited for new beginnings!

So if you haven't seen our revival yet, come on out to the Broadhurst before April 22nd!

To the Fans:

So rumors are flying that I'm often out of the show. To those who've missed me, my sincerest apologies.

Back in November of the run I herniated a disc in my neck during the show. I didn't realize the severity and exact nature of the injury and pushed on through December without seeing a doctor. When I did, and got an MRI, I was told I had to get on steroids, change some 'o-graphy' in my show, and do PT 3/week for 3 months. Over that time I missed about 2 weeks worth of performances. And since, sometimes when the nerve swells , I have to miss a show. Singing on steroids is a NO-NO. It's very frustrating to not be at 100%. And I have to protect myself from re-injury.

Then a few weeks ago I got the flu. And I missed some shows.

Performing is a challenge that I have always believed requires %150 percent of my being. Audiences deserve nothing less. Unfortunately, with the demands of Broadway schedules, and the time of year, it's difficult to maintain being 100% healthy. And with Enjolras, the challenge is even more acute. Les Miz is not a play. There is no dialogue. We're performing an opera 8 times a week. An Enjolras who can't sing the cast and audience into a revolution with power, authority, and heated passion with every cell of his being is no leader. And audiences deserve better.

As winter melts away, I hope to see you all at the barricades! And stay healthy!

Welcome Lea!

So a bunch of people have been asking me what it's like having Lea Salonga as part of the cast. To put it simply: She's awesome!

While she was in rehearsals at a studio during the day, she'd swing by to watch the show backstage at night, creating a buzzing energy around the theater.

And her first performance last weekend was MAGIC. There was an excitement and vitality to the show and the company that we had lost a lot of throughout the dulldrums of winter.

I was out sick all this week with the flu, but I went back Friday night and that buzz still seems to be there. Les Miz is a show that works fine without the buzz, but with the added energy and vitality--it works on a much higher level. Come see us and Lea--she's truly a FANTASTIC Fantine!

THE SECRET is out...

And it's life changing. See it. Discuss it. Share it.

And I have and idea...

What if we were to stop calling Terrorists 'Terrorists' and instead we call them 'idiots'?

Can you imagine it? ABC World News Report: "idiots just blew up a car in Baghdad..." or "3 idiots in Rome planning to blow themselves up in front of the US Embassy were captured by Italian special forces..." or "Due to the internet, the number of idiots being recruited to Al Qaeda is..."

I don't know about you but I'm ready to live in peace. Enough of this fear based 'terror'--i mean 'idiot'--thing.