week one in the city of angels

you know you're in LA when it mists one night.  that's right - there was no measurable rain, only drizzle.  and the leading stories on the eleven o'clock news are: 1) someone is found murdered and 2) slippery roads may add time to your commute, so use extra caution.  really?  for mist?  for a trace of rain?  you know you're in LA when a little more than a half-inch of rain falls overnight friday, and you walk by a couple of people the following afternoon asking one another..."so how's your house holding up after all this rain?"  i know mudslides run rampant out here, but really?  after only a half-inch?

anyway, as for my $60 cab ride.  a good friend of mine, monique midgette, is currently in the lion king out in vegas.  she and i were introduced in 2006 and did a lot of theatre stuff together in dc during my year off between harvard and georgia tech.  absolutely phenomenal voice and an even better person.  even though i was excited to go to tech to start my master's in the summer of 2007, a part of me was hugely disappointed - because monique got a cruise gig and really wanted me to go with her and a couple of her friends as their accompanist for several months.  ah well, who knows?  maybe we'll get to work together on a ship one day in the future.  as for now, she and a few of her cast came to see our show on friday night.  turns out that friday is the traditional off night for vegas theatre, since most tourists are flying in then.  this was an awesome revelation, because this means that i can totally one of my other mondays off and go to vegas to see her show.  and gamble away one of my weekly paychecks.

they enjoyed the show and were going to go out afterwards to a birthday party.  monique asked if i wanted to come along and since i hadn't seen her in three years, i obviously said sure, since i wanted to catch up with her, which was so nice.  after getting off the 101 and onto santa monica boulevard, it seemed that we were driving through multiple different neighborhoods on one street.  the freeway turned into the ghetto, which turned into an affluent section with a whole foods and a trader joe's, which turned into "ladies of the evening"ville, which turned back into the ghetto, which turned into party central with clubs all over the place once we hit north robertson.  little did i know that the club would be in west hollywood.  little did i know that they were spending the night in hollywood hills, which is even farther away from downtown...meaning that riding to their place after going out would have been pointless.  little did i know that the abbey would turn out to be one of the premiere gay clubs in the country.  little did i know that two drinks would cost me $34.  little did i know that i would get hit on in said club.  i'm standing in the corner, sipping a patron anejo and pineapple while checking a text, when i hear, "so my friend over there really wants to dance with you."  i look up to see this guy gesturing towards his two friends - one male, one female.  "oh, the girl's kinda cute," i think...only to see the other guy wave at me.  "uh, nope, that's ok, i'm good right here, thanks."  little did i know that a cab ride back to the marriott would cost me $60.  little did know that catching up with monique would cost me close to a benjamin.  but it truly was, uh, an experience.  hopefully, my trip to vegas to see lion king will involve more females and maybe a few extra bucks won in my wallet.

dreamgirls is at the ahmanson, which is in an awesome part of town.  there are four theatres within the music center, including the walt disney concert hall, where the la philharmonic plays.  nice little water plaza and several outdoor restaurants where you can eat before a show.  truly a nice setting, a bit better than the area around the pantages theatre, where the color purple was playing.  however, i found out after the fact that next door to the pantages on hollywood and vine is an irish pub called dillon's, where you can get a ten-dollar macaroni and cheese burger.  i love burgers.  i love mac and cheese.  and there's a metro stop right at hollywood and vine.  so i'll definitely be having that burger before i leave.  the color purple was an absolutely amazing show, from start to finish.  very talented cast, solid orchestra, and the pantages itself is a gorgeous theatre, much more so than ours.  its architecture was astounding, with a double proscenium and gothic art all over the place.  our theatre is kinda vanilla and (in the words of one of our cast members) "boring"!  fantasia was amazing and because of the recent death threats and racial epithets thrown at her, we didn't see her when we went backstage.  but we saw most of the rest of the cast, and they returned the favor by coming to see us on thursday afternoon.  our first 7 shows in four days (plus an understudy rehearsal) are behind us thankfully, and we can finally establish a regular pattern of shows - one each day from tues-fri and then doubles on the weekend.  if anyone is reading this and is in los angeles, i've got a code to get cheaper tickets.  go to www.centertheatregroup.org/GOING and you'll get twenty bucks off select seats (rear orchestra, rear mezzanine and balcony) to all performances from now until march 14.  and obviously, if you come, give me a call afterwards (202-288-3488).

last thing - we've been extended.  although the newer dates/places aren't on the website yet (www.dreamgirlsonstage.com), we have been informed of the new cities.  after kansas city, we'll be in DC for two weeks, SF for 5 (with a possibility for a 6th) in late august to early october, and then a plethora of one-weekers in the southeast before going to buffalo for a week in december.  from early oct to mid-dec, we'll be in atlanta, miami, nashville, indianapolis, tampa, west palm beach, memphis and buffalo.  if you live in any of these places, we'll talk more about details as the summer approaches.  as for now, we're in LA until easter, then seattle and portland for a week each before returning to costa mesa, ca for two weeks.  after that, we get a 13-day layoff (may 3-15) before heading to tokyo for three weeks.

also, i have to include this...because i know that sam is an avid follower of my blog.  two wednesdays ago in columbus at our orchestra rehearsal at 9am (following the two-day travel nightmare), i played the opening tune with my music.  then i got lazy and didn't feel like turning any more of them damn pages.  i only had the music on my stand in case we started in the middle of a song at a particular measure.  well, i had always wondered if i could play the show without music.  and i did in rehearsal.  so that night - opening night in columbus, the stand that sits on my piano onstage was bare for the entire show.  i proved to myself that i could do it in rehearsal, so i actually did it during a show.  all those who passed by my stand onstage or could see it from offstage were stunned to see me playing without my music.  and i played a near-flawless show.  and the mistakes i did make were so minor that only i noticed them.  so in a rare selfish moment, i'm gonna go ahead and pat myself on the back.  don't worry, sam.  i've been playing with the music ever since that night.  i feel like...eh, been there, done that.  boring.  =)

that's it for now.  time to put something in my belly.  oh - real quick.  quick shoutout to patrice covington, our effie cover.  not only is she vastly improving every time she goes on as effie, but she got engaged last week!  we're all super happy for both her and elijah, and they had a celebratory party at the rooftop bar and lounge of the standard hotel on 6th and flower.  awesome party again, i'm super thrilled for them!