Hi Fi, High Gear

Well, almost another week has come and gone since my last post. The title says it all - we've definitely shifted into high gear...

Last night we ran Act I for the first time completely off-book. Before we started, our primo photographer, Michael Daft, took some extremely cool PR photos. Many thanks to our fantastic costumer, Amy Kelly, for providing the perfect costume pieces for this.

Tonight we ran Act II twice, again off-book. Both nights actually went quite well. Everyone is doing a great job getting into character, and recalling lyrics/lines/choreography/etc. I feel fairly good about where I'm at with the lines. I know I'm paraphrasing here and there, but most of 'em are fairly locked in, I think. Still more work to do on that for sure, though...

On Sunday, Robin put her magic touch on the choreography for "Number Five With a Bullet" and "Crying in the Rain." All the dance numbers are set and awesome, with some room for cleaning and fine-tuning of course. Really cool stuff...

On Saturday, some of the guys made a field trip to the Record Exchange, as sort of a character study. I live about 2 blocks from there, so several of us (Zak, Todd, Joel, Scott and me) met at my house, had a couple of beers, then walked down to the store. We spent at least an hour in there, checking out all of the fantastic stuff available. We found some great LP's and 45's to use as props, as well as some other really cool stuff. Then we came back to my pad, sat outside in the beautiful weather, and grilled out, listened to music, laughed a lot, etc. It was really cool. We missed the rest of the cast, though. Next time...

I'm actually going to be away from the next couple of rehearsals. I had Thursday 5/22 and Sunday 5/25 down as schedule conflicts at auditions, so it's nothing new, but it still feels strange. Hopefully none of the momentum we've gained will go away. I'm sure it won't. The reasons for the conflicts are kinda cool, though. On Thursday, I'm joining about 10 other local singers to perform in the St. Louis Singers' Showcase at Savor (www.cabaretatsavor.com). One of the songs I'm singing is "The Luckiest" by Ben Folds. As it turns out, this song is one of the source/inspiration songs for "Laura, Laura" from our show. That's kinda cool... This weekend, I'll be on a Florida getaway for Memorial Day weekend. I'm really looking forward to that. I will have lots of time away from distractions to concentrate on completely memorizing everything too, so the show will be front and center in my mind. It's been a long time since I've studied lines while laying on the beach. I'll let you know how that goes. I can't wait...

Sunday evening, soon after I get back to St. Louis, we are to shoot some promo video at the Record Exchange. Sounds like a lot of fun. Michael Daft is continuing to take some great photography of individual cast members several times a week. St. Louis Magazine did an interview with Scott Miller and me for their June edition which should come out any day now. Even a photo shoot to go with it. So there is a lot of cool publicity surrounding the show as well. To say I'm getting excited would be a huge understatement.

Happy Memorial Day to all. Be safe and have fun. More next week...

Rock on,
Jeff

Do We Really Open in Four Weeks?

Well, it's been a week or so again since I've posted... Hope that anyone and everyone who reads this is doing well.

It's amazing how much happens within a week of rehearsals. Last time I checked in, we hadn't even touched Act II, and now it's completely blocked. We've been working hard, but also laughing like one wouldn't believe. The "Conflict Resolution" scene alone is enough to make even the toughest Harley guy blush. It's really funny though...

So, the title of this blog is a tad intimidating. We really do open four weeks from tomorrow. I have every confidence that we'll be more than ready, and I am so excited. But I also know how quickly four weeks can go, and we still have many miles to go... I've spent a good amount of time studying lines, but I'm still not where I want to be. Next Monday we are to be completely off book/score, so we'll make that happen no matter what.

Still having a great time and thrilled with the experience. The cast is awesome and giving some major moments already. There's a lot of fun stuff going on outside of rehearsal too. New Line's photographer, Michael Daft, is taking some amazing photography for this show. I don't want to give too much away just yet, but suffice it to say that you simply must see the lobby photography and headshots for this show. I had a photo shoot with Michael a couple of weeks ago, and I am amazed at what he can produce... He's an unbelievable artist. He'll be taking some PR photos for the show next week at rehearsal as well - look for 'em!

Time to sign off for me, for now....

Rock on,
Jeff

Act One, Take One

Tonight we ran all of Act I for the first time. As one would expect, it is far from perfect... But it does seem like there is some great stuff going on already. There are a lot of funny moments and touching moments, and some pretty awesome vocal moments, too. Also, it's such a fun and supportive group of people, which is extremely cool...


I'm disappointed in myself because I don't know my lines very well yet... We were expected (more like encouraged) to be off-book for Act I tonight, but we absolutely must have everything memorized by the time we run Act I again. That's certainly fair and necessary, but I definitely have my work cut out for me. Rob's character has an immense line load. I've been focusing more on music so far, so my bad for getting behind on memorizing lines. We don't run Act I again for a while, but really that's no comfort. See, we start blocking Act II stuff at the next rehearsals, so all of that must be memorized as well. Crap. I'm on it though. I should log off now and go spend some time on it.


On another note, there are two more bloggers in the bunch now: Joel Hackbarth and Todd Micali. For some reason, I'm having trouble getting Blogger to add their links to my little list to the right here. Until I can figure it out, know that they can be accessed at kleptoboy.blogspot.com (Joel) and tmpmitw.blogspot.com (Todd).

Rock on,
Jeff

The Heart of Rock & Roll Is Still Beating

Do you remember that song by Huey Lewis and the News from the '80s? I used to love it, and I still do whenever I happen to hear it. High Fidelity is such a show about rock-and-roll, so what an appropriate title for a post, perhaps...

That, and my heart rate is also up because I'm so excited about the show. Each rehearsal adds so many more cool elements. I haven't chimed in for about a week (which is my goal - about once a week), so there is much to report. How about a recap of the past three days?

Sunday, 4/27/08: Choreography Rehearsal
Robin Berger put her amazing spin on "Desert Island Top Five Break Ups." What a pleasure to work with Robin again, by the way. We've performed in several shows together, often as dance partners, which is always a blast. I've also been in several productions that she has choreographed, and I always love learning about her vision and very cool interpretation of a piece. So this particular number is no different. Think rock star with very sexy female backup singers/dancers.... I don't want to give too much away, but there are some very cool references to '80s pop culture and musical influences. There are also a few measures where I stand firmly planted and sing, while the 5 "exes" caress me from head to toe. I have to say that was quite fun to rehearse. Hopefully it was okay for the ladies, too. I know that some had more of a ball than others. There is a pun there, but I don't want to embarrass anyone further...

Monday, 4/28/08: Read-Thru/Sing-Thru the Whole Show
This was incredibly cool. For the first time, the whole cast gathered to go through all of the dialogue and music in the show. It was so energizing to finally have everyone together, showing off their stuff but also supporting each other. It really went quite well, and gave everyone an idea of the flow of the show. We also all got to see some renderings of the set, which look very cool. Things seemed to go smoothly, and I was pleased that I still had a voice after singing everything consecutively.

Tuesday, 4/29/08 (tonight): First Blocking Rehearsal
We really got a ton done tonight... The first three scenes of Act I are now completely blocked. We worked with a "stand-in set" that gave us a good idea of spacing, and also allowed us to think about set changes, etc. Again, it seemed to go so smoothly, and it's so cool to start really digging into the material. We blocked/staged each scene and song, and then ran each one 2-3 times. I walked out feeling great about the scenes, except for the intimidation of all of the lines that I need to memorize. I'd better stop typing and go study a bit before it gets too late...

And so it goes. Great people and much fun on the horizon. Again, best wishes to all who read this

Rock on,
Jeff

Back On My Game (mostly)

Okay, so it's so much easier to participate in a music rehearsal when you can actually sing. Many thanks to my doctor for the medicine, as well as to the creators of all of the various supplements and vitamins that I rocked through my system over the last week. Things were much better by last Thursday, and I'd say I'm almost 95% back vocally this week.

We're moving right along. Last night the whole cast ran through the big finale' number "Turn the World Off," and it sounded great. Tonight was just for the guys. A fellow cast mate put it well when she told me "the bitches have the night off." That's hilarious. Anyway, the fellas worked out the songs "Conflict Resolution," "Saturday Night Girl," and "9% Chance Of Your Love." We had a good time, but this is definitely tough stuff. And such long songs! And high!! The third time we ran "9% Chance...," I honestly thought I saw one of my vocal cords fly out of my mouth. But then I realized it was just the gum I was chewing... Gross.

Another hilarious part of the evening was attempting to emulate Axl Rose, The Beastie Boys, and Snoop Dogg, all in one song. That is actually written in the script. You'll have to see this to believe it. "Shall we leave it at that, then?"

Rock on,
Jeff

The Last Real Record Store

Rob Gordon here. These are my records, currently organized, not alphabetically, not chronologically, but...wait for it... autobiographically. Yup, the order in which they were purchased...

Rob Gordon, High Fidelity

Jeff Wright here. This is my online record of the experience of New Line Theatre's production of High Fidelity. I have no idea how it will be organized yet, although it would make a lot more sense to do it chronologically and autobiographically, instead of alphabetically...

A bit of history: High Fidelity is a musical production based on the movie (starring John Cusack and Jack Black, among many others) and the novel (by Nick Hornby) of the same name. There was a short-lived production on Broadway in 2006. Believe it or not, I was one of the few to actually see that. More on that later. This is the first production of the show outside of that Broadway run, which is actually very exciting for all involved. The show runs June 12 through July 5 at the A.E. Hotchner Studio Theatre at Washington University in St. Louis.

I'm playing Rob, which is an amazing opportunity, and more exciting than I can possibly say. We had our first rehearsal last night. The cast is absolutely awesome. Several of them are good friends of mine from previous shows at New Line or with other companies around town. Many new faces as well, which is always very cool.

I had a unique perspective last night, as basically that of a bystander or audience member. We rehearsed the song "The Last Real Record Store," for which Rob sings a lot of solo and lead with the whole ensemble. So why wasn't I singing? Well, I got laryngitis the day before. Seriously. The timing was awful, but far better to occur early in the rehearsal process of a show. Anyway, it allowed me to listen to the rest of the cast make some really amazing harmonies with each other. What quick studies, and what a great sound! Scott Miller sang Rob's parts while I recorded them, and he also did an awesome job (thanks, Scott!).

My daytime work is in the healthcare arena, where I cross paths with physicians all the time. I spoke with a very trusted otolaryngologist (ear, nose, and throat physician) today about my inability to speak or sing. He gave me some great advice, as well a prescription for some great meds, so hopefully I'll be back on my game at my next rehearsal on Thursday.

I've never blogged before, so this is all news to me, but I'm excited to give it a shot. I have no idea if anyone actually reads these posts, so feel free to post comments if you like. My goal is to try to add a post about once a week, from the first rehearsals all the way through the closing production week. We'll see how it goes. Since I can't talk today, I probably got more long-winded on the keyboard than I will in others.

So now it begins. Best wishes to all who read this.

Rock on,

Jeff