8.11.10 Coming into Port Its a feeling you get during the final two weeks of school. Nearing the end of something you have spent several years of your life with, you start emotionally saying goodbye, you take pictures, you feel happy, sad, excited, bittersweet, and a little apprehensive. Change is good, if you embrace it. But it can feel monumental when your life has been the same for so long. For an actor, change is often the norm. So after having a chance at a stable schedule in a Broadway show, when the end comes, it feels big. We said farewell for the last time to Laura Osnes as Nellie Forbush on Sunday. Laura is universally loved by our cast and it was really tough to say goodbye to her 2 weeks before we close. Between that, and having Kelli back, it really has sunk in that we are at the end. Being a swing, I have an added challenge of never knowing when my last show really is. I’ve tried to take in the last few shows I was on as if it were my last. I was onstage for Laura’s last show, and it felt like my last show too. Chances are slim but not impossible that I could be on sometime during the last two weeks - but it feels over for me. In many ways, I’ve already left. And at 410 onstage performances, I feel happy with the end. 7.29.10 Baring it for Charity and Belting in Bryant Park In late June, I participated for the first time in the annual Broadway burlesque fundraiser: Broadway Bares, now in its 20th Season. Broadway Bares presents Broadway’s sexiest performers in a sort of burlesque show- one of the most popular events in New York City. It raises money for Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS, and this year we raised over a million dollars! Broadway Cares is now the #1 charity organization in the country for AIDS research as well as helping to fight breast & ovarian cancer. The Broadway community does make a difference. As for dancing down to my skivvies in front of thousands of people, well, after doing The Full Monty, this was easy! And it was a fun, sexy, exciting evening full of love and positive energy. The theme was Monopoly, and I was in the ‘Go To Jail’ number. It was a night I’ll never forget. Here’s a YouTube clip: Broadway Bares: Stripopoly On July 15th, the boys of South Pacific sang “Nothing Like A Dame” at the annual Broadway in Bryant Park concert. Its a great way to bring Broadway to the masses. It was a fun, if hot afternoon, and most likely the last public event our cast will perform before the live televised performance on August 18th, and before we close. 6.11.10 Summer Transitions April and May was a fairly uneventful time. We had a few cast changes in the ensemble of South Pacific, and our original Captain Bracket (Skip Sudduth) has returned. In April, the show had its 2 Year Anniversary Party. It was a more subtle, less swanky affair than the 1 Year Anniversary- but still incredibly generous of Lincoln Center. One big change, I guess, is that after 10 years, I changed agent representation. I just felt like it was time to shake things up. Many actors seem dissatisfied with their agents, and I had my own dissatisfactions. I could certainly pinpoint specifics, but mostly it was just a general feeling that I needed to move on. And the time felt right. I now have a new manager. I’ve known Achilles socially for a couple years, and I’ve been impressed with how he represents his clients. Even though its a new business relationship, it seems like a good fit. With South Pacific’s closing only 2 1/2 months away, I’m finding myself back on the audition circuit. After the initial adjustment, I’m getting my the‘auditioning legs’ back. Auditioning is often compared to a muscle. It has to be stretched and worked on, otherwise it gets weak. Its an entirely different thing than performing onstage. Actors can be amazing performers onstage, and be terrible auditioners, or terrific auditioners and be awful onstage. Learning how to audition well is an entirely separate skill-set. And I’ve been getting back to it. I passed my own 2 Year Anniversary with the show on June 10th. By that date I had been onstage 367 performances. Life for me has changed a lot in those two years- my confidence, my connections in the business, a personal age benchmark...I’m excited to see where my career takes me from here. It certainly is a whole new ball game, not just for me, but for the industry as a whole as the economy has evolved, and is still evolving. My goal has been to be adaptable to that evolution, and ready myself for the new career roads that lie ahead. 3.20.10 Sondheim: The Birthday Concert Spring came early to NYC, and the Spring Breakers have brought back the crowds. My aunt and cousins came to see the show during the only Nor’easter this month. Luckily they’d seen most the touristy stuff a few years ago, so they did museums and indoor stuff during the torrential freezing rains. Now New Yorkers are celebrating the warm sunshine. On Monday, March 15th, I participated in the chorus of composer Stephen Sondheim’s 80th Birthday Concert performed at Alice Tully Hall at Lincoln Center. It was a star-studded event that will be televised on PBS sometime in the Fall. Myself along with 300 other Broadway performers sang in the evening’s finale song: “Sunday” from Sondheim’s musical Sunday In The Park with George. The 300 filled the stage, every aisle, and around both balconies. The sound was enormous, and brought the crowd and Mr. Sondheim to tears. It was a very special event to be a part of. 2.23.10 Broadway Backwards On Monday February 22nd, I performed in a benefit concert for Broadway Cares called Broadway Backwards 5, where men sing women’s Broadway songs, and vice versa. It was star studded: Florence Henderson hosted, and it included Broadway stars Robert Cuccioli, Ann Harada, Julia Murney, Gary Beach, Len Cariou, Lee Roy Reams, Tonya Pinkins, Aaron Lazar, Douglas Sills, Raul Esparza, Lea Salonga, Seth Rudetsky, and Tituss Burgess. And tv/film stars: Richard Kind, Eve Plumb, Marion Ross, Valerie Harper, Becki Newton (from Ugly Betty?), Dan Butler, Michele Lee, Bruce Vilanch, and Mario Cantone. To say it was fun is an understatement! I performed in 6 numbers, and worked closely with Florence Henderson, Gary Beach, and Douglas Sills. It was held at our theater, so I was very comfortable in the environment…but with over 50 different chorus members, and celebrities in every hallway. Florence Henderson was a darling. She is so friendly and accessible. 2.20.10 Six Months to Shore Leave On Thursday night, the producers and director of South Pacific called a company meeting and told us that the show would have its final performance on August 22, 2010. The cast has been hearing rumors since before the holidays that we would probably run until the end of the summer, so this did not come as a shock to anyone. We knew it wouldn’t last forever, and the show has already run longer than anyone expected. The whole experience has been magical, and we are all daily thankful to be a part of such a successful production with the incredible organization Lincoln Center. By the time it ends, South Pacific will have played 1000 performances and 37 previews, making it the longest-running Broadway revival of any of the Rodgers & Hammerstein musicals. Click here for the Playbill Online announcement: South Pacific closes 2.10.10 Snow Day in the South Pacific So here we are in the peak (slump?) of the low season for Broadway: the deadly early February weeks post-holiday and pre-Spring Break. Last year at this time our show saw its first few empty seats since opening. But riding high on the post-Tony buzz, we were still doing very well for the time. Sliding into our second year, its a little different. We aren’t the hot new show anymore. We’ve still been having decent crowds before now, and we expect it to go back up in a few weeks. But today is a 2-show day and a blizzard is raging outside. We have a very supportive, very small crowd in the audience. It gives us all incentive to give them a great show. But its scary when it feels like there are more people backstage than in the audience. Its at times like this that it helps to remember whether its 1 or 1,000 people in the audience, they have paid their money to be entertained, to take a journey, to escape from their world for 3 hours - and its our job to give it to them. 1.11.10 New Year New Changes Happy New Year. No entries for a couple months, partly because of the busy holidays, partly...nothing new. The crowds for South Pacific were a little lower over the holiday season than expected, but that was true of the entire Broadway community, not just our show. This holiday season the recession was more obvious on Broadway than last year. But we still are holding strong, with an expected drop during the bleak next 2 winter months before the Spring Break-ers arrive in March. Kelli O’Hara finished out her brief return from October 11th until January 3rd. Now we have the delightful Laura Osnes back. Otherwise the cast has stayed intact since some of them left for tour back in September. 10.28.09 When Baseball and Broadway Collide With the World Series beginning tonight, everyone is hyper aware of baseball, and none more than in NYC when the Yankees are in the World Series. Backstage, a few brave souls are wearing their Phillies hats. Today’s matinee we had a good laugh when Lt. Cable refers to his girl back home as a “Philadelphia girl”. There was a whoop from a contingent in the audience - clearly some Phillies fans in the crowd. But it was Bloody Mary’s next line that got the big laugh: “Phila-dellia-Girl...wassat mean? No sexy?” A little unintentional baseball rivalry talk right in the middle of South Pacific. Who knew?! 9.29.09 Tour Launch and Nellie Switch Autumn is definitely here. The South Pacific National Tour opened in San Francisco last week to rave reviews. The Broadway company got to watch an invited run-thru of the show a few weeks back. They did a great job. I think they were very nervous having the Broadway cast there watching (I certainly would be if I was in their position.) But we all feel strangely like proud parents (or big siblings?) of the tour cast getting their great reviews. To find out more about the tour, go to my links web page. Last Sunday several of us worked the Broadway Flea Market benefiting Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDs. It is a great annual event for the Broadway community to sell paraphernalia from different shows and raise money for a good cause. I saw lots of friends in other shows, as well as friends just there shopping, and celebrities. Our first big audience attendance drop-off since we opened happened the week after Labor Day. It was strange seeing smaller audiences. But that week is typically a bad week for Broadway because school has restarted, and a lull happens before the holiday crowds start coming in. Management assured us there was nothing to worry about, and that the drop was expected. Happily we’ve inched back up into the 80% range for weekly attendance. Darn good for a revival that has been running for a year and a half. At the end of this week, we sadly bid farewell to our beloved Laura Osnes as Nellie Forbush. She is off to do Bonnie in the new musical Bonnie & Clyde. Laura is such a positive energy in our cast - she will be missed. Happily she’s returning in January. But we are also thrilled to welcome back Kelli O’Hara to our show October 13th through the end of the year. I know many fans of Kelli are eagerly awaiting her return. She is an incredible “Nellie”. Both bring such wonderful and different things to the role. And we as a cast are lucky either way. 7.29.09 Shore Leave Last week I passed my 200th onstage performance - a respectable milestone. By now the show doesn’t have a ‘new’ feeling for me anymore, but I still cherish the experience. When an audience is particularly responsive, or if they cheer especially loud during curtain call, I’m reminded what a special experience this is. The national tour of our show is going out in September. Rehearsals start in late August, and three of our guys are leaving our production for the road: Eric Christian, Mike Evariste, and Genson Blimline. When they leave, about half the male ensemble will have been replaced from the original cast. I believe the same goes for the ‘nurses’. Having new people always helps bring a new vibe and energy to the production. The staging will, of course, have to be restructured for the tour. The Lincoln Center stage is vast, and almost 3 times deeper than a typical stage. Our director, Bartlett Sher will restage the entire production in order to fit inside a proscenium stage, rather than Lincoln Center’s thrust. The set will be reduced and scaled differently (a full war plane won’t be able to fit on the tour- perhaps a scaled down version). The sheer size of the Broadway production allows for such an emersion into the environment of the island. When I’m laying on the sand dune during the show, the audience feels miles away. Indeed, I believe the stage is deeper than it is wide. It’s easy to transport yourself to the island when you are standing in the middle of the stage surrounded by the ocean, the sky, the sound of the waves, the palm tree and sand dune. 6.25.09 My Anniversary So it was one year ago tonight that I made my onstage Broadway debut. It has been quite a year and it flew by faster than I would’ve ever imagined. In that year, I’ve performed in 175 performances in 9 different roles (and a bit of a 10th). The other night I had one of my biggest challenges to date – I was on for 3 roles. There were 4 guys out of the show – I split 3 of them and George, the other swing did one of the tracks and part of the others. What made it particularly challenging was that it was the 3 guys I have the least experience with (and one I had never been on for before). I hadn’t been that nervous since my first few weeks in the show. It required intense concentration, and a lot of thinking ahead. It was also a lot of fun, even if I felt like I’d ran a marathon. 6.9.09 May was a much quieter month for me. The South Pacific guys were generally healthy and not taking personal days, and I found myself experiencing a rare dry spell from being onstage. This can be a blessing and curse. When you are a swing, it can be a welcome break to not ‘be on’ every night exhausted. But for me, if there are more than 3 days when I’m not on, it feels like forever. It is easy to get bored show after show backstage. I will always be thankful for my job, though. On May 10th, five of us boys sang a Musical Mother-Medley at a benefit concert called “When You’re Good To Mama” at The Center. It was very silly and fun. Broadway leading lady Jen Collella joined us, and the audience laughed a lot. The next day was my birthday, (which was our day off), so on Tuesday the cast had cake for me. Nothing like getting “happy birthday” sung to you by a Broadway cast, huh? On Memorial Day, the South Pacific guys sang “Nothing Like A Dame” at the Intrepid Air and Space Museum - an aircraft carrier docked in the Hudson River at the end of 45th St. This was in honor of Fleet Week when thousands of naval troops and officers descend on New York City for a week’s leave. Things picked up right after Memorial Day. I was on all week because of an injury. It was a great to be on the whole week before I took a short medical leave for a bit of surgery. I’m recouping nicely now, and look forward to returning to the show June 16th. 5.5.09 The end of April was a busy time in South Pacific land. On April 26th, the producers threw a beautiful One Year Anniversary party for the show at a rooftop lounge near Madison Square Park. It was a gorgeous warm night – one of those times in my life that I look out over the skyline of New York City and think how far this guy from small town Missouri has come. My ‘one year’ with the show will come in early June. The next day, ten of us guys from the show took the subway out to Citifield and got to sing the National Anthem at the Mets vs. Marlins game. It was the most exciting thing I’ve done since the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. The stadium is amazing, and it was such a rush to walk out on the field. You can see a YouTube clip of us here: South Pacific cast sings National Anthem. Softball season has started up, and the Broadway Show League plays in Central Park every Thursday. Our team is the Bali Ha’i Bombers and we’re 3-0 undefeated so far! The Broadway Bowling League is winding down, though. It’s tough to balance both, so as much as I love it, I’m glad to take a break from bowling until the fall. 4.3.09 April 1: Members of the original 1949 Broadway and tour companies of South Pacific attended our matinee in honor of the 60th Anniversary of the show. Current cast members introduced their original counterparts during the curtain call, and an onstage press event was held afterward. It was an incredible history-making event. Something I will never forget. Most of the original cast members were in their 80’s and 90’s, wearing flowered leis. The original ‘children’ were perhaps in their early 70’s. I was totally emotional throughout the event. A battalion of photographers lined the “49-ers” up at the bottom of the sand dune, with the “09-ers” layered on the dune above them. To think most of these people had not seen each other for 60 years. And here they were on a Broadway stage once again. There was magic in the air. 3.8.09 It was a teary farewell for Kelli O'Hara, our leading lady, last night at South Pacific. She wrote us all a lovely farewell letter, and bought us all goodies. By the 2nd show (2 show day), Kelli's dressing room door was littered with letters and drawings. She had trouble keeping it together all evening. But she is leaving us for the happy occasion of having a baby. We had a goodbye cake for her at intermission. The final performance was emotional, with tears all around at the curtain call. Always the eloquent speaker, Danny Burstein (our "Billis") gave the curtain farewell speech. Afterwards, we all gathered at a restaurant across the street from Lincoln Center to socialize and say our goodbyes one last time. Paulo Szot is leaving us again as well, for 5 weeks to do another opera in France. David Pittsinger is returning to take over the role of Emile DeBeque while Paulo is gone. Today, Garrett Long is taking over Nellie for one performance before Laura Osnes steps into the role on Tuesday. Garrett is one of the Nellie understudies, but the cast joked that since Kelli is technically gone, and Laura doesn't start until Tuesday, that Garrett is the "STAR" of South Pacific for one day! On Tuesday, Laura takes over. And in the few days that she's been around us in rehearsals and backstage, she has immediately endeared herself to us. She is a real gem. Laura won the television show: "Grease, You're the One that I Want" - which ultimately led her to star in the most recent Broadway revival of Grease. Stepping into the role of Nellie after playing Sandy in Grease could not be more of a leap. They are completely different. But Laura has got a captivating personality, sings like a bird, and is going to be terrific in the role of Nellie. Even in rehearsal she was already making it her own, and doing some different things than Kelli. We will miss Kelli terribly, but it will be fun to have Laura here, and we welcome her. 2.23.09 The end of my first week back. It was so great to see the cast and crew again. I missed everyone on "the beach". I was on all week, thankfully. It was great to jump right back into it. Kelli is still in the show for 2 more weeks. The've altered all of her costumes to hide the 'baby bump'. We've been told that Laura Osnes will be replacing her. Those who know Laura speak highly of her and her talent. But we will certainly miss Kelli. Tonight, I performed in a Broadway benefit concert, "Defying Inequality", promoting marriage equality. It was a huge production with stars and chorus people from a bunch of Broadway shows. I don't know how much they earned but the house was full! The Gershwin Theatre, where Wicked plays, is a fun theater to perform in. It was great to hang out with other actors from the Broadway community. There were lots of famous people backstage (Sally Struthers, Linda Carter, Harvey Fierstein, Malcom Gets, Nathan Lane, Allison Janney, David Hyde Pierce..., many I never saw (there were so many people that they had us stuffed in every corner of every room backstage.) But it was cool to pass Cyndi Lauper in the hall! The evening was long, ending around midnight - but the audience seemed to have a great time. The evening was a success. 1.31.09 As they do for everyone, the holidays flew by. I was onstage practically every performance between mid November and Christmas for one reason or another. We had a show Christmas Day, and I was not on. I think whether someone was not feeling their best or not, no cast member wanted to be THAT guy/girl that called out on Christmas when everyone else was working. We also had a show New Years night, so we performed until 11:00pm. It was a lively show, and I don't think any of us minded being there. New Years is overrated anyway, so it was nice to be busy until an hour before midnight. On New Years Day evening, Kelli O'Hara, our leading lady, called us to the greenroom to announce that she's pregnant. Much joy was had all around. She hopes to stay until the first of March, but she will be sorely missed when she goes. On January 4th, we bid farewell to 5 castmembers Matt Morrison, Noah Weisburg, Victor Hawkes, Lucia Spina, and Ana Andricain, and welcomed 3 new castmembers: Peter Lockyer, Rob Gallagher, Eric Anderson and 2 returning: Liz McCartney and Margot de la Barre. It was the biggest cast changeover since mid-June. As January 22nd approached, the original cast was abuzz with the realization that they were approaching the year anniversary since their first day of rehearsal. I didn't join the cast until June 10th. January 22nd held a different significance for me. Once in awhile (hopefully a very long while) life throws a curveball, and I had to take a medical leave from the show starting on January 22nd. I will be out of the show for almost 4 weeks. The entire cast has been very supportive, but it was very difficult to leave. I am so thankful to have a solid job that I can come back to once I've recovered. And I look forward to being back in the show on Feburary 17th. I have never, in my entire career missed a performance. So this is a first. And I miss it and the cast terribly. 12.13.08 This past Monday/Tuesday, I performed in the 20th Annual Gypsy of the Year performance. It is a benefit for Broadway Cares/Equity Fights Aids – the umbrella organization that helps men, women and children living with HIV and AIDS as well as the Phyllis Newman Women’s Health Initiative fighting breast and ovarian cancer, as well as several other charitable causes. A “gypsy” is a slang term for a Broadway chorus person, and this performance is a chance for all the gypsies of the Broadway community to perform their talents outside the show. Often this takes the form of comedic skits poking fun at themselves, another show, or at the community – much like a roast. Some of the performances are incredible dance routines, or songs. South Pacific’s entry was a comedy sketch centered around the Terminator movies, gently poking fun at three talented actors that seem to always play the leads in the Sondheim revivals. Most people outside the Industry really wouldn’t get it, but usually the audience is mostly filled with show biz folk. A few days prior, we had to present our sketch to the Broadway Cares people. The biggest critique we got was “it’s too long, cut it down to 3 1/2 minutes”. On Monday, our first day of two performances, we had a quick tech rehearsal during the day, and then performance at 4:30pm. It’s amazing that such a major production is thrown up so quickly. The lower lounge at the New Amsterdam Theater was crammed full of performers, stepping over one another stretching, putting make-up on, snapping pictures – like the backstage of a school talent show. Most of us watched the show, and left a few numbers before ours to get into microphones and get backstage. I was nervous. Performing a comedy sketch in front of your entire industry is nerve wracking. We thought the sketch was funny, but it could have bombed. With sweaty palms and racing heart, we stepped out onto the dark stage after our introduction. But the sketch went well. We got laughs, and later compliments. The next day’s performance was even smoother, with bigger laughs. It turned out to be a really fun thing to do. South Pacific came in 3rd for fundraising for Broadway Cares, and the total of all the shows brought in over $3 million dollars. Here's an article on BroadwayWorld.com, with a picture of our sketch among others after the article: Gypsy of the Year and backstage pics 12.5.08 On Sunday, we bade farewell to Paulo Szot, our Tony-winning Emile Debeque. He’s off to perform some other gigs in Europe for two months. He’ll be back in February, and we shall miss him. But David Pittsinger has replaced him. David is a lovely man and is doing a wonderful job. We also lost Emily Morales, one of our Asian girls (who understudies Liat). She moved back to her home city. We’ve had a fair amount of turnover from our ‘nurses’ in the cast too. And after January 6th, we lose three Seabees. It will be strange to have new faces in the male ensemble. We’ve been a tight group of guys for 6 months (some for 10 months) and the dynamic will be changing. But new faces bring new energy, and it will be fun getting to know the new guys. 11.28.08 Performing in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade was an unforgettable experience. Having a show the night before, I had about 4 hours of “unconciousness” before I had to be at the theater at 5:30am. The cast got into our seabee costumes and were bussed down to Macy’s by 6:00am. It was still dark outside, but the crowds were beginning to fill the stands. We were ushered to our talent trailers which were nice and warm and thankfully stocked with coffee and muffins. We watched television in the little lounges until our camera rehearsal at 7:15am. By then the crowds had grown quite a bit, and our dressers held our coats while we jumped around to keep ourselves warm. We ran the number twice through with some adjustments from our director, Bartlett Sher, as to which camera to focus on when, etc. Then back to our trailers to watch the parade on tv until our 9:30am performance. It was exciting to hear the sounds of the other casts: In The Heights, White Christmas echoing though the canyon streets as they performed. Little Mermaid, who was after us, chatted us up in our little alley of trailers. When we were called to set, the energy was palpable. The crowds had swollen to thousands of people and the day seemed bright suddenly. Once again, the dressers held our coats as we ran to places, waving to the crowd in the stands. Looking up Broadway was incredible. We couldn’t see the parade yet, it was still way up near Columbus Circle. But the crowds were massive. (For those who don’t know, the Broadway shows perform in front of Macy’s while the parade makes its way down Broadway. We never actually march in the parade.) As the commercial break ended, we heard Matt Lauer and Meredith Viera introduce us, and our music play. It was cold- only about 37 degrees outside. But thankfully there was no breeze, and no rain/snow. And when that music started, you couldn’t feel the cold anyway. It was pure adrenaline. A big cool, blurry rush, that was over in what seemed like seconds. Afterwards, we were rushed off set, grabbed our coats and bussed back to the theater to get out of costume. I live near the theater, and within a half hour after performing for 50 million people nationwide, I was back home and catching a two hour nap before my own Thanksgiving festivities. And incredible day. 11.20.08 Five months into my run with South Pacific. Two weeks ago we had some more VIP's come. Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson came and sent us a very nice note the next day. And over Veteran's Day weekend, Edith Shain attended. She was the nurse from the famous sailor-kissing-nurse photo in Times Square on V-J Day. Now in her 90's, she's as spunky as a woman 20 years younger. And she's tiny, about the height of an average 10-year-old. She loved the show, and had some pictures taken with some of our sailors for the newspapers. I've been on all week for one of my guys, (passing my 70th onstage show). Last night, one of our guys threw a sailor hat and it landed into the orchestra pit. Ted Sperling, our conductor, pitched it back onstage, but because there is audience on 3 sides of our stage, the hat overshot and landed in the audience Stage Left. Luckily, a kind audience member sent the hat flying back onstage. But for a moment, it was "follow the bouncing hat" audience participation. Myself and the other two male swings are being included in the cast performance of "Nothing Like a Dame" during the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. We had blocking rehearsal the other day, and performed for the television producers. I believe we will be on NBC. You can look for me on the left side of the group. We have another rehearsal Monday before Thanksgiving on the street with cameras. It's going to be cold, but a lot of fun. 10.19.08 This past week we had two VIP’s see South Pacific. Former Democratic presidential runner John Kerry; and Hollywood legend, and original “Nellie Forbush” from the movie: Mitzi Gaynor. It was really cool meeting them both. Mr. Kerry was very nice and approachable, and Ms. Gaynor was a big personality that filled the room. You can see pictures of Ms. Gaynor with some of our cast on Broadwayworld.com: Mitzi Gaynor Visits South Pacific Last Sunday the 12th, I had a new challenge. The other swing was out on a personal day, and two of my guys were out of the show. So I performed two roles combined. It was a really fun challenge, and was easier than I expected. Some of the cast jokingly said it was the “Greg Roderick Show” because it seemed like I was all over the stage…and sometimes I was. Luckily it was two of my main guys, so I knew the parts very well and fairly easily combined them in my mind. Certain parts were cut, of course, when one of the two had a more necessary moment onstage. But having passed my 4th month with the show, I still feel like the time has flown, and I know the show so well now that it’s not very stressful going on at a moment's notice. 10.4.08 Last night was wacky. I was called an hour before the show to confirm I was going on for the guy I’d been on for all week. But when I arrived at the theater, the “who’s on/who’s out” sheet was extra long. And I was listed as playing someone else! I had been switched at the last second. The list read something like this: Laura Marie Duncan is on for Kelli O’Hara, Wendi Bergamini is on for Laura Marie Duncan, Andrew Samonsky is on for Matt Morrison, Branch Fields is on for Andrew Samonsky, George Merrick is on for Sean Cullen, George Psomas is on for George Merrick, Greg Roderick is on for Nick Mayo, Emily Morales is on for Li Jun Li, Emily’s track is cut, Charlie Brady will be playing ‘Buzz Adams and Shore Patrolman’. There were so many faces in different places on stage last night, no one knew who anyone was! The other swing had been switched into the track I had been on for because it was much less physically demanding and he was nursing a hurt knee. Before the show, I had to run up onstage and mentally switch gears into the new track, tracing my blocking onstage while ushers stuffed flyers into programs. I had done the track the previous weekend, so it wasn’t that hard. But having played a different track all week, I needed to refresh. Only once during the show did I find myself in the wrong place. Luckily it didn’t matter – but I had that blank moment of “where the heck am I supposed to be?” 9.27.08 As our show passes from summer into fall, we are seeing more cast members moving on. I've now been on for 7 1/2 of my tracks - and 46 performances (adding up to nearly 6 weeks) onstage. Of the original cast, three left when I arrived, we lost another about a month ago, one is on a month's leave to film a TV pilot in Los Angeles, and two of our 'nurses' are leaving soon. One to join White Christmas on Broadway, and one who's moving back to Los Angeles. 9.5.08 So, I guess our show is the hot show to see in Hollywood because any celebrity that breezes through NYC from LA seems to catch our show. It's pretty cool. I have been trying to keep track of who's been coming since I've been there. Some I've met, some I haven't. When I was still in rehearsal, Hillary and Chelsea Clinton came. They were incredibly gracious and came backstage to shake every cast and crew members' hand. I've also personally met George Wendt (Norm from Cheers), Ted Danson & Mary Steenbergen, Pierce Brosnon, Allison Janney, and Daniel Radcliffe. Each one were very gracious and appreciative. Tyra Banks was the only one who came backstage and was unfriendly and cold. Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes came to our show a couple weeks ago. The paparazzi was waiting outside our stage door at least 2 hours before the show and they were there afterwards too. TomKat was swarmed afterwards. I thanked Tom as I passed by him for coming to our show, and he murmured "it was a great show" as people crammed around him. The next day, Tom and Katie sent 200 cupcakes from the Magnolia Bakery with a thank you card of appreciation. It was a lovely gesture. Sting and his wife saw our show and sent a case of wine to our cast. I also heard Jack Nicholson, Danny DeVito and Rhea Perlman came, but I did not see them. The stars are out at South Pacific! 8.14.08 Well, I am now in my 10th week since my first day of rehearsal. Unbelievable. It has gone so fast. And I just surpassed my 30th performance, as well. In 8 weeks of performances, that is roughly 50% of the time. I really feel well-established in the show now. And most of my fellow “Seabees” I have bonded with. Being the ‘new kid at school’ has been one of my biggest challenges. I have always been a part of any show since the first day of rehearsal. So not only was it overwhelming making my Broadway debut, but I had to work on the social aspect of coming into a tight-knit company. Some warmed up faster than others. And there are still some I barely know. But I guess that’s any job. Whenever you work out of town, you spend all your time with the cast. They are your social network as well as your work environment. Here in New York, most head off to their homes and their lives and their own friends (as do I). So it takes much longer to make connections. I have now been on for 4 of my main tracks, and one of my secondary. A few weeks back, a former professor of mine visited New York and had tickets to our show. The other swing was on all week for one of his guys. As a favor, they let me go on instead for the performance my professor saw. It really meant a lot to have him see me in the show. As a trade-off, I gave the other swing one of my performances that I had slated down the road. Later that same week, I was watching the show from the house, and after “Dames”, I noticed one of the Seabees limp offstage. I thought I'd better investigate. And before I could even get backstage, the dance captain was rushing up to find me. The injured actor was out, and I was on for the rest of the show. It was totally surreal to be watching the show one minute, and then have a costume thrown on and find myself walking onstage about 10 minutes later! So, now I’ve had the experience of going on for 5 different guys, going on at a moments notice, and doing different tracks within the same week. It’s never dull, that’s for sure! 07.05.08 I’m coming to the end of my second full week of being on Broadway in South Pacific. It’s pretty much a dream come true. I couldn’t have asked for a more amazing show to be a part of. After 2 weeks of rehearsals, I was officially part of the show as the new male swing on June 24th. As luck would have it, on the 25th I made my official onstage Broadway debut!! One of our guys was nursing a hurt knee, and I ended up going on for him 6 times last week! That first Wednesday, I did both shows. The only thing I can possibly think of that it might compare to is someone’s wedding day. It was a big, blurry, adrenaline-filled, fun, exciting, slightly-scary, and wholly magical moment in my life. Except for a couple minor boo-boos like putting a prop back on the wrong prop table, the show went smoothly. Doing it 6 times that week allowed me to really settle in and enjoy the show. As if that all wasn’t exciting and crazy enough, on Thursday the 26th, Lincoln Center filmed their Video Archive of the show. So, I am officially immortalized in the taping of the show! This week, everyone has been on all week until yesterday, July 4th. Now that the Tony Awards are over, Stage Management is starting to swing cast members out of the show so they can see the show and to give them a rest. It’s a treat for the actors to see the show that they are in, and it gives us swings a chance to perform. So I went on for a new track last night (different from the one I was on for last week.) This was my first experience ever switching tracks, and it was a bit scary. The biggest mistake I made was pretty major – I forgot to put my mic on! So for the entire first scene, I was projecting. I think I could still be heard, it was just obvious I wasn’t mic’d. Of course I mentally beat-myself-up afterwards for it, but my mind had been on all the stuff I had to remember. Ultimately, you have to forgive yourself for things like that and move on. It wasn’t the end of the world, and the rest of the show went pretty well for me. I guess I’m a perfectionist, so that was a bit of a bummer for me. But the show ended on a high note – It turns out I had FOUR friends in the audience that night, purely by chance. So it was great that they got to see me go on (even mic-less.) 06.17.08 The past two weeks have been a blur. The week between finding out I had the job as the new male swing on Broadway in South Pacific and my first day of rehearsal was full of excitement – phone calls, emails, texts, writing a bio, filling out tax forms, etc. Even a call from the stage manager giving me the time for the first day of rehearsal gave me a thrill. The first week of rehearsal passed quickly, and yet was so full that by the end it felt a lot longer than a week. I was overwhelmed with emotion the first time I stepped on the stage. My first Broadway stage. Pretty cool. -- Rehearsals have been going really well. The cast is very nice (some I’ve barely seen offstage). As male swing, I’ve got 5 primary tracks and 5 secondary tracks to cover (meaning if the other male swing is already on for one of his guys and another one goes out, I cover his primary tracks as a back-up). And what a way to end my first week, by South Pacific winning SEVEN Tony Awards! Best Musical Revival, Director, Actor: Paulo Szot, Lighting, Set, Costumes, and Sound. I attended the South Pacific Tony Party at O’Neill’s Restaurant across from Lincoln Center. It was a great way to bond with my new cast. And it was a thrilling night! My timing for entering the show couldn’t be better! 06.04.08 Today I booked my first Broadway show! To say I’m excited would be an understatement. I was riding my bike when I got the call, which will now and forever be known as the “Best Bike-ride Ever”. I’ve been working towards this watershed in my career for 14 years – or perhaps even longer. Isn’t it every kid’s dream that wants to be an actor to someday be on Broadway? I will be going into the hit Broadway revival of South Pacific at the Vivian Beaumont Theater. I’ve been in New York 14 years, 3 months, and 7 days. It’s been a long road to get here, and certainly not always an easy one. But in many ways, the wait has made this feel all that much sweeter. I’m going to enjoy every minute of it. 05.24.08 Memorial Day Weekend. We closed The Full Monty last Sunday. The run up at Northern Stage was terrific. The cast was great all around (no bad apples). And we had lots of laughs together. I’m beginning to think a fun cast is indicative of this particular show. I think you have to have a free spirit in order to do it. We arrived in the snow, and watched the beautiful lengthy Vermont spring unfold before us. It’s a very savvy community up there. A lot of people go to the theater. The ‘Monty’s were recognized wherever we went – usually met with a slight smirk and a giggle. I will play this role again. It’s a great role, and I will be age-appropriate for it for another 20 years. 03.15.08 Got an offer to play Harold in The Full Monty @ Northern Stage. I had an opportunity to do the role for 7 performances last summer,and I fell in love with the part and the musical. Last summer, when I took the role, there is that terrifying moment when I accepted the job thinking: Am I really going to be nude onstage? But anyone who knows the show, knows that the nudity is so fast, the audience is so wound up, and there is so much to look at (no pun intended), that it is barely seen. Through the rehearsal process, you build up to it, so by the time you actually get to the unveiling, you are really ready for it. On opening night, yes, it's a bit terrifying. But the great thing is that your character is supposed to be terrified. So you use it. What it turns out to be is a blast. It's like jumping off a cliff - exhilarating, scary, and so much fun that you want to do it again. Ultimately, the moment that is far scarier than the quick 'reveal' at the end is the entire chorus of the song we sing leading up to the reveal dancing around in nothing but a pair of boots and a red g-string. Will the red g-string pop off? You have to be vigilant. But the audience is screaming, and laughing, and the live energy is so great, that it's worth it. I know other shows that have nudity in it, (having been in the audience), they just watch in uncomfortable silence as the clothes come off. But the brilliance of this show is that it's built to be fun and funny. And the audience loves it. And I still have my red g-string from the last time as a souvenir. 01.28.08 Official launch of www.gregroderick.net - I built it myself, so it's a bit rudimentary at first. But I can always add fancy Java-script later. Right now, I'm just proud of myself.

8.11.10 Coming into Port

Its a feeling you get during the final two weeks of school. Nearing the end of something you have spent several years of your life with, you start emotionally saying goodbye, you take pictures, you feel happy, sad, excited, bittersweet, and a little apprehensive. Change is good, if you embrace it. But it can feel monumental when your life has been the same for so long. For an actor, change is often the norm. So after having a chance at a stable schedule in a Broadway show, when the end comes, it feels big. We said farewell for the last time to Laura Osnes as Nellie Forbush on Sunday. Laura is universally loved by our cast and it was really tough to say goodbye to her 2 weeks before we close. Between that, and having Kelli back, it really has sunk in that we are at the end.

Being a swing, I have an added challenge of never knowing when my last show really is. I’ve tried to take in the last few shows I was on as if it were my last. I was onstage for Laura’s last show, and it felt like my last show too. Chances are slim but not impossible that I could be on sometime during the last two weeks - but it feels over for me. In many ways, I’ve already left. And at 410 onstage performances, I feel happy with the end.

7.29.10 Baring it for Charity and Belting in Bryant Park

In late June, I participated for the first time in the annual Broadway burlesque fundraiser:

Broadway Bares, now in its 20th Season. Broadway Bares presents Broadway’s sexiest performers in a sort of burlesque show- one of the most popular events in New York City. It raises money for Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS, and this year we raised over a million dollars! Broadway Cares is now the #1 charity organization in the country for AIDS research as well as helping to fight breast & ovarian cancer. The Broadway community does make a difference.

As for dancing down to my skivvies in front of thousands of people, well, after doing The Full Monty, this was easy! And it was a fun, sexy, exciting evening full of love and positive energy. The theme was Monopoly, and I was in the ‘Go To Jail’ number. It was a night I’ll never forget. Here’s a YouTube clip: Broadway Bares: Stripopoly

On July 15th, the boys of South Pacific sang “Nothing Like A Dame” at the annual Broadway in Bryant Park concert. Its a great way to bring Broadway to the masses. It was a fun, if hot afternoon, and most likely the last public event our cast will perform before the live televised performance on August 18th, and before we close.

6.11.10 Summer Transitions

April and May was a fairly uneventful time. We had a few cast changes in the ensemble of South Pacific, and our original Captain Bracket (Skip Sudduth) has returned. In April, the show had its 2 Year Anniversary Party. It was a more subtle, less swanky affair than the 1 Year Anniversary- but still incredibly generous of Lincoln Center.

One big change, I guess, is that after 10 years, I changed agent representation. I just felt like it was time to shake things up. Many actors seem dissatisfied with their agents, and I had my own dissatisfactions. I could certainly pinpoint specifics, but mostly it was just a general feeling that I needed to move on. And the time felt right. I now have a new manager. I’ve known Achilles socially for a couple years, and I’ve been impressed with how he represents his clients. Even though its a new business relationship, it seems like a good fit.

With South Pacific’s closing only 2 1/2 months away, I’m finding myself back on the audition circuit. After the initial adjustment, I’m getting my the‘auditioning legs’ back. Auditioning is often compared to a muscle. It has to be stretched and worked on, otherwise it gets weak. Its an entirely different thing than performing onstage. Actors can be amazing performers onstage, and be terrible auditioners, or terrific auditioners and be awful onstage. Learning how to audition well is an entirely separate skill-set. And I’ve been getting back to it.

I passed my own 2 Year Anniversary with the show on June 10th. By that date I had been onstage 367 performances. Life for me has changed a lot in those two years- my confidence, my connections in the business, a personal age benchmark...I’m excited to see where my career takes me from here. It certainly is a whole new ball game, not just for me, but for the industry as a whole as the economy has evolved, and is still evolving. My goal has been to be adaptable to that evolution, and ready myself for the new career roads that lie ahead.

3.20.10 Sondheim: The Birthday Concert

Spring came early to NYC, and the Spring Breakers have brought back the crowds. My aunt and cousins came to see

the show during the only Nor’easter this month. Luckily they’d seen most the touristy stuff a few years ago, so they did museums and indoor stuff during the torrential freezing rains. Now New Yorkers are celebrating the warm sunshine.

On Monday, March 15th, I participated in the chorus of composer Stephen Sondheim’s 80th Birthday Concert performed at Alice Tully Hall at Lincoln Center. It was a star-studded event that will be televised on PBS sometime in the Fall. Myself along with 300 other Broadway performers sang in the evening’s finale song: “Sunday” from Sondheim’s musical Sunday In The Park with George. The 300 filled the stage, every aisle, and around both balconies. The sound was enormous, and brought the crowd and Mr. Sondheim to tears. It was a very special event to be a part of.

2.23.10 Broadway Backwards

On Monday February 22nd, I performed in a benefit concert for Broadway Cares

called Broadway Backwards 5, where men sing women’s Broadway songs, and vice versa. It was star studded: Florence Henderson hosted, and it included Broadway stars Robert Cuccioli, Ann Harada, Julia Murney, Gary Beach, Len Cariou, Lee Roy Reams, Tonya Pinkins, Aaron Lazar, Douglas Sills, Raul Esparza, Lea Salonga, Seth Rudetsky, and Tituss Burgess. And tv/film stars: Richard Kind, Eve Plumb, Marion Ross, Valerie Harper, Becki Newton (from Ugly Betty?), Dan Butler, Michele Lee, Bruce Vilanch, and Mario Cantone.

To say it was fun is an understatement! I performed in 6 numbers, and worked closely with Florence Henderson, Gary Beach, and Douglas Sills. It was held at our theater, so I was very comfortable in the environment…but with over 50 different chorus members, and celebrities in every hallway. Florence Henderson was a darling. She is so friendly and accessible.

2.20.10 Six Months to Shore Leave

On Thursday night, the producers and director of South Pacific called a company meeting and told us that the show would have its final performance on August 22, 2010. The cast has been hearing rumors since before the holidays that we would probably run until the end of the summer, so this did not come as a shock to anyone. We knew it wouldn’t last forever, and the show has already run longer than anyone expected. The whole experience has been magical, and we are all daily thankful to be a part of such a successful production with the incredible organization Lincoln Center. By the time it ends, South Pacific will have played 1000 performances and 37 previews, making it the longest-running Broadway revival of any of the Rodgers & Hammerstein musicals. Click here for the Playbill Online announcement:

South Pacific closes

2.10.10 Snow Day in the South Pacific

So here we are in the peak (slump?) of the low season for Broadway: the deadly early February weeks post-holiday and pre-Spring Break. Last year at this time our show saw its first few empty seats since opening. But riding high on the post-Tony buzz, we were still doing very well for the time. Sliding into our second year, its a little different. We aren’t the hot new show anymore. We’ve still been having decent crowds before now, and we expect it to go back up in a few weeks. But today is a 2-show day and a blizzard is raging outside. We have a very supportive, very small crowd in the audience. It gives us all incentive to give them a great show. But its scary when it feels like there are more people backstage than in the audience. Its at times like this that it helps to remember whether its 1 or 1,000 people in the audience, they have paid their money to be entertained, to take a journey, to escape from their world for 3 hours - and its our job to give it to them.

1.11.10 New Year New Changes

Happy New Year. No entries for a couple months, partly because of the busy holidays, partly...nothing new. The crowds for South Pacific were a little lower over the holiday season than expected, but that was true of the entire Broadway community, not just our show. This holiday season the recession was more obvious on Broadway than last year. But we still are holding strong, with an expected drop during the bleak next 2 winter months before the Spring Break-ers arrive in March.

Kelli O’Hara finished out her brief return from October 11th until January 3rd. Now we have the delightful Laura Osnes back. Otherwise the cast has stayed intact since some of them left for tour back in September.

10.28.09 When Baseball and Broadway Collide

With the World Series beginning tonight, everyone is hyper aware of baseball, and none more than in NYC when the Yankees are in the World Series. Backstage, a few brave souls are wearing their Phillies hats. Today’s matinee we had a good laugh when Lt. Cable refers to his girl back home as a “Philadelphia girl”. There was a whoop from a contingent in the audience - clearly some Phillies fans in the crowd. But it was Bloody Mary’s next line that got the big laugh: “Phila-dellia-Girl...wassat mean? No sexy?” A little unintentional baseball rivalry talk right in the middle of South Pacific. Who knew?!

9.29.09 Tour Launch and Nellie Switch

Autumn is definitely here. The South Pacific National Tour opened in San Francisco last week to rave reviews. The Broadway company got to watch an invited run-thru of the show a few weeks back. They did a great job. I think they were very nervous having the Broadway cast there watching (I certainly would be if I was in their position.) But we all feel strangely like proud parents (or big siblings?) of the tour cast getting their great reviews. To find out more about the tour, go to my links web page.

Last Sunday several of us worked the Broadway Flea Market benefiting Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDs. It is a great annual event for the Broadway community to sell paraphernalia from different shows and raise money for a good cause. I saw lots of friends in other shows, as well as friends just there shopping, and celebrities.

Our first big audience attendance drop-off since we opened happened the week after Labor Day. It was strange seeing smaller audiences. But that week is typically a bad week for Broadway because school has restarted, and a lull happens before the holiday crowds start coming in. Management assured us there was nothing to worry about, and that the drop was expected. Happily we’ve inched back up into the 80% range for weekly attendance. Darn good for a revival that has been running for a year and a half.

At the end of this week, we sadly bid farewell to our beloved Laura Osnes as Nellie Forbush.

She is off to do Bonnie in the new musical Bonnie & Clyde. Laura is such a positive energy in our cast - she will be missed. Happily she’s returning in January. But we are also thrilled to welcome back Kelli O’Hara to our show October 13th through the end of the year. I know many fans of Kelli are eagerly awaiting her return. She is an incredible “Nellie”. Both bring such wonderful and different things to the role. And we as a cast are lucky either way.

7.29.09 Shore Leave

Last week I passed my 200th onstage performance - a respectable milestone. By now the show doesn’t have a ‘new’ feeling for me anymore, but I still cherish the experience. When an audience is particularly responsive, or if they cheer especially loud during curtain call, I’m reminded what a special experience this is. The national tour of our show is going

out in September. Rehearsals start in late August, and three of our guys are leaving our production for the road: Eric Christian, Mike Evariste, and Genson Blimline. When they leave, about half the male ensemble will have been replaced from the original cast. I believe the same goes for the ‘nurses’. Having new people always helps bring a new vibe and energy to the production.

The staging will, of course, have to be restructured for the tour. The Lincoln Center stage is vast, and almost 3 times deeper than a typical stage. Our director, Bartlett Sher will restage the entire production in order to fit inside a proscenium stage, rather than Lincoln Center’s thrust. The set will be reduced and scaled differently (a full war plane won’t be able to fit on the tour- perhaps a scaled down version). The sheer size of the Broadway production allows for such an emersion into the environment of the island. When I’m laying on the sand dune during the show, the audience feels miles away. Indeed, I believe the stage is deeper than it is wide. It’s easy to transport yourself to the island when you are standing in the middle of the stage surrounded by the ocean, the sky, the sound of the waves, the palm tree and sand dune.

6.25.09 My Anniversary

So it was one year ago tonight that I made my onstage Broadway debut. It has been quite a year and it flew by faster than I would’ve ever imagined. In that year, I’ve performed in 175 performances in 9 different roles (and a bit of a 10th).

The other night I had one of my biggest challenges to date – I was on for 3 roles. There were 4 guys out of the show – I split 3 of them and George, the other swing did one of the tracks and part of the others. What made it particularly challenging was that it was the 3 guys I have the least experience with (and one I had never been on for before). I hadn’t been that nervous since my first few weeks in the show. It required intense concentration, and a lot of thinking ahead. It was also a lot of fun, even if I felt like I’d ran a marathon.

6.9.09

May was a much quieter month for me. The South Pacific guys were generally healthy and not taking personal days, and I found myself experiencing a rare dry spell from being onstage. This can be a blessing and curse. When you are a swing, it can be a welcome break to not ‘be on’ every night exhausted. But for me, if there are more than 3 days when I’m not on, it feels like forever. It is easy to get bored show after show backstage. I will always be thankful for my job, though.

On May 10th, five of us boys sang a Musical Mother-Medley at a benefit concert called “When You’re Good To Mama” at The Center. It was v

ery silly and fun. Broadway leading lady Jen Collella joined us, and the audience laughed a lot. The next day was my birthday, (which was our day off), so on Tuesday the cast had cake for me. Nothing like getting “happy birthday” sung to you by a Broadway cast, huh? On Memorial Day, the South Pacific guys sang “Nothing Like A Dame” at the Intrepid Air and Space Museum - an aircraft carrier docked in the Hudson River at the end of 45th St. This was in honor of Fleet Week when thousands of naval troops and officers descend on New York City for a week’s leave.

Things picked up right after Memorial Day. I was on all week because of an injury. It was a great to be on the whole week before I took a short medical leave for a bit of surgery. I’m recouping nicely now, and look forward to returning to the show June 16th.

5.5.09

he end of April was a busy time in South Pacific land. On April 26th, the producers threw a beautiful One Year Anniversary party for the show at a rooftop lounge near Madison Square Park. It was a gorgeous warm night – one of those times in my life that I look out over the skyline of New York City and think how far this guy from small town Missouri has come. My ‘one year’ with the show will come in early June.

The next day, ten of us guys from the show took the subway out to Citifield and got to sing the National Anthem at the Mets vs. Marlins game. It was the most exciting thing I’ve done since the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. The stadium is amazing, and it was such a rush to walk out on the field. You can see a YouTube clip of us here:

South Pacific cast sings National Anthem.

Softball season has started up, and the Broadway Show League plays in Central Park every Thursday. Our team is the Bali Ha’i Bombers and we’re 3-0 undefeated so far! The Broadway Bowling League is winding down, though. It’s tough to balance both, so as much as I love it, I’m glad to take a break from bowling until the fall.

4.3.09

April 1: Members of the original 1949 Broadway and tour companies of South Pacific attended our matinee in honor of the 60th Anniversary of the show. Current cast members introduced their original counterparts during the curtain call, and an onstage press event was held afterward. It was an incredible history-making event. Something I will never forget. Most of the original cast members were in their 80’s and 90’s, wearing flowered leis. The original ‘children’ were perhaps in their early 70’s. I was totally emotional throughout the event. A battalion of photographers lined the “49-ers” up at the bottom of the sand dune, with the “09-ers” layered on the dune above them. To think most of these people had not seen each other for 60 years. And here they were on a Broadway stage once again. There was magic in the air.

3.8.09

It was a teary farewell for Kelli O'Hara, our leading lady, last night at South Pacific. She wrote us all a lovely farewell letter, and bought us all goodies. By the 2nd show (2 show day), Kelli's dressing room door was littered with letters and drawings. She had trouble keeping it together all evening. But she is leaving us for the happy occasion of having a baby. We had a goodbye cake for her at intermission. The final performance was emotional, with tears all around at the curtain call. Always the eloquent speaker, Danny Burstein (our "Billis") gave the curtain farewell speech. Afterwards, we all gathered at a restaurant across the street from Lincoln Center to socialize and say our goodbyes one last time. Paulo Szot is leaving us again as well, for 5 weeks to do another opera in France. David Pittsinger is returning to take over the role of Emile DeBeque while Paulo is gone.

Today, Garrett Long is taking over Nellie for one performance before Laura Osnes steps into the role on Tuesday. Garrett is one of the Nellie understudies, but the cast joked that since Kelli is technically gone, and Laura doesn't start until Tuesday, that Garrett is the "STAR" of South Pacific for one day! On Tuesday, Laura takes over. And in the few days that she's been around us in rehearsals and backstage, she has immediately endeared herself to us. She is a real gem. Laura won the television show: "Grease, You're the One that I Want" - which ultimately led her to star in the most recent Broadway revival of Grease. Stepping into the role of Nellie after playing Sandy in Grease could not be more of a leap. They are completely different. But Laura has got a captivating personality, sings like a bird, and is going to be terrific in the role of Nellie. Even in rehearsal she was already making it her own, and doing some different things than Kelli. We will miss Kelli terribly, but it will be fun to have Laura here, and we welcome her.

2.23.09

The end of my first week back. It was so great to see the cast and crew again. I missed everyone on "the beach". I was on all week, thankfully. It was great to jump right back into it. Kelli is still in the show for 2 more weeks. The've altered all of her costumes to hide the 'baby bump'. We've been told that Laura Osnes will be replacing her. Those who know Laura speak highly of her and her talent. But we will certainly miss Kelli.

Tonight, I performed in a Broadway benefit concert, "Defying Inequality", promoting marriage equality. It was a huge production with stars and chorus people from a bunch of Broadway shows. I don't know how much they earned but the house was full! The Gershwin Theatre, where Wicked plays, is a fun theater to perform in. It was great to hang out with other actors from the Broadway community. There were lots of famous people backstage (Sally Struthers, Linda Carter, Harvey Fierstein, Malcom Gets, Nathan Lane, Allison Janney, David Hyde Pierce..., many I never saw (there were so many people that they had us stuffed in every corner of every room backstage.) But it was cool to pass Cyndi Lauper in the hall! The evening was long, ending around midnight - but the audience seemed to have a great time. The evening was a success.

1.31.09

As they do for everyone, the holidays flew by. I was onstage practically every performance between mid November and Christmas for one reason or another. We had a show Christmas Day, and I was not on. I think whether someone was not feeling their best or not, no cast member wanted to be THAT guy/girl that called out on Christmas when everyone else was working. We also had a show New Years night, so we performed until 11:00pm. It was a lively show, and I don't think any of us minded being there. New Years is overrated anyway, so it was nice to be busy until an hour before midnight. On New Years Day evening, Kelli O'Hara, our leading lady, called us to the greenroom to announce that she's pregnant. Much joy was had all around. She hopes to stay until the first of March, but she will be sorely missed when she goes.

On January 4th, we bid farewell to 5 castmembers Matt Morrison, Noah Weisburg, Victor Hawkes, Lucia Spina, and Ana Andricain, and welcomed 3 new castmembers: Peter Lockyer, Rob Gallagher, Eric Anderson and 2 returning: Liz McCartney and Margot de la Barre. It was the biggest cast changeover since mid-June.

As January 22nd approached, the original cast was abuzz with the realization that they were approaching the year anniversary since their first day of rehearsal. I didn't join the cast until June 10th. January 22nd held a different significance for me. Once in awhile (hopefully a very long while) life throws a curveball, and I had to take a medical leave from the show starting on January 22nd. I will be out of the show for almost 4 weeks. The entire cast has been very supportive, but it was very difficult to leave. I am so thankful to have a solid job that I can come back to once I've recovered. And I look forward to being back in the show on Feburary 17th. I have never, in my entire career missed a performance. So this is a first. And I miss it and the cast terribly.

12.13.08

This past Monday/Tuesday, I performed in the 20th Annual Gypsy of the Year performance. It is a benefit for Broadway Cares/Equity Fights Aids – the umbrella organization that helps men, women and children living with HIV and AIDS as well as the Phyllis Newman Women’s Health Initiative fighting breast and ovarian cancer, as well as several other charitable causes. A “gypsy” is a slang term for a Broadway chorus person, and this performance is a chance for all the gypsies of the Broadway community to perform their talents outside the show. Often this takes the form of comedic skits poking fun at themselves, another show, or at the community – much like a roast. Some of the performances are incredible dance routines, or songs. South Pacific’s entry was a comedy sketch centered around the Terminator movies, gently poking fun at three talented actors that seem to always play the leads in the Sondheim revivals. Most people outside the Industry really wouldn’t get it, but usually the audience is mostly filled with show biz folk. A few days prior, we had to present our sketch to the Broadway Cares people. The biggest critique we got was “it’s too long, cut it down to 3 1/2 minutes”.

On Monday, our first day of two performances, we had a quick tech rehearsal during the day, and then performance at 4:30pm. It’s amazing that such a major production is thrown up so quickly. The lower lounge at the New Amsterdam Theater was crammed full of performers, stepping over one another stretching, putting make-up on, snapping pictures – like the backstage of a school talent show. Most of us watched the show, and left a few numbers before ours to get into microphones and get backstage. I was nervous. Performing a comedy sketch in front of your entire industry is nerve wracking. We thought the sketch was funny, but it could have bombed. With sweaty palms and racing heart, we stepped out onto the dark stage after our introduction. But the sketch went well. We got laughs, and later compliments. The next day’s performance was even smoother, with bigger laughs. It turned out to be a really fun thing to do. South Pacific came in 3rd for fundraising for Broadway Cares, and the total of all the shows brought in over $3 million dollars. Here's an article on BroadwayWorld.com, with a picture of our sketch among others after the article: Gypsy of the Year and backstage pics

12.5.08

On Sunday, we bade farewell to Paulo Szot, our Tony-winning Emile Debeque. He’s off to perform some other gigs in Europe for two months. He’ll be back in February, and we shall miss him. But David Pittsinger has replaced him. David is a lovely man and is doing a wonderful job. We also lost Emily Morales, one of our Asian girls (who understudies Liat). She moved back to her home city. We’ve had a fair amount of turnover from our ‘nurses’ in the cast too. And after January 6th, we lose three Seabees. It will be strange to have new faces in the male ensemble. We’ve been a tight group of guys for 6 months (some for 10 months) and the dynamic will be changing. But new faces bring new energy, and it will be fun getting to know the new guys.

11.28.08

Performing in the

Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade was an unforgettable experience. Having a show the night before, I had about 4 hours of “unconciousness” before I had to be at the theater at 5:30am. The cast got into our seabee costumes and were bussed down to Macy’s by 6:00am. It was still dark outside, but the crowds were beginning to fill the stands. We were ushered to our talent trailers which were nice and warm and thankfully stocked with coffee and muffins. We watched television in the little lounges until our camera rehearsal at 7:15am. By then the crowds had grown quite a bit, and our dressers held our coats while we jumped around to keep ourselves warm. We ran the number twice through with some adjustments from our director, Bartlett Sher, as to which camera to focus on when, etc. Then back to our trailers to watch the parade on tv until our 9:30am performance.

It was exciting to hear the sounds of the other casts: In The Heights, White Christmas echoing though the canyon streets as they performed. Little Mermaid, who was after us, chatted us up in our little alley of trailers. When we were called to set, the energy was palpable. The crowds had swollen to thousands of people and the day seemed bright suddenly. Once again, the dressers held our coats as we ran to places, waving to the crowd in the stands. Looking up Broadway was incredible. We couldn’t see the parade yet, it was still way up near Columbus Circle. But the crowds were massive. (For those who don’t know, the Broadway shows perform in front of Macy’s while the parade makes its way down Broadway. We never actually march in the parade.) As the commercial break ended, we heard Matt Lauer and Meredith Viera introduce us, and our music play. It was cold- only about 37 degrees outside. But thankfully there was no breeze, and no rain/snow. And when that music started, you couldn’t feel the cold anyway. It was pure adrenaline. A big cool, blurry rush, that was over in what seemed like seconds. Afterwards, we were rushed off set, grabbed our coats and bussed back to the theater to get out of costume. I live near the theater, and within a half hour after performing for 50 million people nationwide, I was back home and catching a two hour nap before my own Thanksgiving festivities. And incredible day.

11.20.08

Five months into my run with South Pacific. Two weeks ago we had some more VIP's come. Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson came and sent us a very nice note the next day. And over Veteran's Day weekend, Edith Shain attended. She was the nurse from the famous sailor-kissing-nurse photo in Times Square on V-J Day. Now in her 90's, she's as spunky as a woman 20 years younger. And she's tiny, about the height of an average 10-year-old. She loved the show, and had some pictures taken with some of our sailors for the newspapers.

I've been on all week for one of my guys, (passing my 70th onstage show). Last night, one of our guys threw a sailor hat and it landed into the orchestra pit. Ted Sperling, our conductor, pitched it back onstage, but because there is audience on 3 sides of our stage, the hat overshot and landed in the audience Stage Left. Luckily, a kind audience member sent the hat flying back onstage. But for a moment, it was "follow the bouncing hat" audience participation.

Myself and the other two male swings are being included in the cast performance of "Nothing Like a Dame" during the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. We had blocking rehearsal the other day, and performed for the television producers. I believe we will be on NBC. You can look for me on the left side of the group. We have another rehearsal Monday before Thanksgiving on the street with cameras. It's going to be cold, but a lot of fun.

10.19.08

This past week we had two VIP’s see South Pacific. Former Democratic presidential runner John Kerry; and Hollywood legend, and original “Nellie Forbush” from the movie: Mitzi Gaynor. It was really cool meeting them both. Mr. Kerry was very nice and approachable, and Ms. Gaynor was a big personality that filled the room. You can see pictures of Ms. Gaynor with some of our cast on Broadwayworld.com: Mitzi Gaynor Visits South Pacific

Last Sunday the 12th, I had a new challenge. The other swing was out on a personal day, and two of my guys were out of the show. So I performed two roles combined. It was a really fun challenge, and was easier than I expected. Some of the cast jokingly said it was the “Greg Roderick Show” because it seemed like I was all over the stage…and sometimes I was. Luckily it was two of my main guys, so I knew the parts very well and fairly easily combined them in my mind. Certain parts were cut, of course, when one of the two had a more necessary moment onstage. But having passed my 4th month with the show, I still feel like the time has flown, and I know the show so well now that it’s not very stressful going on at a moment's notice.

10.4.08

Last night was wacky. I was called an hour before the show to confirm I was going on for the guy I’d been on for all week. But when I arrived at the theater, the “who’s on/who’s out” sheet was extra long. And I was listed as playing someone else! I had been switched at the last second. The list read something like this: Laura Marie Duncan is on for Kelli O’Hara, Wendi Bergamini is on for Laura Marie Duncan, Andrew Samonsky is on for Matt Morrison, Branch Fields is on for Andrew Samonsky, George Merrick is on for Sean Cullen, George Psomas is on for George Merrick, Greg Roderick is on for Nick Mayo, Emily Morales is on for Li Jun Li, Emily’s track is cut, Charlie Brady will be playing ‘Buzz Adams and Shore Patrolman’. There were so many faces in different places on stage last night, no one knew who anyone was! The other swing had been switched into the track I had been on for because it was much less physically demanding and he was nursing a hurt knee. Before the show, I had to run up onstage and mentally switch gears into the new track, tracing my blocking onstage while ushers stuffed flyers into programs. I had done the track the previous weekend, so it wasn’t that hard. But having played a different track all week, I needed to refresh. Only once during the show did I find myself in the wrong place. Luckily it didn’t matter – but I had that blank moment of “where the heck am I supposed to be?”

9.27.08

As our show passes from summer into fall, we are seeing more cast members moving on. I've now been on for 7 1/2 of my tracks - and 46 performances (adding up to nearly 6 weeks) onstage. Of the original cast, three left when I arrived, we lost another about a month ago, one is on a month's leave to film a TV pilot in Los Angeles, and two of our 'nurses' are leaving soon. One to join White Christmas on Broadway, and one who's moving back to Los Angeles.

9.5.08

So, I guess our show is the hot show to see in Hollywood because any celebrity that breezes through NYC from LA seems to catch our show. It's pretty cool. I have been trying to keep track of who's been coming since I've been there. Some I've met, some I haven't. When I was still in rehearsal, Hillary and Chelsea Clinton came. They were incredibly gracious and came backstage to shake every cast and crew members' hand. I've also personally met George Wendt (Norm from Cheers), Ted Danson & Mary Steenbergen, Pierce Brosnon, Allison Janney, and Daniel Radcliffe. Each one were very gracious and appreciative. Tyra Banks was the only one who came backstage and was unfriendly and cold. Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes came to our show a couple weeks ago. The paparazzi was waiting outside our stage door at least 2 hours before the show and they were there afterwards too. TomKat was swarmed afterwards. I thanked Tom as I passed by him for coming to our show, and he murmured "it was a great show" as people crammed around him. The next day, Tom and Katie sent 200 cupcakes from the Magnolia Bakery with a thank you card of appreciation. It was a lovely gesture. Sting and his wife saw our show and sent a case of wine to our cast. I also heard Jack Nicholson, Danny DeVito and Rhea Perlman came, but I did not see them. The stars are out at South Pacific!

8.14.08

Well, I am now in my 10th week since my first day of rehearsal. Unbelievable. It has gone so fast. And I just surpassed my 30th performance, as well. In 8 weeks of performances, that is roughly 50% of the time. I really feel well-established in the show now. And most of my fellow “Seabees” I have bonded with. Being the ‘new kid at school’ has been one of my biggest challenges. I have always been a part of any show since the first day of rehearsal. So not only was it overwhelming making my Broadway debut, but I had to work on the social aspect of coming into a tight-knit company. Some warmed up faster than others. And there are still some I barely know. But I guess that’s any job. Whenever you work out of town, you spend all your time with the cast. They are your social network as well as your work environment. Here in New York, most head off to their homes and their lives and their own friends (as do I). So it takes much longer to make connections.

I have now been on for 4 of my main tracks, and one of my secondary. A few weeks back, a former professor of mine visited New York and had tickets to our show. The other swing was on all week for one of his guys. As a favor, they let me go on instead for the performance my professor saw. It really meant a lot to have him see me in the show. As a trade-off, I gave the other swing one of my performances that I had slated down the road.

Later that same week, I was watching the show from the house, and after “Dames”, I noticed one of the Seabees limp offstage. I thought I'd better investigate. And before I could even get backstage, the dance captain was rushing up to find me. The injured actor was out, and I was on for the rest of the show. It was totally surreal to be watching the show one minute, and then have a costume thrown on and find myself walking onstage about 10 minutes later!

So, now I’ve had the experience of going on for 5 different guys, going on at a moments notice, and doing different tracks within the same week. It’s never dull, that’s for sure!

07.05.08

I’m coming to the end of my second full week of being on Broadway in South Pacific. It’s pretty much a dream come true. I couldn’t have asked for a more amazing show to be a part of. After 2 weeks of rehearsals, I was officially part of the show as the new male swing on June 24th. As luck would have it, on the 25th I made my official onstage Broadway debut!! One of our guys was nursing a hurt knee, and I ended up going on for him 6 times last week! That first Wednesday, I did both shows. The only thing I can possibly think of that it might compare to is someone’s wedding day. It was a big, blurry, adrenaline-filled, fun, exciting, slightly-scary, and wholly magical moment in my life. Except for a couple minor boo-boos like putting a prop back on the wrong prop table, the show went smoothly. Doing it 6 times that week allowed me to really settle in and enjoy the show.

As if that all wasn’t exciting and crazy enough, on Thursday the 26th, Lincoln Center filmed their Video Archive of the show. So, I am officially immortalized in the taping of the show!

This week, everyone has been on all week until yesterday, July 4th. Now that the Tony Awards are over, Stage Management is starting to swing cast members out of the show so they can see the show and to give them a rest. It’s a treat for the actors to see the show that they are in, and it gives us swings a chance to perform. So I went on for a new track last night (different from the one I was on for last week.) This was my first experience ever switching tracks, and it was a bit scary. The biggest mistake I made was pretty major – I forgot to put my mic on! So for the entire first scene, I was projecting. I think I could still be heard, it was just obvious I wasn’t mic’d. Of course I mentally beat-myself-up afterwards for it, but my mind had been on all the stuff I had to remember. Ultimately, you have to forgive yourself for things like that and move on. It wasn’t the end of the world, and the rest of the show went pretty well for me. I guess I’m a perfectionist, so that was a bit of a bummer for me. But the show ended on a high note – It turns out I had FOUR friends in the audience that night, purely by chance. So it was great that they got to see me go on (even mic-less.)

06.17.08

The past two weeks have been a blur. The week between finding out I had the job as the new male swing on Broadway in South Pacific and my first day of rehearsal was full of excitement – phone calls, emails, texts, writing a bio, filling out tax forms, etc. Even a call from the stage manager giving me the time for the first day of rehearsal gave me a thrill. The first week of rehearsal passed quickly, and yet was so full that by the end it felt a lot longer than a week. I was overwhelmed with emotion the first time I stepped on the stage. My first Broadway stage. Pretty cool. -- Rehearsals have been going really well. The cast is very nice (some I’ve barely seen offstage). As male swing, I’ve got 5 primary tracks and 5 secondary tracks to cover (meaning if the other male swing is already on for one of his guys and another one goes out, I cover his primary tracks as a back-up).

And what a way to end my first week, by South Pacific winning SEVEN Tony Awards! Best Musical Revival, Director, Actor: Paulo Szot, Lighting, Set, Costumes, and Sound. I attended the South Pacific Tony Party at O’Neill’s Restaurant across from Lincoln Center. It was a great way to bond with my new cast. And it was a thrilling night! My timing for entering the show couldn’t be better!

06.04.08

Today I booked my first Broadway show! To say I’m excited would be an understatement. I was riding my bike when I got the call, which will now and forever be known as the “Best Bike-ride Ever”. I’ve been working towards this watershed in my career for 14 years – or perhaps even longer. Isn’t it every kid’s dream that wants to be an actor to someday be on Broadway? I will be going into the hit Broadway revival of South Pacific at the Vivian Beaumont Theater. I’ve been in New York 14 years, 3 months, and 7 days. It’s been a long road to get here, and certainly not always an easy one. But in many ways, the wait has made this feel all that much sweeter. I’m going to enjoy every minute of it.

05.24.08

Memorial Day Weekend. We closed The Full Monty last Sunday. The run up at Northern Stage was terrific. The cast was great all around (no bad apples). And we had lots of laughs together. I’m beginning to think a fun cast is indicative of this particular show. I think you have to have a free spirit in order to do it. We arrived in the snow, and watched the beautiful lengthy Vermont spring unfold before us. It’s a very savvy community up there. A lot of people go to the theater. The ‘Monty’s were recognized wherever we went – usually met with a slight smirk and a giggle. I will play this role again. It’s a great role, and I will be age-appropriate for it for another 20 years.

03.15.08

Got an offer to play Harold in The Full Monty @ Northern Stage. I had an opportunity to do the role for 7 performances last summer,and I fell in love with the part and the musical. Last summer, when I took the role, there is that terrifying moment when I accepted the job thinking: Am I really going to be nude onstage? But anyone who knows the show, knows that the nudity is so fast, the audience is so wound up, and there is so much to look at (no pun intended), that it is barely seen. Through the rehearsal process, you build up to it, so by the time you actually get to the unveiling, you are really ready for it.

On opening night, yes, it's a bit terrifying. But the great thing is that your character is supposed to be terrified. So you use it. What it turns out to be is a blast. It's like jumping off a cliff - exhilarating, scary, and so much fun that you want to do it again. Ultimately, the moment that is far scarier than the quick 'reveal' at the end is the entire chorus of the song we sing leading up to the reveal dancing around in nothing but a pair of boots and a red g-string. Will the red g-string pop off? You have to be vigilant. But the audience is screaming, and laughing, and the live energy is so great, that it's worth it. I know other shows that have nudity in it, (having been in the audience), they just watch in uncomfortable silence as the clothes come off. But the brilliance of this show is that it's built to be fun and funny. And the audience loves it. And I still have my red g-string from the last time as a souvenir.

01.28.08

Official launch of www.gregroderick.net - I built it myself, so it's a bit rudimentary at first. But I can always add fancy Java-script later. Right now, I'm just proud of myself.