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ONSTAGE & BACKSTAGE: Memphis When It Sizzles
By Seth Rudetsky
19 Oct 2009
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Montego Glover in Memphis
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| photo by Joan Marcus | A week in the life of actor, musician and Chatterbox host Seth Rudetsky.
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Let me start my column by saying "Brava" to the cast of Memphis. I saw the Saturday matinee and, first of all, was so impressed by the ensemble's amazing dancing and singing. And I was so happy for the two leads, Chad Kimball and Montego Glover. I first saw Chad in Godspell in 2000 (with a cast of future stars including Leslie Kritzer, Capathia Jenkins, Eliseo Roman, Barrett Foa and Shoshana Bean) and I asked him to sing back-up for the opening number I wrote for the Easter Bonnet competition…and now he's starring on Broadway! And now I'm writing about it. The contrast is a downer. And I first saw Montego in 2001 when she was playing Mabel in a production of The Pirates of Penzance on a boat in the South Street Seaport. I asked her to sing in the ensemble of my Actors Fund concert of Dreamgirls. (P.S. that ensemble was also Godspell-style and had future stars like Adriane Lenox, Orfeh and Sara Ramirez).
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Montego "lending" Seth one of her gowns
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| photo by James Wesley |
I got so choked up seeing Montego standing center stage and singing up a storm. And I do mean singing up a storm. She's sings so many songs and they're all crazily high. I was nervous to see it during critics' week because I knew the cast had been rehearsing during the day and performing at night and they were probably vocally tired. I went in with earplugs handy, but turns out they all sounded amazing. I went backstage and asked Montego how she was able to sing so many difficult songs and not sound like Lauren Bacall by the end of the show. She told me that she was lucky because she'd been with Memphis from the beginning (six years ago!) so the songs were written to fit her voice.
[AUDIO-LEFT]
She said she was able to choose keys and riffs that she knew she could do eight times a week so it's not a problem. Hmm…I hear what she's saying; that she luckily doesn't have to sing something that doesn't fit her voice and instead the songs fit her voice…but the point she's overlooking is that the "voice" the songs are fitting is AMAZING. It's the same thing with In the Heights…the songs were written on Chris Jackson's and Mandy Gonzales' voice so they both told me it's easy for them to sing it. Yet again I say yes, it is easy…if you have a fantastic voice. Where's the confident conceitedness? I want someone to say to me, "It's easy for me to sing it because I'm a phenomenal singer. Next question." See the related photo I took with Montego backstage when she "let" me sample some of her amazing outfits.
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Andrea Burns
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| photo by Peter Flynn |
This week began with a trip to the Bronx Zoo with James, Juli, Peter Flynn (who is the artistic director at the Hangar Theatre in Ithaca), Andrea Burns (from In the Heights) and their adorable five-year-old son, Hudson. We all laughed so hard because we were walking by a sign at the zoo that had the word "heights" in it and Andrea said, "Can you imagine if I was one of those needy people that was like Oh my God! Everyone, look! and pointed to anything that referenced what show I was doing." Peter took a photo of her grinning from ear-to-ear and pointing to "heights" and decided we should start a photo series with all of our friends on Broadway. Like a picture of Gavin Creel needily pointing at the word "Hair" in a sign for Hair Cuts, or John Tartaglia pointing to the word "Avenue" on "5th Avenue." Peter named the series "Hey guys!" because that's what Andrea's face is saying in the photo here.
Andrea and I make so many inside jokes together that only the most theatre obsessed people will get. I was walking and felt something go in my shoe. I stopped to get it out and she said, "What is it? Is it a pebble? Is it Dare?" Brava! I immediately knew she was referencing the song "By My Side" from Godspell that has the (bizarre) lyrics: "I'll put a pebble in my shoe…I shall call the pebble Dare." She is hi-larious. Continued...
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