Pretty Women from Sweeney Todd

Pretty Women from Sweeney Todd sung by me in The gift of Song benefit at Repertory East Playhouse in April 2013. Part of a tribute to Sondheim evening.

Another Opening Another Show

Well, I've been a little quiet the last couple of weeks. Why? I close done show on June 25 (How to Succeed at GCT) and went into tech 6 days later for another (25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee at SMP).

And now, Spelling Bee at Sierra Madre Playhouse has opened.  And what an opening it was! So relieved to finally have an audience and full house at that! Great audience. So responsive. For those unfamiliar with the show, it is a Tony Award winning Broadway musical from the mid-2000s. It is about a spelling bee. Its very funny and also very touching. It brings us the stories of the kids who participate in the bee. All of them quirky in their own ways. Kids who in school are probably labeled as nerds or geeks, but in this world they are embraced.

What makes this musical special is that it involves 4 audience members. Yes, patrons are pole din the lobby before the show an four are selected to come up on stage as spellers. They sit on the stage with the other spellers and are called up to the microphone to spell words. It is not scripted. In fact, the reader, played by me, chooses what words to read the individual volunteers and in what order to call them and eliminate them. I have inventory of cards with words on them and some are very hard and some are very easy. So I can choose what ones I think will work. But you never know what will happen.

Last night was a perfect example, I had designated someone to be eliminated on a word. I chose a word that I have never heard anyone spell correctly...until last night. The woman I read it to got it right and therefore stayed in the game. I now had an extra person on stage and no rehearsed spot to eliminate her. But there is a suggested spot in the script for elimination if needed. We never rehearsed there, but I decided as I was sitting there that it needed to be done there. So we did it. And I made sure I gave her the hardest word in the bunch.

It was an exciting night! We had some press there and each of us was interviewed by a radio interviewer. We had two critics there. I had a few friends in the audience. It was a terrific experience. I've done enough shows that openings seem to be pretty routine. This one was different. A very special evening.  And I dod believe because this is such an unusual show needing that audience because the audience is a character in the show and without an audience you don't have a complete show. And there;'s that unknown element of what those volunteers are going to do. It keeps you on your toes. Every night is different.

Them there is the cast. I've done the show once before, as have three others in the cast. We know it pretty well. This is a solid cast. Very talented, actors and singers. Yes, you have to hear the singing. Amazing! Of course I can say this with our bragging because my character does not sing. (I join in on a couple of songs but that's it) So, yes this cast can sing! And act! I'd say and dance but its not a dance show.

Sierra Madre Playhouse is on Sierra Madre Blvd. in Sierra Madre, CA.  Its an old movie theatre and an awesome place to work. Really great hard working staff. They hire the best designers in the business here in Los Angeles. Come see us. You're in for an exceptional evening.

Sierra Madre Playhouse FB Page

Performance Anxiety

I need to vent. Yesterday, I had an audition for a show at a big prominent musical theater company here in the Los Angeles area. I've auditioned for them a few times over the last couple of years and have a few friends that have worked there. In fact, my last audition there last spring went quite well.

So I chose to audition for this show because there is a part in it that is perfect for me. I came very close to getting cast in this same role at another CLO in the area a few years back but ultimately did not get the part, but the artistic director was very happy with my audition and assured me it was a tough decision and she hoped I would continue to audition for them in the future.

So, I went into this audition yesterday armed with the same audition song. This is a song that I learned over 20 years ago and know like the back of my own hand.  I've sung it at cabaret nights, open mic nights and in my own cabaret act.  I went to this audition confident that I am right for this role and I had a song that was perfect for the character I want to be considered for and I know it well. I get to the audition location and am placed on deck in the hallway outside the audition room with two others. And that's when it hit me! Nerves. Big time nerves.

I stood there and realized how nervous I was. I kept telling myself that I had this. I know this song. It's mine. I had to keep talking to myself. I am a talented actor and singer. I know what I am doing. People like me. There is no reason to be this nervous. I'm Richard Van Slyke. I just need to go in there and show them.  I have this. Why am I so nervous?

I mean, I have been doing this for over 30 years. Why am I still riddled with nerves? Seriously. I've worked with vocal/acting coaches in New York and here in Los Angeles. I've taken voice lessons. I've worked professionally. I've been in dozens and dozens of shows. I've been in therapy. I've been given tricks to help me get through my nerves. But they don't go away. What is going on? Why am I still so lacking in self-confidence?

Here I am in line with much younger actors and singers probably not with half the experience that I have. They don't have their Equity cards. I do. And yet, I'm intimidated. I'm scared that I'm not as good as them. I don't belong here. Then I tell myself, these kids are here for chorus parts. You are here for one of the principal roles.  Seriously, what is wrong with me? When will I get over this?

A former acting teacher gave me a mantra to recite to myself, "I am me and that is enough."  I forget that.

Oh, and the audition...it went fine. I got through it. I sounded good. The acting was right on. I have fun with this song. I need to remember that. It's out of my hands now.

Damn Yankees and other classic musicals

This week I went to see Cabrillo Music Theatre's excellent production of Damn Yankees.  The next day I could not get the songs out of my head. Now, I should explain that I have been in two productions of DamnYankees so I know the songs pretty well.  So the songs were already in there (my head that is). This just brought them out.

It got me to thinking how much I love this show and many of the classic shows from Broadway's "golden age" (1943 to 1964).  Now to the part where I sound like a crotchety old man. Many younger people think these shows are old fashioned or dated. Maybe its a sign of my age but there's a reason these shows are classics. I have always considered this show among my favorites. Would Iplace in the same league as say Sweeney Todd? No way! I have categories of faves or classics. For instance this would fall under the category of fun or joyous shows a la Pajama Game, Guys & Dolls, Bye Bye Birdie. I like the big brassy funny shows, The Producers, Hairspray. Then there are the esoteric classics, pretty much anything Sondheim. Or groundbreakers like A Chorus Line (the IT show when I was in my teens) Rent, and now Hamilton.  What am I not a fan of? Pretty much anything Lloyd Webber, British mega musicals of the 1980s.  Younger folks tend to go for Spring Awakening, American Idiot, and the jukebox shows to which I go "Eh? I don't get it."

Am I old? Showing my age?  No. I love newer shows like Next to Normal, Avenue Q, Book of Mormon.  As an actor and because I am now older or an "adult", I've had a chance to re-visit some of the classic shows and let me tell you there is a reason those are classics. Last year I was in an excellent production of The Music Man. Now, some people might say it's hokey or old fashioned. But I can honestly say after working on it that I firmly believe this is one of the best musicals of all time.  That opening scene on the train? One of the best opening numbers ever written. The songs are classic and the story is great. Its a perfect show.

Back in the day, Broadway shows produced many hit songs. These songs, in turn,  became a part of our pop culture. When I was growing up, (after the classic era had pretty much come to end but still a part of our very recent past), we sang these songs in grade school music class and in chorus. All of them. From Wells Fargo Wagon to Hey Look Me Over to Oklahoma to I Won't Grow Up.  And when's the last time a song from a Broadway musical ended up on the pop charts? (Rent in 1996 maybe) And apparently Hamilton may land on the pop charts too. I'm hoping so.

My thoughts are this, the 1950s musicals were FUN! Great songs, amazing choreography by the masters, George Balanchine, Jerome Robbins, Bob Fosse, Michael Kidd, Onna White.  Maybe not the greatest books (I've always taken issue with the whole out clause, etc and Two Lost Souls limbo scene in Damn Yankees). But who cares with those songs and dances?

I suppose with the big effects musicals of the 1980s and the more recent musicals attempts to integrate more modern forms of music and dance, (which don't get me wrong, should be happening), younger generations consider the older stuff, well, old. Also the fact that these shows have been done by every high school and community theater in this country for 50 years have contributed to the belief by some that they are outdated.

But when you dissect them or see them done with a decent budget or in a first class professional production, you can see them for the true classics they are.

So forgive me if I go on about the "classics". I will take them any day. I want to leave the theater singing! I want to leave there wishing I could dance like that. I'd rather that than a helicopter or a barricade or a floating tire any day.

My point is this...you kids out there. Don't discount the classics. They're great shows.  They may be old fashioned to you but they stand up. I am all for newer styles of shows. We need them to draw in younger and more diverse audiences. It's very important. Its critical that they reflect the diversity of our country. They need to reflect the times, but there is still room for the old style Broadway belt, the 11:00 number.  And you'll forgive me for belting out the score of Gypsy over American Idiot. There's room for both on my plate.