Comments haven't been pouring in, but here is one from Elizabeth Janiak, who plays "Miss Mazeppa," the stripper whose gimmick is to "bump it with a trumpet in (her) revolution in dance:"

I forwarded the URL for the Gypsy Journal to Gail Carter (Tessie Tura). I had not read the entries after 4/9 before I sent the email yesterday, so you already knew about the loss of Chowsie. Oh well! Tomorrow, the 3 burlesque queens (Jenny Grinning is Electra), are getting together before rehearsal to see if we can come up with some choreography. We just did our usual song and a few bumps last night for the choreographer, Miss Carolyn (Foy-Hoffer), and she thought we did fine on our own. Gail will be gone for rehearsals 4/19 - 4/26 so we're trying to hurry up with something before she goes on her cruise. The 4/18 rehearsal will start after the "Toreadorables" song and we will do our number again with whatever added choreography we can dream up.

You're doing a great job. I'm enjoying your Journal very much.

Elizabeth (Mazeppa)

[Editor's Note: So that's where Tessie has been! Wonder if she's offered any previews of the "Gimmick" for her cruisemates? If she did, I'm sure she got great reviews.]

The chorus lines were not looking so great Wednesday night. The kid newsboys were OK, although little Alex was struggling somewhat. She still has to do some catching up. The problem is I don't think anyone has told her the theory of chorus lines. That is: everything is done symmetrically.

It is the precision of movements that gives it its character and professional air. Everyone has to step off on the same foot (left, usually); the trumpets and trombones have to weave up and down all in unison, like water ballet. Otherwise, it's just Dixieland.

The Newsboys were not too bad, although little Alex is still struggling. That's to be expected.

Surprisingly, the older chorus line seemed to be a little ragged in their execution this time. For some inexplicable reason, Tulsa and Yonkers can’t seem to get the spacing between themselves right. They remain too far apart in the train sequence in particular. Either one or both of them have some extraordinary “social balloon” problem or perhaps Carolyn Foy-Hoffer has given them a special directive to keep their distance. Tulsa does act as the symbolic engine in the trail, but….

Meanwhile the older chorus line has its own problem with marching in step. Maybe someone should tell them the joke drill sergeants tell recruits about “hay foot” and “straw foot.”

The strippers in “Gimmick” seem to be doing quite well getting their act together, except this was the second rehearsal in a row Tessie Tura the Texas Twirler has been missing. Jayne White has pluckily filled in for her and shown some ingenuity in faking a few impromptu dance moves. She gets rounds of applause each time.

In any event, when the evening’s rehearsal, director Bob Heckman had some stern words for all about showing up on time and getting their lines and steps down pat.

“Only three weeks until opening night,” he warned.

Less than a month to go and we've begun shopping and hunting for costumes. A hound's tooth jacket and a pair of black wingtips to be turned into spectator shoes with a little white polish. No hat found yet. Knickers. Knickers were easier to find than anticipated. If you care to spend $50 on them anyway.

The shoes came in at $1 for the pair. The hound's tooth sport jacket was $2.50 at the Salvation Army. A red vest would be in order. Plaid pants, a striped shirt and polkadot bow tie would finish it out. Except for the hat. We need exactly the right hat.

Weber is going to wind up looking more like a racetrack tout than a vaudeville theater manager.

It’s pretty easy to learn a few lines and figure out how to move on stage. Putting the soul in the delivery takes a little more. But in watching a musical production be put together the real wonder comes in observing the singers and dancers at work. The number of levels of talent hey have to put into to play, all at the same time is boggling.

But we’ve talked about that before.

The first two nights Carolyn Foy-Hoffer, the choreographer, worked with the kids in the two chorus lines, things seemed to be going well. And they did pretty much for the older of the two lines.

But the junior line has had a harder time of perfecting their moves. Some of the kids stand out. Catherine Beauchamp is doing an energetic, plucky job of it. Poor little Alex Mazerolle was stuck in late and is trying to catch up. Amy McPherson (sp?) is doing well. So are the others. But them doing the same thing well all at the same time together is another matter. Soon. Maybe.

Some of the kids in the old chorus line a exceptional. Some seem to have hit a plateau of energy and skill. “Yonkers” (I think it is) is doing quite well, except for this odd “nudge” he has decided to give when one of the other boy chorus liners blurts out information about the elopement of June and Tulsa. Rather than simply elbowing the other boy, as most normal people would do, he does this weird backward heel flip that strikes the boy in the back of his knee. Where that comes from and why director Bob Heckman hasn’t told him to cut it out remains a mystery.

For players doing the parts of “Pa” and “Weber,” everything has been pretty much said and done. Their lines are memorized. Their moves have been blocked in and set. Only the costumes remain to be decided. Same for the lady on the telephone in the third act. (If a complete script were available the character’s name could be supplied, but us bit actors don’t get the big binder scripts.

Maybe as we get closer to opening night, the entire cast will be overwhelmed with a rush of adrenaline, fear and despair that will translate into verve.