The final dress rehearsal went by with some details of concern not yet dealt with, all of them minor.

The redoubtable Jaynie White was nervous, but fine, although a few small costume and makeup problems still plagued her -- a loose zipper, some flapping shoulder pads, still too little jewelry for the role and her hair looking fly-away after so many fast hat-and-costume changes.

No one had brought in a travel iron to press Carmen Smith’s slinky “coming out” dress for Gypsy Rose Lee. All the Sacramento Valley luggage stores must be closed for renovations.

In other miscellaneous news, the number of houndstooth jackets were multiplying on stage faster than tribbles on the Star Trek Enterprise.

But that was all small potatoes because opening night loomed.

The finished “Gypsy: opened to a small but appreciative audience, some of whom weren’t even relatives of the cast.

Let it be said from the beginning of this column -- as it was repeatedly said at the end of the show opening night -- Jayne White was fantastic! Her strong voice and the surprisingly emotive performances in key scenes far exceeded the best hopes of all the cast. She truly scored the triumph she so richly deserved for all her hard work. Jayne White’s “Rose” easily beat all the Roses of other names that were heard before – at least by this writer.

And she wasn’t the only actor who rose to the occasion. Even after the house had closed and spectators were filing away, several talked of how well Timothy Van Zant had done. He delivered a memorable “Herbie,” giving him more soul than might have been expected from rehearsals.

Carmen Smith and Julie Bryson captured the audience with their much-mentioned duet regarding Mamma’s marital status. And Jonathon Bryson won the heart of many a grandmother in the audience with his featured dance routine.

It would be impossible to list all the good jobs by all the actors in this single space, but two deserve special mention.

First, there is the little boy, one of Jaynie White’s children. He had the foresight to drop his pants at a critical juncture in the opening scene with Uncle Jocko’s Kids. Shakespeare could not have written a better bit of stage business for Falstaff or Puck.

With his endearing look of non-plussed innocence as he kept his smile at maximum wide while he looked around for someone to tell him what to do about his trousers’ timely descent, he kept the house laughing – in stitches about his britches, so to speak.

And then there is the cute little girl in the flapper outfit who has dutifully stood there among Jocko’s Kids adding what she can to the scene as it’s written. Through all those rehearsals and finally opening night, she has done yeoman’s work, performing her role with no gripes and many smiles.

Whatever her name, she’s been a game trouper in the very best spirit of theater tradition.

Tonight is the last dress rehearsal before the show opens. Last night revealed a number of things that needed to be corrected, or we’re all in deep sheep dip.

Those glaring light bulbs on the cosmetics table have GOT TO GO! They’re blinding to any show-goers without cataracts. Jaynie White is still in desperate need of jewelry. If they’re going to insist on referring to “Gigolo” – which turns out to be a monkey – in the fifth scene then they owe it to the audience, if not the cast, to establish that he exists in some previous scene, as they do “Chowzie” the dog.

A G-string is not a jock-strap. It is a female fig leave, usually decorated with beads and/or spangles, that hangs like a decorous flap over The Area in Question – the original “Area 51,” as it were.

Women in the “Gyspsy” audience may not be hip to this little-known fact as Amanda/Agnes puts Tessie’s article of wardrobe around her neck at the Burly-Q joint, but a few of the men in the audience might.

Hold on a minute! Stop the presses! Spike the front page! This is Marysville, Maybe the men won’t either.

On the upbeat side, the orchestra was doing much, much better last night. Still, one would think conductor Dan Soares would move either the trumpet player or the speaker blocking her view of Miss Mazeppa so she can time her toots to match the centurion’s steps during the “Gotta Getta Gimmick” number.

The Fates and commonsense will prevail -- Will they not? -- and someone will repair the lights not working on the big “ROSE” signs in the finale. Please?

Here is a useful link for those interested in vaudeville history:

posted by Tom Nadeau @ 4:53 PM  

Everybody was tired and they're nerves were frayed last night. Nice people snap. Other nice people snap back. Actor’s who had all their lines down pat the night before are fluffing and blanking at critical times.

But all will be OK, it’s just last minute jitters. And what better time for last minute jitters to come than the next to the last minute so there is time to recover and polish.

It was the cast’s second night with the orchestra, which could also use a little more polish.

Not enough credit has been given to Director Bob Hackman, who has spent 40 years as a star and player on Broadway and on the silver and cathode screens.

Here’s the International Movie Data base take on Hackman

We should pause for a moment to cover some old ground over the spelling of his name. According to Mrs. Bettie Hechtman, who should know, his birth name was Hechtman, but on the stage he used the name Hackman (for simplicity reasons, clearly). Apparently somewhere along the way when “Gypsy: Journal was collecting spellings, it got into the air that the spelling was "Heckman," a misapprehension falsely supported by the way many phonetically pronounce it.

A review of his movies show he was worked with some big time names from Burt Reynolds and Harold Moonjean on the screen and the likes of Van Johnson, Paul Newman and Cyd Charisse on stage.

“Musicals are my favorite,” he confessed in a brief break from rehearsals.

He did “Incredible Hulk” and “Love Boat” and “Murder, She Wrote” on television, along with many other multi-year series.

“Hooper” was one example of his Big Screen vehicles. He said he and Burt Reynolds were buddies.

Looking back on it all, he reminisced recently: “I never had to audition. People always knew what part they wanted me to play.”

Now, lest we inflate his balloon TOO full, like every other author and actor and singer, he’s turned out or been in some turkeys. Life being what it is, it’s hard to escape such a fate from time to time.

A favorite example review:

On Sept. 11, 1998, a volunteer reviewer from Mexico City wrote to IDMB about "Slapstick" (Of another Kind) starring Jerryn Lewis and Marty Feldman. Hackman was listed as one of the actors. After giving it a general ranking of "Awful," the reviewer went on to explain why:

I had to see this movie because I had no choice. I was taking a trip in a bus and they put this movie on the bus's TV. I never get asleep on a bus especially when there's a movie playing but in this case I better tried to sleep because I couldn't stand watching this movie. The worst movie I've ever seen. I got headache and felt dizzy when it finished.

Since retiring to the Yuba County foothills, Hechtman/Hackman has been as busy as can be with Ponderosa Theater Company.

Hechtman/Hackman has produced and directed some 60 shows ranging from revues and one-act plays to full-blown musicals such as "Oliver," "Music Man." and "The Fantastiks" (twice). The stage company will soon be entering its 10th year. The big goal is to raise enough money to build a modern theater in or near Brownsville, he said.

To "Gypsy: Journal administrator:

I'm having fun reading your journal. I just wanted you to know that Jayne White used to be a rock and roll singer but then her sister and her became the White Sisters and went to Nashville and made a couple of CD's. I'm sure you knew that though!

Paula (Campanella), a.k.a., "Miss Cratchit"

Editor's Note: The LA and CD parts were common knowledge, but not the Nashville engle. Of course, no one tells "Gypsy" Journal anything. We're so far out of the loop we don't even know in advance which rehearsals don't require costumes. But the BIG question remains: Did Jaynie sing, "Get It While You Can?" And, if she did, will she still admit it today?

The orchestra AND the singers were in the same hall together for the first time last night. The merger pumped up the magic – but it also revealed how much was left to be done in the next 3, 2, 1 – OPENING NIGHT! – days.

Alas, there were still a few absentees, and there were still a few who didn’t have their costumes. The dancers in the adult chorus line still hadn’t managed to get the rubber tips of their canes all pointing in the same direction. None of the rocket scientists laying about the rehearsals have bothered to point out that if the prop people simply put a white rubber cap on BOTH ends of the canes the up v. down conundrum would be resolved for the dancers. (Noto bene: Ace Hardware is the Marysville-Yuba City Metropolitan Statistical Area headquarters for white rubber cane tips and it’s open every day, including Sunday.)

Someone needs to talk about the costumes. Several of them desperately need a good cleaning and pressing. Jayne White ought to wear more jewelry at the start of the show, which she can shed as it goes along to indicate she’s hocked it to keep the act together. Jewelry should reappear on Jaynie at the end of the show to reflect the good financial times that come with Louise’s rise to the top of the burlesque circuit.

Jaynie herself has done yeoman’s work putting her many costume changes together, but that red coat she wears in her finale has to go. Poor Jaynie, a handsome woman by anyone’s account, simply vanishes into the red curtains. But Jaynie’s the Star! She deserves to be spangly and bright and alive with flamboyant color.

Louise – Carmen Smith – who looks like a million even when she dresses like a boy. However, the black straplesss dress doesn’t do her justice. Besides, the zipper is splitting -- as can be seen if you look really, really, really close, which any red-blooded young man would naturally do.

Among the adult female players, Julie Bryson is tops when it comes to costumes, except someone should step forward and tell her slip is showing in the “If Mama Got Married” number.

She has also had the dedication to have her haird done up in Shirley Temple curls, a wonderful touch.

“Is that a perm?” Paula Campanella, Miss Cratchit, inquired back stage during a costume change.

“Oh, no,” Bryson said, emphatically.

The strippers and their show-stopper number, “Gotta Getta Gimmick,”drew the most applause. The costumes were well done and surprising, with Miss Electra’s flashy accouterments being a marvel of civil and electrical engineering.

But back to Jaynie White. She continues to amaze. Liza Minelli was on David Letterman last night. She sang, “Everything’s Coming Up Roses,” and didn’t sound anywhere near as good as Jaynie., which came as something of a shock. Hollywood has America hyped to think that what Tinseltown offers is the top of the crop, but seeing and hearing talent like Jaynie shakes the foundation of claims like that.

Seeing Jaynie White up there belting out the songs, throwing in a couple of off-hand dance steps, acting narratively in between the song lines, makes one reflect on the fundamental nature of talent, luck and timing.

There is a moment during the finale when Jaynie half sings, half says that she (Rose) was “born too early and started too late.” One has to wonder whether there might not be more than a little autobiography floating in there between the notes. You know, one of those bittersweet tales of a little girl born in West Noplace, C-A gifted with an uncontainable voice and a wide dream that all too soon becomes narrowed and stifled and relegated to a hope chest in the attic so she may meet the immediate short-term interests and needs of others, some of whom she loves..

If that were so, and if Jaynie White sang rock ‘n’ roll, then her anthem – maybe – should be Janis Joplin’s, “Get It While You Can.”

Here's the list of the production crew:

Bob Hechtman = Director
Producer = Dewayne Hight
Assistant Producer = Bettie Hechtman
Assistant Director = Neil Thorson
Musical Director = Evelyn Cosner
Conductor = Dan soares
Stage Manager = Ernie Ballard
Production Manager = Peggy McIntosh
Sets = Ernie Ballard, Bill Jagger, Iva Norris
Props = Peggy mcIntosh, Holly Harlan, Joan Davis, Nora Ballard
Costumes = Patty Fayette, Francis Wildman,
Lighting = Tim Johnson
Sound = Larry Badger, Kurt Burrows
Advertising = Linda Plummer
Program and photography = Dewayne Hight

Orchestra to follow.

[EDITOR’s NOTE: All along Bob Hechtman’s name has been incorrectly spelled “Heckman” in this space, with no one stepping forward to correct the misapprehension. Or maybe nobody’s reading this thing. Should only take a half-day or so to correct all those entries thank you very much.]

The last two rehearsals, Wednesday and Friday, were invigorating and dismaying, in that order. The first saw a sudden improvements in the way some scenes are coming together, especially the “If Mama Would Marry” duet with Julie Bryson and Carmen Smith. Their steady honing and nuancing of the number was truly evident Friday.

They had worked on their dance routine and spiffed up their steps, and added a touch with the way they shared the lines regarding Mama getting married AND married AND married. AND….

But on Friday all the improvements seemed to vanish, although the boys in the adult in the did seem to have their act snugged up tighter than before – well, those that showed up, anyway.

Absenteeism has plagued the show from the git-go. Casting back, it is difficult to think of one rehearsal when all the players were assembled at the same time. Some individuals have been absent as many as many as three rehearsals in a row. True, they may be practicing on their own at home, but there is a limit what can be done in ensemble acting when the whole ensemble isn’t present.

There is good news: the players and Moms of players have been doing a great job of getting their costumes suited out. Connor Oliver, who plays "Jocko” out-did himself with the clownish outfit with a big red ball nose and over-sized spectacles. And the several outfits that Kenni Fayette has collected for Baby June were really spiffy and spangly.

One of Jocko’s Kids, a shy little dark-haired girl came dressed up as a flapper in red satin and fringe. What a cutie pie.

The cow costume works almost as well in part as it does in whole, as in when Smith performs the “Momma…Married” in the huge back and white “Holstein: pants.

In any event, tonight Well Week starts and it’s rehearsal every night and four of them until opening night. Director Bob Heckman as told everyone to be there, without fail, and we’ll see how that works out.

Wednesday night producer Dewayne Hight brought out the cast and crew credits. The cast menu is firm, but there are still a few names to be sorted out in the crew and in the production level list of executives. Here’s the cast:

Jayne White = Mama Rose
Carmen Smith = Louise/Gypsy Rose Lee
Julie Bryson = June
Tim Van Zant = Herbie
Kenni Fayette = Baby June
Melissa Britt = Baby Louise
Connor Oliver = Jocko/Cigar
Jasper Connor = Pastey
Al Durbin = Papa
Paula Campanella = Miss Crathcit
Tom Nadeau = Mr. Weber
Steve White = Mr. Klingenhoffer (?)
Mike Gabhart = Mr. Goldstone
Jonathon Bryson = Tulsa
Mark Johnson = Yonkers
Zac Carothers = L.A.
Brenan Teetsell = Angie
Dahni Trujillo = Agnes/Amanda
April Clark = Marjory May
Santara White = Balloon Girl
Brooklyn Audas = Saxophone player

Chorus junior and adult):
Beka Wildman, Kyle Gifford, Amy Schumacher, Kathryn Beauchamp, Alexandria Mazerolle, Erique Garcia, Jessica Nystedt, Vincent and Nicholas White.

Striptease artistes:
Gail Carter = Tessie Tura
Elizabeth Janiak = Miss Mazeppa
Jenny Grining = Miss Electra

Caroline the Cow = Yvette Velez, Carmen Smith, Kenni Fayette

Production crew to follow.