With the final performance of "Gypsy" coming tomorrow, some hearts are already breaking.

Some cast members are looking forward to try-outs for their next venture in theater. The star, however, says she is still concentrating on the Now.

"I just want to do the very best for this one," Jayne White said backstage when asked about her future plans.

As for exploring possible shows in Sacramento, White, whose performance in this version of "Gypsy" outshines Bette Midler's movie version, was cautious.

"I like theater at this level. I can get home in five minutes. It's hectic enough doing "Gypsy" and raising three kids," she said.

Word has it that director Bob Hechtman is considering "Mame" for his next production, or possibly "Hello Dolly." Some of the cast members tried to recall what parts might be available in the two Broadway standards.

"There are a lot of roles for men in 'Mame'," said Patty Fayette, mother of Baby June (Kenni Fayette.)

Kenni Fayette herself will be trying out for a production of "Bugsy Malone," a kiddie musical planned by The Acting Company of Yuba City. A seasoned dancer and singer, Kenni is likely to get a key role.

Webber was thinking about auditioning for the villain's role in a forthcoming production of "Bullshot Crummond," Or maybe as a toga-wearing buffoon in "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum." Or, what the heck, maybe he should just run away to London and pester people at the reconstructed Globe Theater until they let him read for Polonius.

Now, Webber admittedly might be being a little unrealistic here, considering what Brendan Teetsell had to say just before last night's seventh performance of "Gypsy."

Webber was waiting backstage when Teetsell stopped to inquire, "Are you in the cast?"

"You're kidding, right?" Webber asked the 14-year-old tap dancer.

"I see you back here all the time, but I didn't know if you were in the cast."

"Well, I am."

"What do you do?"

Sighing heavily, Webber said, "Webber. I play Webber."

"Who's that?"

"I'm the device that allows Rose and Herbie to meet."

"Oh."

Children are the surest cure for hubris.

In any case, "Gypsy's" imminent closing was in everyone's mind. Neal Thorsen handed out directions to his home where the cast party is to be held.

"And I need it in my hand no later than Saturday night," he told one.

A musical stage play is a contradictory blending of individual egos and many talents melded into a cast and crew that sacrifices much to make the show go. The unstinting, unsung support from the family and friends of the cast is the glue that holds it all together.

A musical stage play is a brief construction made of cardboard, light bulbs and costumes composed of articles snatched from Salvation Army bins. The unruly cast works hard for weeks to create a disciplined thing that lasts only a few evenings. It is the final argument for the proposition that Art is long and life short.

In the course of its short life, a musical stage play spirits soar, stumble, sometimes sour, but generally soar again -- hopefully by opening night.

Above all a musical stage play is ephemeral. It is a bright bubble of energy, followed by a brilliant, Pop!

"Gypsy" is closing then and so is this weblog, because it must be proofed and printed out for presentation at the final performance.

In anticipation of that last show where some hearts will break because the bubble did, this writer, this vaudeville theater owner of the imagination wants to wish the cast, one an all, another break: "Break a leg!"

And - to quote Agnes/Amanda's farewell to Tessie Tura and the eternal glories of "real live the-ater" -- he would like to add:

"See you 'round the corner in half an hour."

Tonight's the night.

We enter the final three-day run of "Gypsy." Friends have helped edit the weblog down to a 38-page (or thereabouts) report on how it all came to be. Once again, let it be said, that it was easier to write then edit.

Looking back over those pages certain miserable facts pop out. Not enough was said about Dahni Trujillo, the talented 14-year-old actor who played Agnes/Amanda. She had quite a few lines spread over several scenes and did them well, always eliciting a laugh or two as when she asked Herbie to call her Amanda, not Agnes.

At another point, the bespectacled ingenue Agnes has to say good by to Tessie Tura and they exchange a hip bump while saying "See you 'round the corner in half an hour."

It had the atmosphere of a secret Masonic handshake, but the meaning drifted right over some people's heads. Still, Dahni did it all well.

Big disappointment: Dahni Trujillo got no solos so we could not hear her at her best. Instead, she was submerged in the Newsboys and "Toreadorables."

Next time.

Jonathon Bryson, who was unable to attend a number of the rehearsals fared well in the end, getting, as mentioned before, more than his share of applause at the end of the show.

Yvette Velez, long-suffering but still exuberant under the Caroline the Cow costume, was a trouper.

Al Durbin never stopped refining his "Grandpa" character. He was a method actor who would go into a dark corner just before the curtain went up, getting himself worked up -- or would that be down -- for his portrayal of Rose Novick's curmudgeonly, bitter and none too generous father.

The Sunday matinee was like being in the horse latitudes during the summer doldrums. Once Weber’s five minutes on stage were over it was just like the man said in “Casablanca” – “where they waited, and waited, and waited….”

The penultimate highlight of the waiting period was winning the mental pool for how long it would take someone to smash the cake in the hat.

Herbie (Timothy Van Zant) had been griping for several nights about never getting a piece of the "monkey-bite" cake. He was too busy on stage to get to the cake before others had consumed it after the Goldstone number.

The kindly Goldstone (Mike Gabhart) took the trouble to slice off a piece of cake, put it and a fork to eat it with on a chair and to keep it safe covered it over with his wide-brimmed, burgundy Zoot hat.

“How long do you suppose it’ll be before someone sits on it?” the waiting Weber wickedly wondered.

Goldstone smiled skeptically. He’d be right there watching it. What could happen?

In point of fact it was less than five minutes before one of the children in the cast rushed up and grabbed the hat, dragging it over the cake and frosting. What a curious, irrepressible tike he was!

Gabhart groaned, but said nothing.

There’s a special circle in Hell reserved for people who gloat and say, “I told you so.” It’s called the Smuggery Pit and that’s where you’ll find Weber for all eternity.

Goldstone cleaned the frosting from the leather sweatband, reassembled the piece of cake as best he could and replaced the hat over it.

Herbie came around a few minutes later and got his cake (and ate it too), thanking Goldstone.

The ultimate highlight of Weber’s drowsy Sunday was running into Larry Cooper, former news director at the defunct KOBO radio and currently a public affairs officer with the state Department of Agriculture.

The final bows were made and Weber was leaving the auditorium when he heard his named called. He turned to the white-haired and smiling Cooper hurrying to catch up with him.

They shook hands. They hadn’t seen each other in a year or so. Last time at a video store.

“Are you an actor?”

Weber considered saying, “Well, you’ve just seen the play. What do you think?” But he immediately realized what he risked hearing, and so wisely kept his mouth shut.

Cooper said he liked the show and they chatted for a minute or five about what they were doing in the way of work, and life’s current prospects.

Alas, another good topic to steer clear of.

The audience was lighter and less ebullient Saturday night, but in some ways better. It included directors and officials from other thespian groups, figures from the theater community power structure who might one day be ruling on what part, if any, an amateur might get.

Which is why serious thought might be given to quartering the stage manager and displaying his remains at a crossroads -- all in the best Shakespearean tradition of course.

For Weber it was like watching a traffic accident unfold in slow motion. It was happening, It was stupid. It was destined.

There was Rose, dashing out from a quick costume change and barreling across the stage, struggling to pin her microphone on. There was the oblivious stage manager lumbering out of the dark to move the news kiosk.

The orchestra shut down. The stage lights went up. The time for Weber and Rose to enter had expired. Just then the stage manager grabbed the kiosk and unfortuitously backed into Rose’s way. She drew up short, raced AROUND the man with the kiosk and steamed on toward Weber, frantically waving her hand in a sign, “Go on! Go on!”

Now the timing was only put off by a second or two, and what’s in a second or two? Well, ask any comic what a second or two means in delivery and he’ll tell you about it three, possibly four hours. The gist of his message will be: Timing is everything.

Kiosks, on the other hand, can wait.

Scientists warn investigators to be very cautious when trying to link cause and effect. So bear that in mind when you consider the chain of events that followed.

Weber and Rose (Jayne White) finally arrive on stage and Rose somehow flubs a line she’s never once missed in rehearsal or performance. Which somehow causes Weber to change a word in his reply. A small thing but disconcerting. Which causes Weber’s mouth to suddenly taste like copper pennies – a sure sign that the chemistry has changed. Moments later, Weber dropped a word from his practiced delivery. It was none but a few in the audience might notice and so no big deal, but the upshot of it all was that the enthusiasm and sparkle had escaped the scene, even before it began. Popped like the balloon girl’s appurtenances when she exits from the “Uncle Jocko’s Kids” scene.
--

There were other timing problems last night, only they were of the type that brightened the show in unexpected places. Audience members gleefully talked about how conducter Dan Soares got carried away with the Toreadoables number and missed a cue. And missed it, and missed it, and missed it....

"Rose kept going over to the orchestra and saying, "Cut! Cut it out! Cut it OUT!." a member of the audience recounted.

"But the conductor was really into, just sailing along, his baton going up and down, Rose shouting, loader and louder, "Cut that OUT!"

Ah, a man and his music. What more need be said?
--

Meanwhile, a Gypsy Journal reader has asked that special credit be given to Mr. Goldstone (Dr. Mike Gabhart, a podiatrist and competitive ballroom dancer from Yuba City).

Gabhart doesn’t have a single line to utter in the play, but he does play a pivotal role in that his entrance signals a breakthrough for Rose, June and Louise. Mr. Goldstone has given them and the act a chance to audition for the Orpheum Circuit headquartered in New York, They’re Big Time bound.

Mr. Goldstone even gets a whole song dedicated to him.

“He doesn’t say anything, but he brings laughter to the scene,” said the anonymous reader, who has seen the play several times.

“His face is so expressive. In fact, his whole body is expressive. He makes it funny just by the way he moves,” she said.
--

Another cast member who has received less than adequate attention is Julie Bryson (the adult Baby June), who may suffer from being too competent.

A trained dancer and a veteran of other shows, she tosses off dance riffs and sings so effortlessly, and so well, it is easy to lose sight of the work that has gone into her training and preparation.

A real pro, she arrives on time. Has her lines and songs down. Gets better each time. Causes no trouble and keeps quiet about it.

The result is a well-acted character and probably the best single number in the play: “If Mamma Got Married” which has been mentioned here several times.

Now it is Sunday with a matinee looming. And only three more performances after that. Things will be getting hectic.

As "Gypsy" passes the half-way mark of it's nine-performance run, it is more than pleasant to learn that vaudeville still lives

See this New York Times article about the new (old) playwrights and illusionist Ricky Jay's show about how "showbusiness, crime and commerce" intersect just off Broadway:

Playwrights

The audience Friday night was the best yet for “Gypsy.” There were almost 200 of them. They got the jokes and laughed, They applauded. Some grooved with orchestra and one lady in the third row quietly sang along with all the songs.

The enthusiasm of the crowd quickly spread to the cast. Even before Uncle Jocko opened with, “Everyone shut up!” One could see the cast members dancing to the overture. It was going to be a good night, everyone knew. And things got steadily better as the show wore on.

But all was not perfect. Again, the Fates, the competition and the lowest common denominator facts of life in Yuba-Sutter continued to work their black magic against “Gypsy.”

Friday night was also the opening game of the Gold Sox, Marysville’s (Calif.) oddball municipally owned professional baseball team, which plays at Bryant Field, just a long line drive away from the Marysville Auditorium where “Gypsy” is ensconced for its three week run.

The city has something on the order of $2 million sunk into the chancy enterprise so it was all for making a big production of the first pitch, run, game – which apparently was lost to the Long Beach at some humiliating score.

Fireworks were laid in with the intention of firing off a volley each time the hometown scored a run, which were not so many. So, in the logic of juvenile firebugs, if fireworks have been bought, it follows, like night the day, they must be exploded. Childish impulse behavior is apparently seated in the basal ganglia and rules over all.

As luck would have it the end of the baseball coincided with the approach of the final denouement of "Gypsy” and Jayne White’s big blowout conflict-resolution with Carmen Smith and lollapalooza windup.

It was just then the firebug-fireworks gang started detonating their unexpended volleys. Ka-BOOM! Ka-boom-boom-boom. Brackle-brackle-brackle-KA-BOOOOOOOOOM!

And it went on and on and on. All the doors were closed to the auditorium but the explosions could easily be heard inside, punctuating the tender moments when Rose learns she must let Louise go, and step out of the stardom. Frustrated, but defiant. Ka-boom-boom!

After a perfect night, White began to trip on certain lines. Maybe she was exhausted from pouring all her energies into each scene – or more like – she was rattled by the seemingly endless fireworks intrusions. Fortunately, the fireworks petered out before Jayne White started her wind-up song.

The crowd, however, didn’t seem phased at all. They were generous with their applause at the bows, giving Jayne White a standing ovation (richly deserved). And they put extra mustard on their cheers for Julie Bryson (June), Carmen Smith (Louise), Jonathon Bryson (Tulsa) and, of course, the three strippers Elizabeth Janiak (Mazeppa), Gail Carter (Tessie Tura) and Jenny Grining (Miss Electra).

More competition comes tonight and tomorrow, with the Marysville Rodeo in for the Memorial Day weekend.

But that may not be so bad.

“Not too many cowpokes go to the theater. I don’t think we draw from the same well,” one lady stagehand observed.

There’s something “Gypsy” director Bob Hechtman should be extraordinarily proud of, although he probably doesn’t know or even think about it. It all has to do with how he, as a professional, teaches others by setting a good example and establishing standards he expects his actors to meet.

Here is a brief anecdote to illustrate it.

Thursday night a local Catholic parochial school held its annual talent show. One of the acts was conceived and led by Alexandria Mazerolle -- one of the several younger “newsboys” in the chorus line backing the young “Baby June” and “Louise.”

In the beginning, Mazerolle was not cast in the newsboys. Hechtman bluntly wrote her off as a can’t-sing, cant’-dance what are we going to do with ‘em non-entity. Hechtman can seem a curmudgeonly W.C. Fields at first glance. But it only takes about 15 minutes attentive listening and watching to know he is the opposite at heart.

Anyway, Hechtman was absolutely right on the can’t-dance score at the time. However, he was grossly wrong when he dismissed Mazerolle’s singing skills and experience. The truth is, the kid can sing and has and does “sell tickets” at other events outside the ken of the Ponderosa Theater gang.

But -- possibly to shut up Mazerolle’s “stage Mom” -- Hechtman relented and elevated Alex from being a prop in the “Uncle Jocko’s Kids” scene to a newsboy. And so the gauntlet was thrown down.

“By hook or crook she was given this opportunity. She’d better deliver,” one friend advised..

Coming in late, things looked bleak for Mazerolle. She could sing, but was so fixated staring down at the other dancer’s feet in hopes of aping their dance steps their steps it was hard to get a peep out of her, much less a smile.

By opening night though she had the routine down pat and was doing a respectable job of dancing, even compared to some of the most talented kids in the line. Moreover, she had taken the advice Jayne White gave out each night to “Sing out, Louise!” and had actually remembered to smile while swinging arms and cross-stepping. Most of the time, at least.

But that’s not the story, as they’ve said many times in the midnight hour when the a.m. ‘K’ wire is clacking its bulletins and Mr. Coffee’s warming up.

The real story is this: Instead resenting Hechtman’s initial estimation of her and the outsider aura it saddled her with, little Alexandria Mazerolle paid attention (albeit, almost invisibly to others), She saw how he drew performances out of the older actors. How he gently insisted on getting things right.

What Hechtman was teaching and Alex was learning were, of course, the basic tenets and traditions of good showmanship:

 Make the curtain.
 Wait for your cues.
 Enter on time.
 Hit your marks.
 Know your lines.
 They bought a ticket; give ‘em a show.
 Give it your best.
 Don’t disappoint.

We know this because when the annual talent show came around, Mazerolle put them into practice, all on her own.

She cajoled two of her school chums into joining her in a song and dance act she adapted from “Gypsy” -- it was “Together, Wherever We Go,” the trio bit done by Jayne White, Timothy Van Zant and Carmen Smith.

Imitation is said to be the sincerest form of flattery, and thus Hechtman, White, Van Zant and Smith should feel very proud of themselves – the examples they set and the worship they inspired..

Hechtman’s influence can be seen in the theatrical way Mazerolle cast her friends. She had many “best friends” but recruited only those with the most talent. She’d obviously learned the value of a good director's shrewd eye.

White, Van Zant and Smith can see their unintended legacy in the little girl’s choice of their “Together” number. They should also see it in the comment by a parent of one of the other girls in the act.

“We were amazed how dedicated Alex was,” one Mother said. “The others wanted to play, but she was very insistent. With (Alex) it was: Practice, practice, practice.”

All those long rehearsal nights spent watching White, Van Zant and Smith -- and also Julie Bryson and Smith in another number -- labor over and over again to get their dance and song just so, apparently taught a worthwhile lesson.

Carolyn Foy-Hoffer, “Gypsy’s” official choreographer, could also see her influence at work, if she ever saw the videotape of Mazerolle’s final Notre Dame School Spring Talent Show act.

The White-Van Zant-Smith trio worked out their own song-and-dance, but it was approved by Foy-Hoffer. Mazerolle’s adaptation borrowed from it and was similar, but by recombining the steps and positions in a different way, the Mazerolle and her Notre Dame pals made it their own.

Prizes are not distributed these days at talent shows in these wimpy times. Everyone must get a prize or no one, otherwise it would not be a win-win situation for all concerned. A win for one, would be a loss for someone else and that’s non-no in this mushy age.

However, eyewitnesses can attest that the “Together” act created by Mazerolle from what she learned from Hechtman, White, Van Zant and Smith got then biggest hand.

And, in the final analysis, isn’t that what showbusiness is all about?

Well, tonight comes the fourth performance after a four-day lay-over. We'll see how it all holds together.

A few days have passed allowing time to think about the second and third performances. The consensus among the regular attendees is that each performance has been better than the last. What fools these mortals be!

Backstage, the racing and griping and complaints about stepped-on lines and flubs increased. But maybe that was just general actors’ complex.

The little flapper identified herself as Ellie Oliver, so there’s one mystery name put to rest.

Conductor Dan Soares maybe explained the nature of the schizophrenic audience.

Much debate has flowed back and forth and on and on about the subject matter of the play. In a God-fearin’ community like Yuba-Sutter, where there are 23 gas stations and 132 churches, the mere idea of glorifying the showbiz world of vaudeville and – perish the thought – burlesque, was supposed to shock one and all.

Well, one, but not all.

“My wife loved the strippers. She talked about it all night,” Soares said.

So much for churchy preachments.

Between the little boy’s pants falling down and the repeated show-stopper performance of the strippers in “Gotta Getta Gimmick,” we prove once again H.L. Mencken’s observation that ‘No one ever went broke underestimating the good taste of the American public.”

Meanwhile, "Weber" had a few complaints. On Sunday his stomach was upset. Not having the precise timing of the San Juan Capistrano swallows, his opening night butterflies arrived two days late.

On the second night, the timing of his two entrances were dysfunctionalized by the stage manager, Ernie Ballard, who chose precisely the wrong moment to give Jaynie White a few helpful tips on how to cross the stage. Next, the stage crew started moving the newsboys bulletin boards around, just as Weber was to enter again. Nothing like surprise activity to throw an actor’s timing off.

And there were other inexplicable decisions – at least as far as Weber was concerned..

Opening night, Weber was told at the last minute by director Bob Hechtman to stop using “the hand” as part of his colloquy with “Rose.” Then, at the very last second, Timothy Van Zant -- the excellent “Herbie” – advised him to cut out “the handshake,” allegedly by order of Hechtman.

“He wants me to carry this pencil and notepad, instead,” Van Zant said by way of explanation.

Two eleventh-hour changes. What were they thinking? What were we doing during all those weeks of rehearsals? These helpful hints to Jaynie and revisions of Weber’s stage business couldn’t have been made, like the day before? Well, that’s showbusiness, as they say.

Linda Plummer has reportedly been on the air at KUBA radio giving out free tickets to “Gypsy.” The crowds have been anorexic thin and this may be a move to put meat on their bones.

And it’s a good thing! Because this “Gypsy” is a great production, well mounted by Hechtman. The public deserves – nay, owes it to themselves – to see, hear and cry with Jayne White, Tim Van Zant, and the other two stars of considerable merit, Carmen Smith and Julie Bryson.

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.

For some of the younger actors in "Gypsy" -- those who may be hopeful, but uncertain of their futures in theater -- here is a story they may wish to posted by Tom Nadeau @ 5:46 PM  

Cast members came with their costumes Monday, most of them anyway. Some came wearing them, some carrying them on coat hangers and some with promises to have them soon.

Some of the props and sets also were assembled, including grandpa’s chair where he sits, reading the newspaper and vowing Rose won’t get “88 cents;” the two reversible newsstands/flagboards; the table for Mr. Goldstone’s Chinese repast; the train June almost goes to Broadway on; and the makeup table at the unnamed house of burlesque where Louise makes her debut as Gypsy Rose Lee.

“That’s Louise!!”

These sets and props and the unveiling of the costumes – especially the cow -- sent little shiver of excitement through the cast and crew. It seemed be the first real signal that the show was really and truly coming together, as director Bob Heckman had predicted all along.

Before moving it ought to be mentioned that the crew seems to be enlarging. At least three new faces showed backstage – trim ladies with silver hair assisting with costumes and props. It was as if they appeared out of nowhere, although the all seemed to know exactly what they were doing.

Weber came in his racetrack tout costume, still lacking a proper fedora to finish off his regalia. Tim Van Zant had miraculously come up with a derby, a costume accessory Weber had briefly considered. Van Zant loaned his and Weber modeled it or Heckman, who quickly shook his head no.

“The other hat,” he said with a combination sadness and disgust. “You look like a clown in that one.”

Jayne White wasn’t not in full costume last night, but she did have some of the funnier “Rose” touches already in place, including an oversized purse stuffed with a what at first appeared to be a tan koala bear. Upon closer examination it took on the characteristics of a teacup Pekinese dog. That would be “Chowsie.”

The junior newsboys were a motley bunch with some coming decked out in fill costume, such as Alex and Mazerolle and Amy Whosit., both looking more authentic than the “Our Gang” kids.

Mazerolle almost has her dance down. Only a few fine points to smooth out, like remembering to swing her arms, keep her chin and eyes up; and smile, smile, SMILE! She’ll be a star yet.

Alex also appears as one of “Jocko’s Kids” in the opening scene. Heckman reportedly told her to wear the same newsboy outfit in that scene as well. He’s probably saying it as a convenience for Alex and her mother, so they won’t have to make a second costume. However, that’s arguably a mistake on the director’s part.

The audience will surely recognize little Alex and the outfit from one scene to another, which would impair the willing suspension of belief. Better to have a second costume and change with the speed of lightning. It would also give the impression of a larger cast, which wouldn’t hurt the show any.

Maybe she could be the “Hawaiian girl” shown in the Rosalind Russell movie version. In any event her mother should just go ahead, get the second costume together and bull her way through it. Heckman has said he likes actors who know what to do and then just do it.

And speaking of “Jocko’s Kids,” the balloon girl came wearing her balloons, a great little costume put together by her mother, Jayne White, apparently. The balloon girl is so active and excited on stage it looks like she may one day follow in her mother’s footsteps to the footlights.

This was the first time Julie Bryson and Carmen Smith performed in costume. Bryson was seen in a farm girl outfit of pale blue skirt and white blouse, later augmented with a white fur jacket when she heads (almost) for Hollywood, but doesn’t.

“What care I for tinsel and glamour?”

It is difficult to express the change that comes over an actor when the costume is added, at least in Bryson’s case. With the costume donned her already professional dance movements became even more precise and dramatic; her voice strengthened – which it needed to beside the throatier Smith – and her execution of those oh so slight “selling” gestures that oh so make the difference went from competent to perfect.

The absolute hands-down hit of Act One Monday night was Bryson and the cow costume and with Yvette Somebodyorother and Carmen Smith inside it.

True, the black and white cow might in a dark alley be mistaken for a large Dalmatian, but on the whole it was delightful and whoever made it deserves a big hand. It even had shiny black hooves.

The performance of the Cow-creators/Yvette/Carmen demonstrated the true spirit of the theater. It’s not a giant role, but the two, Yvette up front and Carmen in the rear, as it were, took it and made something out of it by working out there own choreography and milking it (so to speak) for all it was worth.

Although it may have been one of the best rehearsals so far, Heckman still pressed for more and better, which is the director’s job, of course,

He was finicky about the exact placement of the two panels that function as the newsstand and flagboard.

“Open the space. Baby June has to come through there…Make sure the curtain is over the edges,” he counseled the set manager.

Heckman was particularly forceful with the adult chorus line.

“There’s holes in the line you could drive a truck through,” he complained.

Actually the line seems to be improving, with Beka W-something and Brenden T. probably the most polished, at least Monday night, anyhow. They do have some things to coordinate better, like whether they are carrying stuffed animals when they are “Farmboys” or not and if so, in what arm.

Anyway, starting Wednesday there will be more practice and everyone had to be working together, Heckman told them.

EDITOR’S NOTE: the cast list finally will be available on Wednesday, so correct names can be insterted later on. Earlier attempts to get the cast and crew make their names available were largely unsuccessful.

Some people – Hey! That would make a good song title, if anyone ever wanted to write a musical. – may have just turned to these pages to check up on the progress of Ponderosa Theater Company’s production of “Gypsy,” set to open May 17 and run through June 2 at the community auditorium at Marysville High School here in California.

This is a Blogger weblog. Being free, it understandably has certain limitations. It seems impossible to get the ‘”Gypsy” Journal entries to display any other way but in reverse chronology. In theory this would be possible, but not in practice.

Because some people – There we go it again. -- are not fluent in weblog jargon and may not understand the function of archives, the web manager here has made sure all of the posts appear on the front page, which means the whole story is right here before you're very eyes, although, because of the reverse chronology problem mentioned above, newcomers must start at the bottom and read upward to come entirely up to speed on the events as perceived by one mere spectator and bit player.

When it’s all over, cast members can feel free to print the whole thing out and save it as a souvenir of the hard work they’ve put in.

Since Steven Sondheim wrote the music for "Gypsy," the actors who are now singing his notes (and Jule Styne's words) might be interested in this new profile of the composer.

Costumes are coming Monday night! Jayne White says she has rounded up 10 for the flamboyant Rose, the three strippers expect to have their ornamental outfits ready and the elaborate “Caroline the Cow” was reportedly ready to go Saturday.

At Friday night’s rehearsal Al Durbin, Rose’s father, was attired in a snug pinstripe vest and suit pants. He said he was still foraging for a pocket watch to complete the retired railroad worker’s persona.

Weber had his houndstooth jacket and vest, but he lacked a hat of the appropriate color and expressed doubts about his blue and red polka dot hand-tided bow tie.

“It really should be red,” Elizabeth Janiak, Miss Mazeppa, advised.

Little Alex Mazerolle was collecting some potential “Newsboy” slouch caps for director Bob Heckman to pass on.

Wednesday, the costumer brought in a beautiful dark double-breasted suit at appeared to fit Timothy Van Zant, a.k.a., Herbie to a “T.”

Friday was also the night for handing in bios. Some of the teenage actors had more to report about their life accomplishments compared to their adult colleagues. A few forgot altogether to write them out. Lined was hastily handed out along with pencils.

Reviewing one’s life and boiling it down to 30 or 50 words is always humbling experience.

One thing the stage experiences listed in some of the short bios revealed was that many actors seem to have been in "Our Town."

With opening night a mere two weeks away, director Bob Heckman gave his first real pep talk for all the actors Wednesday night.

The Ponderosa Theater Company enjoys a reputation for putting on terrific shows and "Gypsy" would be no exception, he said.

But time was running out, he cautioned, and all the actors had to get down to business. There were lines to be honed, timings sharpened, dance steps refined and all the goofing off had to be curtailed.

"Have your bios in on Friday and your costumes ready by Monday," Heckman added.

"What's a bio?" a young dancer cheeped from the back row.

Her charming display of innocence offered one of those rare, sweet glimpses into how much youth has to learn. Someone filled her in.

"Keep it to three of four lines," Heckman advised.

Just think, when Michael Jackson was that girl's age, he’d already hired someone to ghost his autobiography.

Heckman also gave the players an idea of what he liked and expected to see in actors: self-direction.

He likes actors who can divine for themselves actions a scene calls for and how to do it. It gives the show a feeling of spontaneity and freshness. While this may sound strange, the great film director Elia Kazan set this same high standard of acting, when he cast “On the Waterfront.”

Kazan demanded the same from young Marlon Brando who responded with a groundbreaking and Academy Award-winning portrayal of “Terry,” the ex-pug Mob thug and bum who “could have been a contendah.”

Mrs. Heckman handed out two complimentary tickets to each “Gypsy” actor. Bob Heckman told the players what they could do with the Annie Oakleys.

Dispense them to whomever. They were good for the run of the play. Be careful not to lose them. Most theater companies weren't so free with comps, and if an actor should happen to lose his or her ducats, no more freebies were to be had.

Heckman’s rallying talk and the company’s generous gesture had a tonic effect on the players. Or maybe it was just that Evelyn the piano player was back.

The dancers looked better that night, both in the child and adult chorus lines.

Yonkers got rid of his weird, flip-kick-nudge. He switched it to a hard punch in the shoulder. It looked infinitely more realistic, but I imagine the recipient, Brenden, may not have appreciated the change.

Jayne White fluffed her lines a few times. She expressed a great deal of disappointment in herself, which was a shame. White has so much acting, singing and dancing to do in the show, one would expect a few fluffs now and then. She should be more self-forgiving. But, then, maybe it's her high expectations and unrelenting self-discipline that's makes her the star.

White, Tim Van Zant and Carmen Smith have steadily improved their "Together Wherever We Go" number to where it is shaping up to be another potential show-stopper.

The soft-shoe song-and-dance number captures the feeling of showbiz camaraderie so well. It was inexplicably cut from the Rosalind Russell movie version of "Gypsy" - a decision the director ought to have been strung up for. Happily, it resurfaced in the Bette Midler version.

As the three of them -- White, Smith and Van Zant -- sing and soft-shoe their way through this heart-tugging number, they reveal both the strengths and weaknesses of the show as it stands at this point in rehearsals.

Born to belt, Jayne White is giving it her all at every rehearsal, proving her voice and spirit to be stronger and better than Bette Midler, both in this part and in this song. Listen to Jaynie, and every performance is like opening night.

One would expect White’s pull-out-the -stops approach would inspire - or at least force - her companions in song to go for broke. But so far, haven't.

Van Zant seems to have decided lay back and loll through the lines he sings in "Together." Couple this with his already mellow - not to say muddy bass-baritone voice - and he’s washed out by Jayne White’s tsunamic delivery.

This was initially incomprehensible to some spectators. Herbie doesn't have all that many song lines, so you’d think he’d pump them for all he was worth – milk to the max his scant opportunities to shine in the few penumbras the script and the Rose character permit.

A careful review of the Midler movie soundtrack suggests Van Zant may have poured his performance into the mold of that other "Herbie." If he has, it may be a mistake, not only for him, but for the number and the show, as well.

One close observer suggested White’s talent and power had simply cowed Van Zant. But that’s doubtful.

Carmen Smith -- “Louise” -- the third-wheel in that delightful trio seems to be holding back in “Together.”

Watching her and “June” compete for excellence in their “If Momma Got Married" duet it is evident she has more gusto to give in “Together.”

Put all this together and the suspicion creeps in that it isn’t a lack of talent that’s keeping Smith and Van Zant from bursting forth into perfection, but the absence of “chemistry.”

And the essential ingredient missing from this formula for greatness may very well be adrenaline – a chemical that tends to flow faster as opening night approaches.

Rehearsals seem to be in the doldrums. In part from a coincidence of absences; in part from the fact this is ordinarily a low blood sugar time between when the performers have their lines down and the angst of opening night draws near.

It is over this mid-season swoon director Bob Heckman, seasoned actor and entertainer will usher the cast to a brilliant opening night. If …

Evelyn the piano player was missing from last night’s rehearsal. Dancing and singing to no music at all is a lackluster affair, isn’t it? Still, the cast bore up well, especially the little kids chorus line.

The strippers act was brought to life again with the re-emergence of Tessie Tura the Texas Twirler, back from the cruise to wherever it was she took.

Indefatigable were Jaynie White, Tim Van Zant and Carmen Smith in their excellent “Together Wherever We Go” number. The three worked the choreography on their own, sans Carolyn Foy-Hoffer, and they’ve put together a serviceable soft-shoe on their own.

It was touching to see they abandoned paddling a canoe while singing “wherever we row” line. It made for a small, but unnerving cognizant dissonance.

Adult June was missing for the night, but Heckman skipped over her bits.

The boys in the adult chorus line seem to be scrambling themselves into different positions each time they assemble, which conveys a sense of disorganization, although it shouldn’t matter who stands where in a chorus line, since everyone is theoretically doing the same thing.

Agnes/Amanda showed up with a sample “Newsboys” outfit apparently made by her mother. It was quite good, dark, not too much so, and period authentic enough for a light musical, to be sure.

Wednesday, everyone reconvenes for more rehearsals as we all enter the clubhouse turn for getting this how reading.

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.

Newcomers to this weblog may want to note that the entries go way back to the week of March 31 and can be found by clicking on "ARCHIVES" link posted at the bottom of this page. (Remember, entries are posted from most recent to oldest. That's why you have to read from the bottom to the top to follow the story.)

The management

The producers and directors of "Gypsy" who felt compelled to bowdlerize some rather tame terms from the play to satisfy the censorious sensiblities of a piano player might want to consider this news item:

http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/story.hts/front/1373586

Last Friday was first night of rehearsals for the chorus line dancers. People who know what they are talking about would probably call it a choreographic rehearsal. Whatever, it was amazing to watch a motley crew of largely inexperienced dancers be shaped into a coherent line by Carolyn Foy-Hoffer.

“I’ve been doing this for 42 years,” she said later, by way of explaining how she could do so much with so few so fast.

That is not to say there was no talent and experience among the line. That would not be true. The girl playing the young June was a seasoned dancer leagues ahead of all others in the Baby June and her Newsboys act. She apparently is going to a middle school with a heavy curriculum of arts, music and dance. She could tap dance and was certainly well-schooled in many of the ballet moves.

But it was those of no-experience, but of latent talent that were the most interesting to observing. I was astounding how individual personalities so quickly surfaced in the process of trying to make everyone dance exactly alike.

Notable was Katherine Beauchamp, 11, of Yuba City and St. Isidore’s Catholic School. She may not have had all of Baby June’s moves but she had energy and determination and her serious work at making the Newsboys number work was clearly evident.. When she waved the non-existent newspaper, her wave had extra joie de vivre. When she stepped forward, she did it on time and with slightly more force than some in the seven-member line. There was something extra in her voice when she sang, “ Extra!”

Other kids were notable in their own ways, of course, and that was the point. One girl moves more smoothly. Another had more natural rhythm. The boy was clumsy, but was game anyway and not to be written off..

In the space of a couple of hours Foy-Hoffer had the chorus line moving in unison, counting out the same numbers and beats and looking and gesturing in the same ways and directions. It was an accomplishment of some note.

Why, it sometimes takes drill sergeants longer to get farm boy recruits to start off on the left foot during drill.

Gypsy Rose Lee penned her memoir. That is well known. Less widely appreciated is the fact she also wrote and published at least two murder mysteries, both set in the backstage milieu of burlesque theater. The following books are still available:

"'Gypsy': the Musical", by Jule Styne

"'Gypsy': a Memoir," by Gypsy Rose Lee

"The G-String Murders," a mystery novel by Gypsy Rose Lee

"Mother finds a Body," a mystery novel by Gypsy Rose Lee

Gypsy's husband, film producer, writer and actor, Erik Lee Preminger, also wrote a memoir of life with the world's most famous -- and respected -- striptease artiste: Erik Lee Preminger was the son of famed Hollywood movie producer and director Otto Preminger.

"Gypsy & Me:" at Home & on the Road with Gypsy Lee Rose," by Erik Lee Preminger

For some mysterious technical reason the last entry can not be edited. So here is the additional information intended to appear there. The correct town name for the June 1 Burlesque Reunion of 2002 is Helendale/Silver Lakes, Calif.

Also of current burlesque interest is the Kit Kat Follies that will be held April 20 at the Palace Theatre in downtown Los Angeles.

Finally, it should be noted that the last link included in the potpourri of vaudeville and burlesque websites, "Burlesque Hall of Fame," is reasonably inoffensive, in the same way runway artists like Gypsy Rose Lee didn't reveal all that much of their charms. Still, it's probably a good idea young weblog readers -- should any happen to drop in -- NOT click on it. Parents AND weblog management would just as soon they didn't. However, the vaudeville sites are informative and great reading -- so you can knock yourself out on those.

As for the adults in the cast, the hall of fame is, like all the vaudeville sites presented, is provided solely for the purposes of historical and cultural education.

"Gypsy" is about vaudeville and burlesque, the colorful step-children of so-called "legitimate" theater (i.e., safe from police raids). From roughly 1870 to 1930, vaudeville was the most popular form of entertainment in the U.S. and Canada. Many incorrectly assume that burlesque was a seamy off-shoot of vaudeville. In fact, vaudeville gerw out of burlesque. Both presented a series of individual "variety acts," with vaudeville -- generally pronounced "vawd' vil," but also pronounced "vohd' vil" in the continental style -- ultimately staging the most professional shows. The shows were in the nature of "revues." The most spectacular revues included the Folies Bergere in Paris and the Ziegfield Follies on New York's Great White Way, aka, Broadway. Even today one can see a remnant of the elaborate chorus lines of the grand follies at Radio City Music Hall in Rockefeller Center on Fifth Avenue in New York. The celebrated "Rockettes" dance troupe may well be the world's most famous chorus line. If you haven't seen them, think of the June Taylor Dancers featured on the Jackie Gleason. Then, too, there are all those acts playing Las Vegas, but that is a world apart from vaudeville. Vaudeville, after all, was by and large family entertainment with kids welcome -- at least at the matinees.

And vaudeville is not entirely dead. There appears to be a resurgence of interest in vaudeville and live theater. Moreover, several websites on the Internet advertise "New Age" vaudeville acts.

Stars and star acts that began in their careers in vaudeville included Charlie Chaplin, Will Rogers, Bob Hope, Bing Crosby, W.C. Fields, Houdini, Bessie Smith, Buster Keaton, Mae West, Jackie Gleason, Senor Wences, Laurel and Hardy, Abbot and Costello and Burns and Allen, to mention a few.

Burlesque, which turned more and more to striptease acts to hold the interest of primarily male audiences who with the advent of sound motion pictures were fleeing the live theaters for darkened movie houses.

Burlesque houses, or the tonier "houses of burlesque," as they preferred to be called survived into the 1960s in the large Eastern cities. "Burly-qs" (as they were also know, were still quite active in Baltimore, Md., in thelate 1950s and early 1960s. The Gaiety Theater was the premier venue in the bustling dowtown redlight district, with headliners such as Tempest Storm and, yes, Gypsy Rose Lee gracing the marquee.

Burlesque survives, despite the ubiquity of triple-XXX porn theaters and Bada Bing Club-style topless dance places. Why, even as the Ponderosa Theater Company players are belting out "Gypsy" a Burlesque Reunion 2002 will be underway in Helena.Silver Lakes, Calif. Promoters promise it will be of "epic proportions," so to speak.

Baltimore audiences were still so familiar with vaudeville and burlesque in the late 50s and early 60s that tthey were still in the habit of applauding when the show was over, even at movies where the actors couldn't appreciate the show approval.

After all, tradition dies hard. Probably the nearest local artifact of the vaudeville era is in Sacramento. The Crest Theater at K and 10th streets began as The Empress vaudeville theater. The restored interior is said to be close to what it was like when hopeful, hardworking artists were singing and dancing their hearts out in acts that must have looked and sounded much like Baby June and Her Newsboys. Live acts are still sometimes featured at the Crest.

Here are a few links to learn more about the vaudeville, burlesque and the lore of theatercraft in general:

Vaudeville Theaters
Vintage Vaudeville
American Variety Stage
Vaudeville Homepage
Burlesque Hall of Fame
posted by Tom Nadeau @ 7:09 PM  

Wednesday we sailed through the whole play again. The actors now have their lines committed to memory and are beginning to hone their interpretation and expression of the characters they portray, with “beginning” being the operative word here. Doing this requires some negotiating with the other players in the cast.

Take “Weber,” a minor character with 15 lines in what works out to be the third scene of the first act (although the actual script has it as the fourth scene.)

“The part where we enter? Maybe we could have me saying, ‘No!’ first, and then you saying to the kids, ‘Go play in the alley,'” he said to Jayne White. White agreed. After doing it, he reconsidered. Something was off in the timing. Maybe the original playwright knew what he was doing? White's patience will be tested when Weber next time says, "Let's change it back."

Both Weber and director Bob Heckman added bits of body language, movement and stage positioning to what Weber does. All of Heckman’s suggestions worked. Only one of nuances Weber dreamed up did. So, OK, maybe directors do know best.

Even from this little exposure at this amateur level of theatercraft it is easy to see that the process of creating a believable, workable, audience-pleasing character on stage is an arduous and profound learning experience. It involves considering and making some high-stakes intellectual and emotional choices. Wrong choices mean no applause, which, like night the day, is followed by personal disappointment tinged with public humiliation, since 700 or 800 people may have heard you mess up that way.)

Such pressure to achieve the best possible portrayal possible has to intellectually challenge even the smallest bit player in the teensiest hometowniest play the world over. Except maybe for Dolph Lungren, or Pamela Anderson, or Dennis Hopper now that he’s sleepwalking through six or eight quick-buck movie roles a year.

Monday we went through the whole play again working at as fast a pace as possible, in part to make sure the kiddie players got home at a reasonable hour on a school night.

The dog was back. The live lamb had yet to materialize. We would learn later that the dog was out – “Not good for a puppy to be handled by so many people” – and the lamb had been revised to stuffed due to sanitation concerns. Ahem.

Fascinating to watch the dancers rehearse each other, share tips, suggestions and criticisms with each other. There’s a boy and a girl who seem to best pals. The boy, Kyle, is a big kid, maybe 17 or so, but light on his feet with the kind of unexpected grace sometimes found in large people. Jackie Gleason, that genius of so many arts, was a good example.

The girl’s name is unknown, but she, too, is big-framed. I believe she is cast as a boy. In any case, she seems to be studying the tricks the other dances, especially this Kyle, have developed an. Each week she seems to be more confident, fluid and adventurous.

The situation with the really young kids in the “Jocko’s Kids” scene is problematic. Except for the “balloon” girl, none as yet have any “business” to do but stand stump like on the stage as furniture or props. Perhaps when the choreographer comes on board, which should be next week, they’ll get something more to do.

The guy playing Jocko is pretty good. His name is Connor Somethingorother and his son, Jasper – one of those ‘chips off the old block” genetic replicas – is in the play, too. Both seem to be natural actors. More genetic replication, perhaps. Connor is a gentleman of some avoirdupois and fits the character of Jocko in all respects – except for his big bushy beard. Jocko is basically a clown in vaudeville hosting a rigged kiddie show, SO how many clowns can you name that wore beards> Even the stubble on Emmett Kelly was painted on.

By Monday most of the actors in the first act have their lines down OK. A couple of “Line!” cue calls, but surprisingly few, really.

When you stop and think about it, stage actors must have prodigious memories, or an arsenal of mnemonic techniques. (Film actors do not really count here. They do their parts in short takes and as many times as it takes to get each scene right. They have a different set of problems I’ll go into later.)

Take a role “Rose,” played in this show by Jayne White. She probably speaks or sings more lines than all the other actors in the play combined. Since the play is likely to run an hour 90 or 105 minutes, that means she’s probably speaking or singing lines at the brisk pace required to keep a play moving. Imagine memorizing a section of text so long it would take you 50 minutes to repeat. Moreover your recitation has to be as close to perfect as possible, because missed lines would not only through you off, but whatever actors you might be working with at the time of the fluff.

Add to this the requirement that everything you say or sing has to be perfectly timed, arranged and styled as to make the subtleties of the intended message be fully expressed.

Before there was written language, tribal histories and human stories and myths were handed down from generation to generation through oral traditions. Each generation presumably add to it. Besides the factual material that had to be memorized and conveyed, there were all those jokes, ghost stories and tall tales to impart. Each had to be crafted for maximum crowd-pleasing impact. After all, every human being likes applause – and maybe even a rousing, “Encore!” once in a while.

It must be from this ancient tradition and craft that actors must spring.

On Friday night we went back through the whole play, both acts front to back.

"As fast as you can. I'd like to get out of here by nine o'clock if we can," director Bob Heckman said.

Connor Whosiewhatsit was back as "Jocko." His part had been read by Tim Van Zant, who plays "Herbie" -- a minor point, which confused some. In the movie version, Jocko and Herbie are one and the same, if I recall correctly. After a spat with the management of the Los Angeles theater over how fixed the kid talent show is, he quits showbiz as a performer and remakes himself as a candy butcher.

This explains why Herbie recognizes Rose and can vouch for the girls' act, when they meet at the Weber Theater.

Heckman seems to have split the role in two. It remains up to the individual playgoer to decide whether this creates a significant continuity problem.

Most of the actors now have their lines committed to memory and have ditched their scripts. A few haven't, but Heckman has aptly counseled them that they won't be able to read from the scripts while dancing and singing at forthcoming rehearsals.

The little Jocko girls aren't doing much. Someone should be telling them what to do, maybe how to improvise some jostling and rhubarbing (1) as background for the main action going on. Otherwise, they're just furniture -- and nervous, uncertain furniture at that. The theory of the scene is that the little girls are there for competitive auditions only to discover that the outcome is rigged. Into this steps Rose and her girls. They further complicate, with Rose mau-mauing the bandleader and demanding her daughters get a full audition.

There is also some confusion over the movements of Weber, Rose and Herbie. Weber enters stage left arguing with Rose on his way to - somewhere, logically someplace stage right. However, when he stops to talk to Rose, Herbie enters stage right and after the ensuing business about putting the act in the show Weber reverses direction and exits stage left. It's a complicated move, considering how the actors are presently situated. It would make more sense for Weber to continue to wherever he was originally headed stage right and return from stage right for the capper and then exit stage left to his "office" where he presumably started being nagged by Rose.

As for their position on the stage during their colloquy, Weber should be slightly upstage from Rose (to his left, so when Herbie enters, Rose can give a visual cue to Weber to notice Herbie. That would permit them both to see Herbie when he comes on, thus smoothing the operation out.

In the rehearsal Friday, Ginny Carter, "Tessie the Texas Twirler," brought along, Benji, the borrowed 11-week-old Pomeranian puppy cast to play "Chowzie," the lapdog Rose carries when she makes her "Sing out, Louise! Entrance in the first act.

The little dog must have showbusiness in his genes, being named after a movie star dog, and getting a part on stage even before he's found a permanent home.

"Chowzie" was the unwittting cause of some laughter. The first time the little girls playing the "Newsboys" got to sing their song all the way through, they were singing in that high, squeaky voice Mother Nature gives to all preadolescent girls. One remarked, kindly, "If they sing any higher, they'll have to bring in dogs to hear them."

As if on cue, in came Carter toting Benji. Ah, synchronicity.

Anyway, Benji/"Chowzie" played his part like a trouper. Never once did he squirm, yap, nip or pee on Jayne White.

This show is also livestock intensive. A live lamb is expected to be used in a later scene in which Louise gets a newborn lamb for a birthday present and a song to sing to it.

The show has so many animals, if it were a movie, the guild would require Heckman to hire a wrangler. (2)

(1) If background noise is called for in a movie or a stage play, it is important that the words not distract the audience from what the main characters are saying. To accomplish the actors in the crowd are traditionally told to say, "rhubarb." It's an onomatopoeic murmuring sound unlikely to be recognized by the audience.

(2) Originally from westerns, a film crew worker who takes care of all the animals used in a production, not just horses and cattle. Movies with dogs-only are an exception. The animal then is called the dog trainer or "handler."

Putting on a stage play, especially a musical, is a lot of work. Talent is required, usually; discipline, always

Here for instance is the Schedule director Bob Heckman set out for the rehearsals held for the most part on Monday, Wednesday and Friday nights.

MARCH:

17 – AUDITIONS, ARTS COUNCIL
25 – READ THROUGH, MARYSVILLE AUDITORIUM
27 – MUSIC REHEARSALS, ARTS COUNCIL
29 – MUSIC REHEARSALS, ARTS COUNCIL

APRIL:

1 – REHEARSALS AT AUDITORIUM
3 – REHEARSALS AT AUDITORIUM
5 – REHEARSALS AT AUDITORIUM
8 – REHEARSALS AT AUDITORIUM
10 – REHEARSALS AT AUDITORIUM
12 – REHEARSALS AT AUDITORIUM
15 – REHEARSALS AT ARTS COUNCIL
17 – REHEARSALS AT ARTS COUNCIL
19 – ERHEARSALS AT AUDITORIUM
22 – REHEARSALS AT AUDITORIUM

MAY:

1 – REHEARSALS AT AUDITORIUM
3 – REHEARSALS AT AUDITORIUM
6 – REHEARSALS AT AUDITORIUM
8 – REHEARSALS AT AUDITORIUM

13 – “HELL WEEK” BEGINS, REHEARSALS EACH DAY UNTIL OPENING NIGHT
14 -- REHEARSALS, AUDITORIUM
15 -- REHEARSALS, AUDITORIUM
16 -- rREHEARSALS, AUDITORIUM
17 – OPENING NIGHT, AUDITORIUM (LOCK PINKIES AND SAY, “BREAK A LEG”)
18 – SECOND NIGHT, AUDITORIUM
19 – MATINEE , AUDITORIUM

22 – BRUSH-UP REHEARSALS, AUDITORIUM
24 – BRUSH-UP REHEARSALS, AUDITORIUM
25 – BRUSH-UP REHEARSALS, AUDITORIUM
31 – FOURTH PERFORMANCE, AUDTIORIUM

JUNE:

1 – FIFTH PERFORMANCE, AUDITORIUM
2 – CLOSING PERFORMANCE, MATINEE

“STRIKE THE SET”


One day of auditions is followed by 21 nights of rehearsals usually lasting two and a half hours. Two nights and an afternoon of grueling, nerve-wracking performances are followed by five more days of rehearsals which in turn is followed by another two nights and an afternoon of performing.

That means the cast has put in a minimum of 64 hours of work to get a two-hour show down pat. This does not include any of the time actors spend at home, work or driving memorizing lines, endlessly spinning them this way, or that: “No, Madame Rose. No!” – NO!. Madame, Rose, NO! – “No. no, Madame Rose.” -- “Madame ROSE, No, no, no!!!!!”

Triple all that expenditure for the singers and dancers. Multiply it three times again for those who must sing AND dance.

Actors also have to spend time working out their “business – i.e., how they move, or not; gesture, or not; interact with the other actors, or not; grimace, or not.

Ever have to laugh on cue? Convincingly? It’s harder than it looks.

Then there’s all that time spent searching out costumes, accessories and those indispensable props, all of which must be correct for the period.

Some of the actors in the show will do all that and then appear on the stage for two or fewer minutes – and have nothing to say while they’re out there.

“Actors have huge egos,” is a common complaint. But it takes huge egos to suffer the trials and toils it demanded to win those few sweet moments under the lights.

As a final exercise, clear your mind and try to think imagine yourself doing this in 90 seconds, or thereabouts: walking to a marked spot on a stage while singing at the top of your voice the right words at the right notes to a to a 13-piece orchestra amongst which is a pianist whose melodic lead you must precisely follow. Having reached your mark you join with a another actor/singer with whom your must sing, precisely timed and harmonized, the same right words to the same right notes, while dancing gracefully together looking into each others eyes and not at the floor to a second mark where you the take off a hat (or flourish a hankie) and execute a bow, hopefully correctly position to face the audience.

All that, and chew gum.

“Gypsy” director Bob Heckman blocked out the second act last night, marking out some script changes as he went. Cut were some costume changes and a few words that some bluenose – or fear of bluenoses in general – apparently dictated.

From his customary post at the foot of the stage, Heckman spent some two hours charting the player’s movements from the opening scene in a desert campground to final reconciliation of mother and daughter after Louise rises to the pinnacle of burlesque: featured performer at Minsky’s.

Minsky’s is – or was – burly-q’s equivalent of vaudeville’s Valhalla, the Palace Theater in New York.

Pay attention to the patter in some of the Bob Hope/Bing Crosby “Road” movies and you’ll occasionally hear insider references to “playing the Palace” – the sine qua non of vaudeville stardom.

Act two opens in the southwestern desert where Rose has exchanged June and her “newsboys” and “farmboys” (plus cow), for Louise and her all-girl Toreadorables” (plus bull).

One look at the willing, but woefully wanting, “Toreadorables” is enough to know the act is an irredeemable stinker.

“Coming along, coming along,” Rose says, unenthusiastically..

The “Toreadorables” bit elides into “Together, Wherever We Go,” a song inexplicably cut from the Rosiland Russell movie version. In it Rose, Herbie and Louise pledge loyalty forever. As done by Jayne White, Tim Van Zant and Carmen Smith, it may well prove to be one of the most memorable songs of the show. There is good chemistry between the three and the tune’s a natural.

The scene then shifts to a burlesque theater in some generic Bumluck, USA where Herbie has unwittingly booked the Louise and the newly-revised Hollywood Blondes.

When Rose finds out where they’ve landed, she sees the moving finger’s message on the wall – the act is washed up. Then and there she grudgingly resolves herself to calling it quits with showbiz, dissolving the act, marrying Herbie – she even pops the question herself – and settling down with him and Louise to live happily, if dully ever after. Maybe hand the front end of the cow/bull over the mantelpiece for sentimental reasons.

After three ladies of the extended runway give her a crash course in the unsubtle art of stripping for a theater full of cigar-smoking drunks and traveling salesmen, Louise busies herself picking up extra cash by making costumes and feeding straight lines to the stand-up comics.

The very moment the Hollywood Blondes are to disperse and Herbie and Rose are to marry, a Fate presents a chance. The headliner stripper has been collared for soliciting for prostitution and there’s no one to take over the spot. Rose can’t resist. Not a moment to lose, she hustles Louise into action. Better to walk out a star, she argues.

So it is still uncertain Louise, mistakenly re-dubbed “Gypsy Rose Lee,” makes her stripper debut with a honky-tonk spin put on the children’s’ aft “Let Me Entertain You.” Double entendre in B flat..

Exit Herbie, who finally realizes Rose will never reform..

A quick transposition on stage (this is where Heckman cut some costume changes) and Louise arrives at the top: Minsky’s.

Rose, now a third wheel in the scheme of Louise’s celebrity lifestyle, comes around, embittered. They have words. Now the highest paid stripper in the business, Louise shows her independence. There’s a rift, and Rose vents her rage and frustration in the signature “Everything’s Coming Up Roses.”

A final reconciliation is worked out and the mother and daughter team fade to black, as they say in another medium, with the curtain closing behind them.

Curiously, some pretty mild expletives were bowdlerized from act two at Wednesday’s rehearsal.

Struck were “damn” and “God damn,” with an assistant director warning “Tessie the Texas Twirler” (Gail Carter) never to utter the word those words, which had been in her lines.

Oddly enough, the assistant director -- who also read the part of a burlesque house stage manager that night -- allowed himself to say lines that included the words “Hell” and “ass.” The qualitative difference between these four so-called curse words was hard to distinguish.

Some people don’t like off-color words, and it’s probably easier to knuckle to the prudes that argue about such things. But the moral logic (if that isn’t an oxymoron) of allowing one to swear but not the other is mystifying.

The irony of all this is inescapable, of course. The play is, after all about an young girl’s progress from vaudeville tomboy to high-priced burlesque stripper.

Elsewhere, this was the first night for Dan Soares, who will conduct the 13-piece orchestra planned for the show. It was nifty to see him wielding a short baton, directing the singers through their paces.

An official roster of the "Gypsy" cast is not yet available. As a result, some names mentioned here have been spelled phonetically. Corrections would be appreciated. Pending installation of an automated comment system, corrections and comments may be e-mailed to the 'Gypsy' Journal weblog administrator at tnad@juno.com.

If you know any cast members or stage personnel who do not know about of this weblog, you may want to share this URL/link with them.

“Gypsy” director Bob Heckman, a man of unusual energy, “blocked out” act one last night. He said he'll do the same for act two tomorrow.

For those not familiar with famed strip-tease artist Gypsy Rose Lee’s memoir, act one begins in a 1920s vaudeville theater where “Uncle Jocko” is running a talent show for children – “Uncle Jocko’s Kids.”

Rose Novick is there trying to get her two girls, June and Louise, seen, appreciated and, hopefully, hired for something -- anything – that might put them on the road to stardom on the celebrated Orpheum Circuit.

Through Rose’s determination, chutzah and other assorted charms, gets the act with the favored daughter, June featured. The opening scene also introduces “Herbie,” played by Tim Van Zant, a feature writer for the Dixon, Calif. Tribune newspaper. The names of the two junior misses playing June and Louise have not yet been learned.

The action breaks, time passes and the scene shifts to “Grandpa’s” house in a Seattle where Rose grew up safe, but foiled from realizing her dreams of theater stardom when her mother ran off --- presumably with a traveling salesman, or some such.Rose was left in the of her father, a dull, railroad time-server with no imagination whatsoever.

All Rose needs to escape once again is a small grubstake -- $88 – to bankroll a new act sets and costumes for little June and her Newsboys.

But not even 88 cents is what the father is willing to part with. Playing the old man is Al Durbin, a realtor who has created a curmudgeonly Edgar Buchanan-like voice ideally suited to the portrayal.

When the old man goes to bed – right on schedule, just like the railroad -- Rose steals his solid gold retirement plaque to pawn for a road stake, and she and the girls are off once again in search of an act, a lucky break and a light to guide them all to stardom – if not for Rose, at least for June. Or, in a pinch, even for Louise.

The scene shifts again to the Weber Vaudeville Theater in some unnamed berg. Once again Rose is ragging on the owner-manager to put her act on the bill. While badgering, Rose runs into Herbie. In the intervening months he has remade himself into a candy huckster selling chocolate bars for theater concession stands.

Call it fate, kismet, chemistry, or love in the eleventh hour, Rose and Herbie forge a link. Forever, no matter how it turns out.

The next few scenes and songs trace Rose, the girls and the ever faithful Herbie through a series of events distilled from the legends and folklore of theatrical life in the twilight years of vaudeville: tight budgets, opening nights, weeks of layoffs, rough knocks, moments of heart-breaking camaraderie, Chinese food in bedbug hotels, dashed hopes, ingenuity when hard times demand it and dreams unquenchable.

With Herbie as manager, the act enjoys some success. The scene shifts to New York where Herbie has wangled an audition with a Broadway impresario. The impresario likes June’s potential as a star, all right, but the problem is he doesn't want the beastly stage mother Rose around.. As a gesture he offers Rose and the rest of the act a week at the Variety Theater down in Greenwich Village.

Louise, always modest about her own talents, encourages her mother to let June go and the rest of them leave showbiz for regular life. Rose refuses. For her, the theatrical code is quite clear: it’s all for one and all for one, that is to say, for Rose Novick and her quest for stardom through her kids.

The little troupe walks out and heads back to the boonies, still looking for that lucky ticket to stardom. It soon becomes evident that the act has gone bust along with vaudeville. In the middle of nowhere – someplace out where the states are square – tensions come to a head. On a lonely railway platform Rose learns June has eloped with one of the boys in pursuit of their own careers. The other boys want out, too.

"Let 'em go," says Rose. The ingrates!

Although the hour may be dark, the never-say-die Rose sees a new dawn breaking -- only this time the sun rises over Louise and an act made up of girls – Hollywood girls -- and a cow, if they can just work it in somehow.

Having blocked out that act and heard the actors sing their songs, Heckman dismissed the cast for the night.

Retired showman Bob Heckman appears to be in his sixties. He could be older, but it’s hard to believe that possible, considering the amount of stamina he displays as he stands there at the foot of the stage, cueing and correcting the actors.

It is astounding in an unsettling way the amount and caliber of the loose talent that seems to be rattling around Yuba and Sutter counties.

The older June and Louise (Carmen Smith) casually execute tap dance riffs in between songs. Even on what was the first night of dance-and-sing rehearsals, they and the boys’ chorus line already have taken on a rough, but recognizable shape.

After working for hours with young people like this, does Heckman go home, dog-tired, and fall asleep dreaming of lumps of clay under a sculptor’s hands?