AUDITION FOUR-- SO MUCH NETTER THAN THREE

Audition # 3 was a big waste of time, but what a difference two days make at audition # 4. John and I were able to cast most of "A Little Bit of Broadway" on that one date.

They came from out of the woodwork and we actually had people walk away because the waiting time was so long. I'd love to see the theatre implement a better system. Perhaps when Google Search is fully implemented we can do this. For the role of Peter we found Ken Martinez. He will platy the part of Peter Greer. To demonstrate what a very small world this, Ken was a teenage kid actor at the Gallery Theatre back in the early 1980's -- the very theatre where I got my start with the Wizard of Oz in Ontario, Ca. He knew all of the people that I knew including Mark Shipley and his brood and Duane Thomas, Pam and Howard Wilson, Goody Goodel, the late Mike Tosha and Larry Newman (who played my Cowardly Lion and Tin Man respectfully. A really wonderful actor by the name of Chris Stolz will play Kirby Craig. Michelle Fox will play Helen King, Megan Cordero will play Janet Hardy. Sarah Marsh will play Eleanor Roosevelt and Robert Jones will play Billy Moore. We're hoping to confirm casting on all the other roles and cast the roles of John Kotter and Sam potter on auditions that take place on March 31st. We were even approached of doing a second run in June at the same theatre and we're attempting to double cast the show with a proposal to let Chris and Ken exchange roles a(that are so closely entwined emotionally) for the second run. We added a song for Eleanor Roosevelt (did anyone know how many times she was cheated on by FDR and how many times that she cheated on him-- even had a lesbian relationship, but had an arrangement to "stay together" for the children's sake. A scandal like that today would have sunk any presidential candidate today. Can you imagine how scary the world would have been without FDR as president? We also added a song for the character of Peter called "Old Flames"-- it's been in the trunk for years as Irving Berlin used to say. "You just never throw a great song away." More developments later that I'll report here. John and I are now very excited about the prospects for this one. I see where Llyoyd Weber's new incarnation of the Phantom "Love Never Dies" will actually start rehearsing three different companies at once in London at one time. The London Production, The Shanghai show and the show for Toranto which eventually will become the Broadway Cast that will occupy the Neil Simon Theatre. The London production will open in late October or early November of this year. John and i may rehearse two companies at once too if we get our second tier (run) of the show in June. The first production opens May 8th and runs for six performances on May 8th at 8pm, May 9th at 3pm and May 10th at 8pm. Followed by three more shows on May 15th, 16th, and 17th with the same times as above. So far with God's help, so good!