The next round of opening night preparations comes with the interception of the barrage of floral arrangements arriving at the Richard Rodgers Theatre.
Flowers waiting at the Rodgers stage door are unloaded from a van and taken up to the dressing rooms, where they will greet the cast when they come in later in the day. The flowers come from Zuzu's Petals, a floral shop in Brooklyn.
Fonda, the proprietress of Zuzu's, sees the show in previews and decides on the arrangements from what she sees. She's been to Footloose twice and her color choices show as tulips, sunflowers and roses pass by in a flood of yellows, oranges, pinks and reds.
All the arrangements are wrapped in cellophane with pink and purple ribbons. Hand-calligraphied cards are placed with the flowers.
At the Marriott Marquis, prepartions are underway for the opening night party. The "Westside Ballroom" will serve as the home of Footloose's Senior Prom. Tonight's prom will be complete with buffet tables in the shaped of Footloose's "F" logo, a 12 piece dance band, and the staple of every high school dance -- the photo booth. One of theatre photographer Joan Marcus' assistants will be on hand with a Polaroid to capture guests' special "prom" memories.
There had been talk about getting the Bacon Brothers (Michael and yes, THAT Kevin) to perform, but Kevin is doing a night shoot in Chicago. He will be unable to attend the show tonight -- but is expected this Saturday.
The Dodger's John Haber is here to check on another piece of the opening night party -- the Footloose cookie. Haber created the cookie, shaped like a two inch long gingerbread foot.
Haber based the design on the North Carolina Tarheels cookies he makes - minus the Tarheel stamp that goes in the corner of the cookie. Chef Aron Lesko used a hundred pounds of dough to make the 2500 cookies, which are actually, he says, a combination of a gingerbread and pffernaus cookie.
After checking on the cookies -- finished by noon -- Haber returns to his office, where there are still gifts to finish organizing and seats to finish arranging.
Haber's opening night work won't end today. There are post-opening presents to be given to the investors and others who have worked on the project but aren't present today. In a way, opening night marks the beginning of another round of work.
