ONSTAGE & BACKSTAGE: Putting on The Ritz
By Seth Rudetsky
03 Jul 2007
The real devastating part was that after writing a Tony- nominated Broadway show and starring in it, she still couldn't get an agent! After the show closed, she had such trouble landing work that she took a gig in the Midwest doing Pump Boys in a mall! A part of the stage led to the loading dock, and one day a UPS man actually came onstage and asked someone to sign for a delivery…and Deb did. Maybe now he can sell it on eBay?
The part I loved is that she heard that The Louisville Rep was having auditions for their season, and she flew herself there and asked to audition. They kept saying that she had to be submitted by an agent, but she begged and said that she flew there on her own dime and just wanted a chance. She auditioned, got a part and while she was in Kentucky, she finally got a New York agent who she's still with today. I love that she took her career into her own hands and wasn't afraid of begging.
Sunday night I went to Caroline's Comedy Club to see my old buddy, Linda Smith, whom I used to be a writer with on "The Rosie O'Donnell Show." Her stand up is hi-larious. She said she loves the beach but can't deal with the sand, so she wants to stay in her apartment and pretend she's at the beach. "First, I'll gather up a couple of radios and put them all on different stations, then I'll invite over a really loud family with kids and make 'em sit right next to me . . . and then I'll just sit in front of the fan and try to light cigarettes."
OK, I saw William Finn's brilliant Falsettoland and, as I predicted, I literally cried from start to finish. I went twice this week because I love it so much, and, of course, in the middle of my weeping, my mother leaned over and (loudly) asked if I had allergies. I was in a rage that she didn't pick up on the fact I was crying, 'til I realized that I was pre-crying. That's when you know a show so well, you cry way too early because you know the devastating things that are gonna happen later on. For instance, the second time I saw Ragtime, I broke down in tears as soon as Audra walked onstage. Hence, my mother assumed it was hay fever that made me do non-stop nose blowing during the hilarious "Baseball Game" song. The all-Asian production was very well directed by Alan Muraoka, and the cast was top notch. I think the show should perpetually be playing in New York. The characters are so rich. There's no hero, no perfect person. All the characters are flawed, and that's what makes them real. And the story is so beautiful. It's about what love really is. Not, "Oh, you're great looking and nice, I love you," but true love like 13-year-old Jason deciding to have his Bar Mitzvah in Whizzer's hospital room because he loves his father and he loves Whizzer.
This coming week starts intense rehearsals for The Rosie Cruise…and then we sail next Saturday.
I want to close the column by writing about Thommie Walsh, who passed away two weeks ago. I met Thommie when he worked on a show I did with Kristine Zbornik and Varla Jean Merman called "Holiday Hams." Thommie staged the songs but spent much time answering my obsessive questions about his Broadway career … especially his first Broadway show, Seesaw. Thommie was in the original version that was playing in Detroit (on its way to Broadway) when Michael Bennett was brought in to fix the show. Michael, in his direct way, ixnayed most of the ensemble by walking around backstage and telling them they were fired right before they went onstage! Thommie said he would be backstage stretching, see Michael coming, and literally hide behind a costume rack to avoid being canned! He needn't have hid because Michael loved him as a performer. He kept him in the show and, of course, a few years later, Thommie originated the role of Bobby in A Chorus Line. He then went on to do brilliant work on Best Little Whorehouse, My One and Only and one of my absolute favorite shows, A Day in Hollywood/A Night in the Ukraine. Thommie was hilarious and multi-talented and will always be remembered as a part of Broadway history ("If Troy Donahue could be a movie star…then I could be a movie star…").
*
(Seth Rudetsky is the host of "Seth's Big Fat Broadway" on SIRIUS Satellite Radio and the author of "The Q Guide to Broadway." He has played piano in the orchestras of 15 Broadway musicals, and he can be contacted by visiting www.sethsbroadwaychatterbox.com.)
