Guest Blogger: Sean Patrick Doyle

If you've ever understudied, you know that nothing can make your heart skip a beat like receiving a call from stage management two hours before your call time. And if you are, indeed, receiving news that you're on, you very professionally utter expletives, then say "Great, I'll be ready" before diving into your tracking sheets. That's exactly what happened this past Wednesday, when the cast cold finally claimed the voice of our incredible Sonny, Tommy Bracco - Big shoes to fill! But it was a fun challenge transforming from geek to greaser, and thankfully I got some laughs as the pint-sized Staten Island lady-killer.

Less than twenty four hours after celebrating the opening of Grease at Paper Mill, we found ourselves back in tech! This time, our sleepy cast was standing on the deck of the sparkling Skirball Center, preparing to honor Pat Birch at this year's Fred and Adele Astaire Awards. Birch is, of course, the five-time Tony Award nominee and two-time Emmy Award-winning choreographer who staged the musical numbers for original Broadway production of Grease, and both subsequent films. At the Astaire Awards, she was being honored with the Douglas Watt Lifetime Achievement Award.

Hey there Broadway World readers, this is Sean Patrick Doyle. I'm playing Rydell High valedictorian Eugene Florczyk in Paper Mill Playhouse's production of Grease, running in Millburn, New Jersey, through June 29th. The last time I had the pleasure of guest blogging for BWW, I was in rehearsals for the 2010 revival of La Cage Aux Folles; I've since traded the lipstick and high heels for thick eyeglasses and argyle sweaters. Voila!