Broadway Blog: Harvey Fierstein Serves Up 'A Catered Affair'

Welcome to the debut of a very special new series on BroadwayWorld.com - four time Tony Award-winner Harvey Fierstein's personal MySpace blog of bringing his brand new musical, A CATERED AFFAIR to Broadway. We'll be exclusively picking up Harvey Fierstein's blog as he shares his first hand reports from rehearsals, to out-of-town tryouts to Opening Night (and beyond).  A CATERED AFFAIR also features a score by John Bucchino and is being directed by Tony Award-winner John Doyle. Prior to Broadway, the new musical will play at San Diego's Old Globe Theatre beginning September 20th and then hit the Great White Way at the  Walter Kerr Theatre with previews beginning on begin March 25. The cast includes Broadway favorites Faith Prince, Tom Wopat, Harvey Fierstein, Leslie Kritzer and Matt Cavenaugh. Group tickets for the show are now on sale. 

HEY KIDS!!!!

Sorry I haven't blogged in more than a week, but we have begun rehearsals for A CATERED AFFAIR and I'm spinning!!!! Well, it's not just that I'm the bookwriter, a producer, and in the show, but the rehearsal schedule has me commuting back and forth from my home (in a small fictional town in Connecticut) to Manhattan's Chelsea district and that commute is a total pain in the ass! Chelsea may be great for looking at gym-boys, but it sucks for driving during rush hour. And what the hell are we doing rehearsing a show during RUSH HOUR? I went into theater because I'm a night person. If I wanted to work in the morning I'd get a job on TV and make some real money. MATINEES are bad enough, but FORCING me to sing at 10 AM is just inhumane.

THIS CONCLUDES THE BITCHING PORTION OF THIS BLOG BECAUSE...

(other than the commute to BoyTown)

... REHEARSALS ARE A TOTAL BLAST!!!!

The cast is just terrific. Truly. You know, there are only ten of us in the show and every person in the cast is ENORMOUSLY talented and a unique individual. Faith Prince is just an absolute trooper. It's so much fun to watch her work and to see her get to sink her teeth into a meaty role like this. And Tom Wopat... well, who measures up to this guy? He can sing, act and he's got a pretty hot way about him. And what a doll he is.

And talk about dolls - That Leslie Kritzer is an absolute living doll. And so funny. Obviously folks know that she has a great ear for immitation from her infamous take on Patti LuPone's LES MOUCHES shows, but you have not lived until you've heard her LIZA.

Another kind of doll is that dreamboat Matt Cavenaugh. Nothing I've ever seen him do prepared me for what a pleasure it would be to work with him. He comes prepared, open to the experience, good natured, good humored... I'm loving that boy!
As for the trio of character ladies... the beautiful LORI WILNER, the goddess Heather MacRae, and the incomparable KRISTINE ZBORNAK... The three of these women are so talented, so inventive, so hysterically funny that I am constantly biting the inside of my cheek to keep from laughing and finish scenes.

And then there's the adorable KATIE KLAUS with whom I first fell in love when she appeared in the revival of FOLLIES. She was living proof there that there are no small roles when you've got what it takes.

Rounding out the cast is the wonderful Philip Hoffman and that hack Harvey Fierstein. In the first two weeks of rehearsal they have provided plenty of laughs along with the necessary measure of unbridled testosterone.

MAESTRO John Doyle -

Well, I know there are plenty of folks who made jokes about Mr Doyle sticking instruments in every actor's hands... I myself secreted a triangle in my pocket which I produced and played at the first read-thru of the script to comic effect. But let me assure you that there are no musical instruments onstage in this production AND that Mr Doyle needs no gimmicks to work his magic. Listen, kids, I have worked with some of the best from Sidney Lumet to Jack O'Brien to David Levaux, Tom O'Horgan, Arthur Laurents... John Doyle is THE REAL DEAL. Fast and inventive and frighteningly intelligent, he creates a safe place for actors to expand and explore and be as adventurous as they dare.

He has studied the text and knows it better than I. From that vantage he prods and challenges the actors to go all the way with their choices and from there, with gentle humor and loving parental advice, he helps shape each moment, each performance, each scene... It's a wonder to watch him work. And I can tell you that I've seldom seen such happy actors at work. We all feel privelaged to have this opportunity to rehearse under such masterly tutelage. AND let us not forget that he is also quite a musician. During rehearsals he effortlessly works from the score to shape the songs and musical moments within scenes. Man, you gotta see this guy work!!!!

THE SHOW ITSELF

Well, objectivity ain't something that hangs around in rehearsal rooms. Honestly, when you are putting so much time and effort into a project the last thing you'd want to do is to remain outside the experience just to retain objectivity. Being in a show is like taking the best roller coaster ride. You don't want to keep your eyes closed when diving over the top. Know what I mean? Hey, you only get one shot at this so the best thing an actor can do is to pour her/himself into the experience completely.
All of this to say that I don't know what the show will be like for an audience.

I do know that before we ever got into rehearsals John Bucchino and I worked very hard to create a smart, well crafted, honest, human and very moving theatrical piece. Have we achieved that goal? We had two readings with a cast performing the material almost without rehearsal and they went awfully well.

And I can tell you that in the rehearsal room the scenes and songs pop and sizzle and soar effortlessly through the days of work and repetition. But we're still doing things in small chunks and won't begin putting whole movements together until next week. I might be able to tell you more then. All I can say now is.... KNOCK WOOD... we are all very happy with our baby.

THE JOURNEY

AS I sit here writing this blog to you I can't help thinking about the long journey that got us here. I had the idea to write A CATERED AFFAIR more than twenty years ago. I thought it would be a great role for my mentor and friend, MISS Chita Rivera. Well, I didn't get it together to write it for her, but six years ago I finally decided it was time to write the piece for me, or rather for what I wanted to express about the human condition.

So my brother/business partner and I set out to get the rights and then to put the pieces together. That it took six years from then to now seems short, but compared to a four week rehearsal period...?

THIS BLOG

Well, I'm not sure how much insight I've given you all into the process. But now that I"ve brought you up to date I'm sure my reports will become more anecdotal. And I'll try to snap some better photos of the gang at work.

We're halfway through studio rehearsals.
Fifteen days until we leave for San Diego.
And just TWENTY-FIVE DAYS UNTIL OUR FIRST AUDIENCE!

BIRTHING BROADWAY

There is simply no other experience like creating a new show. Every character is being LAUNCHED into the world for the first time. Every unfamiliar song will be a revelation for the listener's ears. And when an audience latches onto a good story for the very first time... Well, I've lived a charmed life and have luckily been part of a whole mess of such births. Some have produced smash hits. I've been in my share of "good shows". And I've obviously suffered the seismic quakes of a mega-bomb or two. I think I know where A CATERED AFFAIR is going to land in that terrain, but I would never dare predict. Not this early. I hope you will all come along for the journey with me and the rest of the company. With these blogs I will try to keep you up to date so...

OH, YEAH...

A NOTE ON THIS BLOG - My regular readers will, of course, be catching up on my MYSPACE page where I have been blogging since my adventures doing HAIRSPRAY in Las Vegas 18 months ago. But BROADWAY WORLD.COM has asked to publish these blogs on their page where a wider theater audience will be able to keep up with the adventure of creating A CATERED AFFAIR. So, let me welcome any new BWW readers to my blogs, and to the already inducted I simply say, AS ALWAYS...

STAY TUNED! 

Group tickets for A CATERED AFFAIR are now on sale. Click here to visit/subscribe to Harvey's blog.