Harvey's Broadway Blog: Saturday Rainstorms

Harvey Returns! Welcome to The Return of 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 Opening Night (and beyond). Check back for updates as rehearsals get underway!

I'M DAMP, TIRED, I'M SCARED THAT THE ELECTRICITY IS ABOUT TO GO OUT FROM THE STORM BLOWING AS I TYPE BUT ...I'M HAPPY.

After a five month hiatus, we are back in rehearsals. And look... Our names are up in lights on the great white way.


We're rehearsing at a studio where lots of other shows are working as well. I love that because you run into everyone you know in the halls and elevators. On Thursday alone I saw NATHAN LANE, MARC SHAIMAN & SCOTT WITTMAN, HAIRSPRAY producer MARGO LION, MARION SELDES, TERENCE MC NALLY and a multitude of singers and dances with whom I've worked over the years. Being at the studio is like old home week.

We only worked three days this week, and with just a partial cast, so I haven't gotten to hear the entire script and score as yet, but the changes I've heard so far are all so wonderful that I am in heaven.

Trying out the show at THE OLD GLOBE was great because they have a terrific theater audience who can really tell you what you're doing wrong and right. But it was also hard because, thanks to the LORT contract, the preview period was pretty short and then the show had to be frozen. That's fine for a revival. But when you are trying to create a show that's never been produced before you want the freedom to try different things in front of an audience and to make daily changes until it all feels right. That's what out-of-town-try-outs are supposed to be about.

But in our situation, whenever I spotted something not working, I would go back to my apartment and make the necessary changes in the script, but I could not see those changes implemented during that run. It was plenty frustrating as you can imagine.

Now Don't get me wrong, I ain't complaining too much since the show we produced sold out and was extended, swept the SAN DIEGO DRAMA CRITIC CIRCLE AWARDS, and garnered a bevy of wonderful reviews. Still, the composer, the director and I all had changes we wanted to make but could not. NOW, AT LAST, we are making them for Broadway and just hearing them out loud is, as I said, HEAVEN to me.

Here's our fearless director JOHN DOYLE cuddling up with our star Broadway's own FAITH PRINCE. Don't they look happy to be back in rehearsal?

LORI WILNER and HEATHER MAC RAE get a quick brush-up on lyrics old and new.

Here is composer JOHN BUCCHINO listening to a bit of his music played by musical director CONSTANTINE KITSOPOULOS.

And here is associate director ADAM HUNTER trying to keep up with the production changes thrown at him during rehearsal while CLAUDIA LYNCH keeps up with the script changes. (BUCCHINO & DOYLE pow-wow on the side)

Tomorrow is a day off. So if I survive the winds howling outside my windows tonight, I will rest up on Sunday and launch into the first full week of rehearsals. I'm certain there will be lots of adventures, lots of stories, lots of photos to share with you all so...

STAY TUNED!

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