Guest Blogger: Eric Ulloa - Page 2

Last installment, I left you with word of a surprise this week that I wouldn't tell you until today. Never in a million years did I think the week would end up the way it has and that I would have so so so so much to bring you…but alas, I do.

Ham and Cheese. Balsamic Vinegar and Olive Oil. Peanut Butter and Jelly.

Like a page straight out of a comic opera, 'The Most Happy Fella' utilizes a trio of comic relief to introduce us to the world of Tony's Vineyard and just how damn Italian it all is. This relief comes in the form of three chefs that work for Tony and when not cooking, they belt out their powerhouse voices (you have NO idea what you're in store for until you hear them!) that bring down the house eight shows a week. This week I give you the actors that bring Pasquale, Guiseppe and Ciccio to life - Martin Sola, Greg Roderick and Daniel Berryman. I hope you enjoy getting to know this tasty trio! (I promise that sounded a lot less creepy in my head)

For how quiet the town of East Haddam is, this cast has somehow found ways to pack a ton of excitement and activities into our brief time offstage. This past week saw an event that (in my opinion) is pretty rare during the run of a show...one of our cast members got hitched. No, I did not get wasted and end up in Vegas waking up to nuptials and regret, but our very own bossy Italian chef 'Pasquale', Martin Sola, got married to his beautiful fiance Michelle. And I am not exaggerating about her beauty, as I call her his 'Middle Earth Wife' as if she comes from some perfect elf world where everything on the person is flawless...and I suppose Martin is no slouch either

Okay, yes the title is a bit dramatic, but allow me to paint you a picture that may prove a worthy defense of this choice.

Every musical has to have their antagonist, and in our case we have two here in the Napa Valley. This week we feature our overbearing Italian sister hostess with the mostess our very own 'Marie', Ann Arvia.

There's no business, like show business, like no business I know...

There is a moment that all singers dread while auditioning. It doesn't happen too often, but when it comes, there is no stopping your pulse racing or the eventual formation of lower back/ butt crack sweat.

Little Tin Box

This week has been out of control busy. Since we are still in previews, the show is still changing and that means rehearsals by day and then shows at night (plus matinees). Much like the phrase 'twerking', we are tired and in need of being used less. That's the job though, and the end product and successful run is the reward waiting for us.

Standing backstage in the wings of the theatre, you begin to notice that your pulse has increased and you're a little sweaty despite the freezing AC coming down on you. 'Rosabella' is singing the last 16 bars of 'Somebody, Somewhere' and you can feel the vibration of the automation kicking in that will soon roll the diner off and take the audience from San Francisco to the Napa Valley. You check and recheck that your prop comb is in your pocket and that your prop newspaper is tucked into your waistband and ready for use. The actors next to you are doing similar actions, whether checking their own props or running lines in their head, looking at times like a manic person on the New York City subway talking to themselves. The song ends and since the scrim is down in front of you, you only hear muffled applause, therefore unable to gauge how things have gone these first 15 minutes of the show. The scrim lifts, the lights blare into your eyes and you see the once vacant seats now full of strangers who have paid to have a great evening of theatre. The time has finally arrived…ladies and gentlemen, it's time for your first preview.

Today's blog is brought to you by my second cup of coffee and the last tiny flecks of energy I have left after this insane tech week. The insanity and long hours though, have brought us to this, our first preview, where the world will see what we've been working on for that last five weeks. Will it be a hit for the Goodspeed? Will people find our grapes to be sour? (Grant me at least one Napa Valley pun…I'm exhausted). I have my opinions on our show, which I've mentioned at length on here, but the audience member is the one who truly decides our fate.

Sometimes the stars align and the universe grants us the rare opportunity to see an actor in a role that they were born to play one day. To say that Bill Nolte is 'Tony Esposito' is the understatement of the year. If you don't get misty eyed during his 'Mama, Mama' or in the last 15 minutes of this show, I will buy you a drink at the Gelston House after the show (Hey Goodspeed, I can borrow that corporate credit card just in case right?). Bill is also one hell of a great guy and someone you'd just love to sit down and enjoy a glass of wine with for the stories alone. So without further ado, I give you my interview with 'the most happy fella' himself, Mr. Bill Nolte.

There is a high holy day each week, where actors pause to relax and reflect on everything that has happened the 6 days prior…and thy name is Monday. So, with excitement for the blessed days arrival, the cast of The Most Happy Fella had their first run through for the show designers, producers and staff this past Sunday. Up until this point we have been blocking the individual scenes and numbers, not really aware of what the full journey would feel like. I knew the scenes and numbers I was in, that I had set transition assignments and that my chest seized up every time I finished dancing "Big D," but I had no idea what/how it all came together. Like Amanda Bynes to a ratty wig, we actors need an audience to really feel it all come together and add in that new element that we hadn't felt thus far.

The theatrical world is extremely small. There is this preconceived notion that there are thousands of actors and that our community is massive, but when you scale it down to working actors in New York City, we are a thimble sized network of people who all somehow know or know of each other. So when an actress with the talent and resume of Mamie Parris crosses your path just now for the first time, you begin to think to yourself, "Where the hell have I been?"

So this show marks my first time in the ensemble in my professional career. Now, I mean that just as a fact, not as an "ugh, the ensemble" type comment. In fact, my mind has been blown in these past two weeks as to the amount of extra work one must put in when the circumstances given to you are sing, dance and insert random line during a scene change where you're grabbing a stool to take offstage. Our director, Rob Ruggiero, is very detail oriented and insists on an ensemble that has their own backstories and aren't just "peas and carrots" and "hub-bubbing" in group scenes. This cast has risen to the challenge and have created a warm and inviting community chock full of relationships and intricacies. Me? I'm giving you a full committed three act riff of August: Osage County deep within my subtle, "Well, hi boss!" and "Yeah, I seen her picture. She's beautiful." As I always say, "If you give a mouse a cookie…"

Well hello there, my name is Eric Ulloa (pronounced oo- yo- ah), and I am in the cast of Goodspeed's upcoming revival of The Most Happy Fella. I am also your blogger for these next several weeks to give you an inside scoop on the cast, production, backstage happenings and what I'm calling, 'tell 'em all you can without getting a train ticket home.'