John Preator News

Westchester Broadway Theatre presents SHOW BOAT, with music by Jerome Kern and book & lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II, directed and choreographed by Richard Stafford, with musical direction by Ryan Wise, now through November 29, 2015 and December 30, 2015 - January 31, 2016. BroadwayWorld has a fresh look at the cast in action below!

Tonight we said good-bye to our good friend Miss Millie Dillmount. 'Thoroughly Modern Millie' was the third show in our season here at Tuacahn that we learned and it came straight off the heels of opening 'Mary Poppins' and 'Starlight Express'. It was a whirlwind of an experience as we had only about 4 weeks to get it ready for an audience. What made it even crazier was that we could only rehearse for about 5 hours a day as we were doing our other two shows at night, oh and did I mention it was about 115 degrees during the day at the time and we were rehearsing outside for about half of the process. At the helm of this monumental task was our director/choreographer Jeffrey Denman. Now I have known Jeffry for a couple years but have never had the opportunity to work with him so I was very excited when he showed up to share his 'Millie' with us. I have to say if it had been anyone other than Jeffry, I don't think we could have pulled it off. His passion was immense and as he put us through the paces and shared his vision of Hi-Boys and Flappers we all had this sense that our production was going to be a spectacular endeavor. Everything was going smoothly for me until a bit of tragedy hit my life and I had to fly home unexpectedly to celebrate the life of my beloved Grandma, Rose Ebenhoch and her passing on June, 19th. It was an extremely difficult time for me but I couldn't have asked for a more supportive group of friends to help me get through it. Once I returned and got back into the swing of things with the show it seemed as if the elements were plotting against us, from sweltering heat one day to complete downpours during tech, it made the process that much more special for us. But eventually we got through it all and opened the show to an overwhelming response of praise and cheers for us.

There is something very exciting about doing regional work as opposed to being on tour. For one you get to be in one city for extended amount of time and you don't have to live in a hotel. Yes the benefits of a hotel room are awesome. Turn down service, fresh towels, room service. I could go on and on. But for me there is nothing better than actually being in an apt, even when I am on tour I prefer it. I have space for one thing, I am not around other loud hotel guests, I can bring my dog with me (very important), and I actually feel like I am living in the city I am working in as opposed to just being a tourist. In a way it almost feels like home. You have a life, you make friends, you have your daily routine, your favorite coffee shop, and your favorite place to eat and let me tell you, you can't beat my view.

6 months, 172 days, 4,128 hours...but hey, who's counting