Covid-19 and NYGASP have been twirling me around for the past 2 years. I've wanted to be a part of New York Gilbert and Sullivan Player's since I first came to NYC 6 years ago. They have minimal auditions purely because of the nature of their rep company. They only do the hysterical operettas of dramatist W. S. Gilbert and composer Arthur Sullivan. I highly recommend watching Topsy Turvy if you're not familiar with these two. It's tremendously accurate and a delightful piece of film.
Flash back to January 2020, I found myself in a place were the artist's grind had pushed me to the brink of a full-time 9-5, but the phone still rang. Al Bergeret was on the phone looking for a replacement to jump on their South-East tour of Pirates of Penzance. If you're thinking, "I know nothing of this show," you probably do. "I am the very model of a modern Major-General" is probably the most iconic patter of all time. It's the tale of Fredric who was mistakenly apprenticed to a band of pirates until his 21st birthday. He stumbles upon newly arrived maidens and courts Mabel. Turns out, he was born on February 29th and is technically only 5. He is still under the Pirate King's command who's nemesis has become Mabel's father, General Stanley. I was given what felt like 2.5 rehearsals, and we were off! I had the time of my life singing, dancing and playing pretend in the merriest of shows with the most talented and welcoming band of artists. On our days off we went on adventures like kayaking, water skiing and yoga to garage band music. I grew very found of looking out the big windows on the bus, listening to tunes and podcasts for hours. After Pirates, I immediately jumped on NYGASP's South-West tour of The Mikado, and that's when Covid made their first entrance. Week one on the bus we all made light of the articles about the virus. Come the second week of March, we had very much changed our tune, and the bus vibe was ominous. Our final shows in Folsom, CA had been called off. While driving in the middle of the desert to our closing leg of tour in Cerritos, CA, everything had been canceled. Many of us jumped on a red eye at LAX just as the whole country was shutting down. Flash forward to end of November 2021. We're leaping back into rehearsals for more Pirates with arms jabbed, nostrils swabbed and faces masked (which is astronomically annoying for singing). The plan is to have a New York run at Kaye Playhouse and then a Midwest tour come March. The Midwest tour is everything to me. I've been bumped to playing Isabel, one of General Stanley's youngest daughters who cannot contain herself from dancing (or flirting). The tour would stop outside of Chicago where I was born, and in Danville, KY of all places where my mom's family is. Enter Omicron, the hot new Covid variant just before the holidays. Inevitably the New York run is canceled with the tour to follow. I sobbed. This was the worst deja vu, and not only that, but at the time these were the only artistic jobs I had to look forward to. I went home. I devoured lots of deep dish and raw cookie dough, and played pretend and sang with my niece. Planting us back in the present, tonight I had the first of 2 rehearsals before tech next week. I am so delighted to say we are finally performing Pirates at home in New York City. Our production runs at Kaye Playhouse April 8th - 10th. I'll be on for miss Isabel April 8th at 7:30pm and April 9th at 2pm. Click this link for tickets and information https://nygasp.org/the-pirates-of-penzance-2022.
1 Comment
MARY MYERS
4/25/2022 05:06:40 am
So much lost to Covid. Congratulations on the comeback.
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