Tony Awards 2011!

A emerald green dream come true!

A bit of a flashback and a flash-forward on this post. It's been a long time since my last post in late March - the pace of work and some business travel took over my life for April, May, and now June, so I haven't had any time to focus on blogging. But on this day, I decided I could carve out time for a pre-Tony Awards blog post, in celebration of what is a high holy day for me (a big ol' theater g(l)eek).

At the very end of March and the very start of April, I took a very short break to jet back to New York City for a quick visit, after a conference on the east coast. I might do a full flashback about that trip later, but for now, I wanted to share with you that I managed to squeeze in a long-awaited adventure on that trip: a ticket to "Wicked: Behind The Emerald Curtain," which is a backstage tour of "Wicked," one of my favorite musicals of all time, at the Gershwin Theater in New York City. Two of the original cast members led the tour and answered lots of questions and really made for a highly entertaining and educational few hours. And best of all: photos were permitted - score!

Tour begins!

"Animals Should Be Seen And Not Heard" still photo (me taking a picture of a picture)

So if you think I am a freak for actually watching the Tony Awards with a ballot of guesses and a glass of wine in hand, then I hope these little "insider" lessons will help shed light on why I am fascinated by live theatrical performance storytelling: it's the magic of witnessing the end result of so many different creative processes that involve complex decisions and strategic choices.

Even if you have never seen "Wicked" (and if you haven't, then why are you even reading this blog and do I really know you?), here are some things to know about it. Come along with me into Oz...

Wall Mural 1

Wall Mural 2

Wall Mural 3

When you attend a production like "Wicked," you see 2,000 costumes (about $2.5 million dollars worth) on stage (in under three hours) and there are about $1.5 million dollars worth of costumes backstage. All costumes are custom-made for each cast member (including gloves, shoes, hats, and wigs). The costumes of former cast members can be stored at an off-site facility (for "Wicked," this is a 5,000 square foot warehouse in Manhattan). For a show that has longevity in standing productions and tours (like "Wicked"), that means a warehouse full of costumes in almost every size so new cast members can be added without entirely new wardrobes having to be made. Some of the coats can weigh as much as 35 pounds - try dancing and singing and running on a raked stage wearing that under stage lights! All the beads and sequins on each costume are checked and hand-worked each day, which means if stitching has come loose or a string of sequins gets damaged, it is all fixed by hand before the next performance.

Kristin Chenoweth's original "Glinda" costume

Idina Menzel's original "Elphaba" costume

It may sound glamorous to imagine a Broadway show costume being made by hand to custom fit. But as the actors explained, after the grueling audition process is done, then you have to parade through costume fittings in your underwear with a crew of 15 people taking measurements in fully mirrored rooms under fluorescent lights multiple times. So much for glamor! The costumes start as sketches, are made into muslin patterns, and then get final fittings for construction. Many costumes (presumably those 35-pound ones) have removable linings that can be washed after each performance. And get this: the costumes that can't be laundered are cleaned by spraying them down with a solution of water and vodka (an unscented alcohol). Hmmm...never got that hint from Heloise, but that works for me - tip it!

Muslin pattern with fabric swatches

Costume under construction

Carole Shelley's original "Madame Morrible" costume

What you can't see from the audience seats are details like custom-made "Oz" buttons and beadwork on feathers and ribbons. If you ever thought that the costume design category of any award was a throwaway time to go to the bathroom, these insights might change your mind.

Close-up of a hat

Of course, after costumes are made, they sometimes have to be altered for actual performance use - these are not clothes modeled on a runway. So sometimes adjustments are made for ease of movement, depending on the choreography, and of course breakaway seams and Velcro might need to be added for quick changes. (For example, many cast members in "Wicked" are villagers in the opening number and students in the "welcome to school" number at Shiz University - total time in between costumes? 20 seconds. Let 'er rip!)

Mask for "Doctor Dillamond"

Mask for "Chistery" (lead flying monkey); the Chistery costume is also the heaviest and most expensive (at $35,000 each)

Assorted beastly masks

Masks and wigs are also custom fit and made for each actor, and the make-up artists paint masks to appear seamless with the face of the actor. Actors are trained to apply their own "under make-up" to complete this illusion. The sound department also has the difficult job of needing to be invisible on stage - microphones can be hidden in the eye sockets of masks (Doctor Dillamond's microphone is actually wired through the eyebrow of his mask), in hairnets that attach to wigs, or in the seams of costumes. The hair department uses mostly human hair in wigs and some yak hair in animal masks, along with other fibers. It turns out that wig fittings are fairly low-tech but very artisanal: hairs are applied by hand one at a time into the lace fabric that forms the base of the wig. And the wig fitting starts with Saran Wrap and Scotch Tape to trace the hairline and direction of hair growth of each actor.

Miniature model of set design: so much fills the space that you can't even see!

Inside the Gershwin Theatre: one of the largest Broadway theaters

Actual set: bigger than life-sized!

The set is designed to create the time and place of the story: it's what gives "once upon a time" more real feeling and sensibility. At the first rehearsals, the creative team explains the design of the production to inform the actors and guide the decisions made in the development process.

Set piece with flying monkey wings (folded)

A bit of trivia about the music: Stephen Schwartz stretched the first seven notes of "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" and transposed them onto a different chord to create the "Unlimited" theme that is sung many times in "Wicked." (Apparently, on the eighth note, "inspiration" becomes "copyright infringement.") To give the sense that all of "Wicked" happens in another universe, slightly off-parallel to ours, the very first note of the overture is performed in an asymmetrical A-minor chord to put the audience slightly off-kilter (similarly, classical music and operas use minor chords to convey dark/sad/dramatic emotions and major chords to convey happy/comedic/light emotions).

Grammy Award winning cast album!

To change the scenes in the show, there are 72 different "fly sets" that are moved in and out of the stage that the audience can see. All of this is done by hand through a system of pulleys, just as sets have been changed by human force through the history of theater - this is not yet mechanized by computers or robotics. There is, however, automation to move some of the set pieces on those platforms that slide onto the stage. This process involves technique known as "knifing the dogs" (the "dogs" are the devices are locked onto aircraft carrier cables that run under the stage and the "knives" are the metal flanges that drop through the set pieces into the dogs, creating a movable set piece). Even though many of these set pieces move slowly into place, a safety computer checks the torque on these cables 5,000 times per second during each performance. Actors also get paid an additional $20 per week as "extraordinary risk payment" for any show that uses smoke effects. "Wicked" developed technology for its own smoke duct system, over the course of its first year, to improve recovery of the smoke away from the audience and away from the orchestra pit.

The Stage Manager has the job of calling the cues to the sound and light boards and to all actors on-/off-stage. There are multiple cameras monitoring all activity in the theater, including some infrared cameras to monitor movement in the dark (and watch for safety). The Stage Manager's first priority is safety of cast and crew, and then his or her second priority is to ensure that "the show must go on." In a bit of Broadway history, near the end of her Broadway run as "Elphaba," Idina Menzel fell through a trapdoor in the stage. The Stage Manager called for 911 emergency response first, and then called the standby actor to close the second act. Talk about multitasking!

Another still photo from the stage

A show like "Wicked" is certainly dazzling to see, but what you don't see behind the scenes are approximately 125 people working backstage. This includes 10 electricians who check the 10,000 lights on stage before every performance ("Wicked" started using new energy efficient LEDs when they became available), costumers who weave their stories with actors as threads, and 3 sound engineers balancing everything the audience hears.

Tempted with more "merch"

When a show like "Wicked" tours, it requires a "4 walls rental" of each theater it will play in, meaning a full load-in of all sets and costumes. This requires 14 semi trucks and 31 hours to "unpack" into each new destination (slightly less time to break down and pack up). The Company Manager runs each production group and manages all payroll onsite everyday. Producers' jargon: "advertising" is paid/purchased (e.g,, television commercial, billboard); "publicity" is free (e.g., reviews, word of mouth). A show like "Wicked" costs about $500,000 per week to stage; the Broadway company generates a profit of $1.5-$2.5 million. And actors who go on tour with a show can earn an annual salary of $80,000 plus a per diem for living expenses, which is slightly more than a Broadway contract because let;s face it, who wants to live out of a suitcase for a year or so, moving every 8 days? Well, if it's what you live to do...

Anthony Galde demonstrates the secret mechanics that operate the flying monkey wings

Sean McCourte explains the video monitors and spotlights

I also got clarification on the roles that I read in actors' biographies. An actor in the "Ensemble" is a group cast member. A "swing' is an actor who performs multiple roles (or "tracks"). An "understudy" = is an actor who can substitute for a major role. A "standby" is the understudy for one role (usually the lead role) and generally has to be in partial costume/make-up and within a few minutes of the stage for each performance, ready to go on stage at a moment's notice from the Stage Manager.

Me with "Wicked" original cast member and "Behind The Emerald Curtain" co-creator and co-host, Sean McCourte

Me with "Wicked" original cast member and "Behind The Emerald Curtain" co-creator and co-host, Anthony Galde

As the co-hosts of this Broadway experience, Sean McCourte and Anthony Galde, explained, "Each performance is, by definition, a completely once in a lifetime experience." The actors, the musical notes, the sets, the laughs, the tears, the audience reactions, and even the mistakes and mishaps will never happen again. As I've often said, for me there is no greater indulgence than art. But the never-to-be-repeated exhilaration of live theater is just something I can never get tired of or bored with. Being a part of that once-in-a-lifetime show (even as an audience member) is what makes my heart race, my hairs stand on end, and yes even makes me cry, time after time after time. If I could, all of my disposable income would go to theater. And as I've also told some of my friends, I can find something amazing even in a clunker of a show: the lights, the costumes, the movements on stage, the sets, etc. And once a year, I happily settle in for one evening recognizing that kind of amazing once-in-a-lifetime storytelling - so, thanks, Tony Awards!

And thank you, "Behind The Emerald Curtain!"

P.S. The tour started with our hosts asking the huge crowd to raise their hands if they had seen the show once, twice, three times, etc. I was the only one with a hand raised at "6 or more times." They asked me to identify myself and the number of times I had seen it and I proudly said, "14 times in 3 different cities" (including the original Broadway cast twice in San Francisco before the New York opening and twice on Broadway after the show officially opened). No prize for that, but a tourist from Nebraska actually took my photo for that!(Maybe now I am in someone else's celebrity photo album!)