Gearing up for Opening Night: Kaboom!

It has been a whirlwind of a week! On Wednesday, I had tech rehearsals at the Cherry Lane Theatre for Kaboom and I have to say it was one of the smoothest techs I've been through! Considering we had to do a load-in of set, costumes and props in 15 minutes and be ready for performance in 10 minutes, that is amazing! And then running the show with lights and sound in only 3 hours (it's a 2 hour show and most tech rehearsals for a show of this calibre are usually 8 hours at least), it was quite a feat!

Major kudos to our Kaboom crew including our stage manager, Devan Hibbard, Amanda Gwin (Asst. SM), Jon Mark Ponder (asst. director), Travis McHale (scenic designer), Jen Schriever (lighting designer), David Premack (sound designer), Ren LaDassor (costume designer), Oliver Horsey (production asst.), and of course our associate director/choreographer Penny Ayn Maas, casting director Jamibeth Margolis, director BT McNicholl, and our lovely writer/producer Michael Small.

And of course the cast has been a dream to work with! Ray Wills, who helms Kaboom as the con man behind all the explosive action, was one of Nathan Lane's alternates in The Producers on Broadway and was touted for his strong voice and absolute funniness. He also went on for Jason Alexander in the LA production of the show. Fred Rose, our "straight man," played the cello as the character David in the Broadway production of Company. Kristen Cerelli and I had taken a workshop with Jersey Boys musical director Ron Melrose, and besides being an awesome singer-songwriter, she is a lovely funny lady. John DiDomenico is hysterical as Kaljo Bouree, "Mick Jagger of the Kazoo." He is also an incredible mimic and had me in stitches last night with his Austin Powers/Dr. Evil impressions. Tyler Hollinger and Jim Barry round out the cast and they are both brilliantly funny.

We open this Saturday at 6:45 PM on Cherry Lane's Mainstage. There may still be a few tickets left, so if you're in the mood for a zany comedy, come on by!