{"id":327,"date":"2024-02-25T16:27:44","date_gmt":"2024-02-25T21:27:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/performingartslegacy.org\/fitzpatrickallen\/?p=327"},"modified":"2024-09-05T22:16:13","modified_gmt":"2024-09-06T02:16:13","slug":"the-first-broadway-show-1991","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/performingartslegacy.org\/fitzpatrickallen\/the-first-broadway-show-1991\/","title":{"rendered":"The First Broadway Show (1991)"},"content":{"rendered":"

No collection of my career highlights would be complete without a (brief) account of performing in the original Broadway production of Les Miserables.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n[aesop_image force_fullwidth=”off” lightbox=”off” captionposition=”left” captionsrc=”custom” align=”center” imgwidth=”100%” img=”https:\/\/performingartslegacy.org\/fitzpatrickallen\/wp-content\/plugins\/editus\/public\/assets\/img\/empty-img.png” panorama=”off”]\n

In 1991, I was delighted to receive a call from my agent that Andy Zerman at Johnson-Liff wanted me to audition as a replacement for Thenardier, the Master of the House, in the production playing at the Imperial. I went in for a \u201cwork session\u201d with Richard-Jay Alexander and was stunned to hear, later that same afternoon, that they were offering me a contract.<\/p>\n[aesop_image force_fullwidth=”off” lightbox=”off” captionposition=”left” captionsrc=”custom” align=”center” imgwidth=”70%” img=”https:\/\/performingartslegacy.org\/fitzpatrickallen\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/206\/2024\/09\/1991-Les-Mis-Thenardier-d-2.jpg” panorama=”off”]\n

The cast had been playing the show for quite <\/u>some time and for some it was just a job\u2013 but for me it was incredibly exciting. I found all of my fellow cast members friendly and supportive.<\/p>\n

I rehearsed the show barely two weeks before I went on.<\/p>\n[aesop_image force_fullwidth=”off” lightbox=”off” captionposition=”left” captionsrc=”custom” align=”center” imgwidth=”50%” img=”https:\/\/performingartslegacy.org\/fitzpatrickallen\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/206\/2024\/09\/1991-LES-MIS-Thenardier-eg-scaled.jpg” panorama=”off”]\n

It was a terrifying evening. For one thing, I was on stage with many actors whom I\u2019d never met; my \u201cput-in\u201d only involved a few of the cast. What is more, it was announced that so many actors had called out sick that night, there\u2019d be two \u201ccombo\u201d track\u2013 I didn\u2019t know what that meant, and was informed that four actors would be covering the roles usually played by six (!)<\/p>\n[aesop_image force_fullwidth=”off” lightbox=”off” captionposition=”left” captionsrc=”custom” align=”center” imgwidth=”85%” img=”https:\/\/performingartslegacy.org\/fitzpatrickallen\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/206\/2024\/09\/1991-LES-MIS-Imperial-Theatre-Lobby.jpg” panorama=”off”]\n

I\u2019d also never sung with the orchestra (or any <\/em>full Broadway-size orchestra) until that first night, nor had I heard the sound effects (e.g., <\/em>water dripping in the sewer), nor used a body mic, nor been on stage with clouds of chemical smoke and fog. Nor on a stage so deeply raked that Actors Equity later changed the rules to prohibit it.<\/p>\n

The show at that time was 3 hours and ten minutes long. (Its length was, much later, reduced.) I would leave the theatre on weeknights at 11:30 and get home at midnight.<\/p>\n[aesop_image force_fullwidth=”off” lightbox=”off” captionposition=”left” captionsrc=”custom” align=”center” imgwidth=”92%” img=”https:\/\/performingartslegacy.org\/fitzpatrickallen\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/206\/2024\/09\/1991-LES-MIS-Imperial-Theatre-B.jpg” panorama=”off”]\n

Getting that first Broadway show opened up the possibility for me to be taken seriously when other Broadway shows were casting, and I was fortunate to do seven more over the next twenty years.<\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

No collection of my career highlights would be complete without a (brief) account of performing in the original Broadway production of Les Miserables. 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