Today, I've been asked to write some comments and observations about my experience in the show. Here I go:

This is June 30th and the first official day of rehearsal, and in a way the initial day of "play practice" is like the first day of school for me; I want to make sure my outfit looks nice, I check and recheck my bag the night before to make sure I have sharp pencils, I write the word "lunch" on scratch paper and tape it to the front door so I don't forget to pack one in the midst of all of my excitement. The biggest difference, I guess, between this specific production going into rehearsal and a real first day of school is that unlike entering a classroom blindly, I know all about the teacher and have heard that the other classmates are going to be really nice. I've heard and read so much about Baayork and Fran Liebergall, the musical director, for a long time: from friends who have worked with them, in books by and about them. It's the same with the cast; it seemed that every day before rehearsals began I was hearing, "Oh, I've worked with the guy playing so-and-so and you're going to love him,"or "Please give Baayork our best," that sort of stuff. It's really a comfort, knowing you're going into such a deeply personal show (and into a pretty long run) with a group of people with whom you feel confident you're going to have a great time.

So far, I see what everyone's been talking about. Baayork is a wealth of information and energy, and I'm so excited to be learning the show from Fran, too; in one of the A Chorus Line books I've read, I've seen her pictures and read all of her quotes. I get home and look at the book and think, "I just learned 'The Opening' from the same woman whom I've been reading about since high school in Pittsburgh."

During my costume fitting today I kept trying to sneak peeks at Mark (Zach) and Baayork's rehearsal. He and Baayork and (assistant and former Connie) Zoe and (stage manager) Greg and (assistant) Michael were all together doing the "names." I was hearing such exciting stuff that only someone who had a really intimate relationship with the show would know: What Zach feels about certain people, the things he says to specifically make certain characters uncomfortable. Zach certainly isn't grilling the dancers for arbitrary reasons, I gather, but rather in a methodical, careful way. I had known some of these things about A Chorus Line before, but not to the extent of the levels that they were exploring.

The last couple of days some people got together with Baayork and Michael (Bobby on Broadway!) and went through the Tap Combination and the Fourth Montage; every time we stopped for Baayork or Michael to say something, I just tried to soak it in. I thought of them as "free master-classes," and they really were. Today Fran talked so eloquently about the show ("This isn't musical comedy, remember that A Chorus Line won the Pulitzer Prize for drama," she said.). Here is someone who has been such a part of a legendary show and yet she, and seemingly everyone who is and was a part of this show in some way, approaches the piece with such reverence and newness.

Today Baayork told me "You're part of the family now." I hope I can live up to that legacy. In the show, the character Bebe keeps saying these funny, star-struck things: "Robert Goulet, Robert Goulet, my GOD, Robert Goulet!" I feel the same way: "This cast, this cast, my GOD, this cast!" I am truly proud to be one of them.

October 2, 2001

We're approaching the end of the run at Paper Mill and I was just rereading my initial thoughts about the rehearsals and the then-upcoming run from my June 30 "ACL Diaries." How long ago that now seems!

The last performance is coming a week sooner for me than for the rest of the cast because of performance conflicts with Radio City, where I'll begin rehearsals on the Christmas Spectacular during the last week of the run. I can't believe that I only have eight more chances at the "turn-turn-out-in" of the Opening Combination! The weeks at Paper Mill have flown by.

Touring this past summer brought me to new and old places. I was last in Atlanta, which was our first city of the tour, back in January of 2000 with the Super Bowl Half-time Show. I loved walking around, rediscovering the little book stores and restaurants and coffee shops that the cast of the Half-time Show had found in our three weeks there. What an experience being back in Atlanta during the summer instead of the winter! Talks about extremes! The Fox was an incredible theatre, with stars that literally twinkled in the ceiling. The old theatres, with such histories and opulent designs, are my favorite to play. It's almost like being in a church to me, a place with so many stories.

There are so many other highlights from the tour, including playing Pittsburgh, which is where I'm from and where I made my "professional debut" in a production of Oliver on the very stage where A Chorus Line played. I got to stay with my family and see friends I hadn't seen in years.

Then came the "once-in-a-lifetime" experience of the outdoor Kansas City Starlight. It is truly humbling having to perform with mosquitoes on stage and the sun still in the sky! I actually loved performing outdoors because the humidity and heat kept me totally warm throughout the whole show! I was one of the lucky ones in a tank-top; I have a feeling that those in sweaters and turtlenecks were eagerly looking forward to the next city. A particular memory from Kansas City: the final "Kiss today goodbye" chorus of "What I Did for Love", singing right out into the sky when we would usually be looking towards a balcony. There was some special meaning to it for me, feeling that these words about having no regrets and doing what we do for the love it, had more weight when being sung out into the open air. Is that silly? I just felt like we were somehow sharing those thoughts with the whole world instead of just an audience full of people inside four walls.

On to the next city...MEMPHIS=GRACELAND! I couldn't believe how moving the Elvis Presley Museum truly is. I also loved the Orpheum; a delegate from each show that played the theatre had painted a logo from the show (ranging from stenciled titles to all-out murals), and the cast of that particular production signed all around the logo. Lots of time was spent searching for the names of friends in the various depictions of the shows that had played the theatre. My favorite was seeing a best friend on a tour of Fiddler on the Roof, rubbing her name for good luck before the shows. Also fun was seeing the signature of A Chorus Line cast members from past shows, all over the wall, and being reminded of the greatness and experience that I was lucky enough to be a part of.

(October 3, 2001) Last night was incredible, seeing Donna McKechnie's one-woman show at Paper Mill. I saw Baayork before the show and she said, "Watch Donna do the number; we just scratch at the surface of the show but she really does it." And it was amazing, the absolute ease and style and simplicity of her performance. Seeing Baayork, who was sitting right in front of my friends and me, come alive during the various references that Ms. McKechnie made was equally thrilling. Knowing that she was one of the Promises, Promises dancers, seeing Baayork erupt with laughter when Donna said, "I still have whip-lash from Turkey Lurkey," was truly a priceless experience. During "Music and the Mirror", which closed the show, I kept telling myself, "Keep watching, Tim, don't miss anything. You will never get to see something like this again." And I guess that's what so much of A Chorus Line has meant to me this summer, and hopefully will continue to mean to me in the future. The unique, once-in-a-life-time sense of the show itself is palpable.

We've been told that we'll never do another show like this again, and it takes getting onstage and performing in front of an audience to really see what that means. When John Salvatore, who plays Greg, came forward in the Alternatives scene for the first time back to work after the terrorist attacks September 11, and said, "Life, darlings, it's tough all over. That's why I have no plans, no alternatives, just get me through the day. One day at a time is enough for me to deal with," what brand new meaning that had! I wonder how many shows can truly stay topical and poignant, and still manage to shock and move, so many years after being conceived? Tonight is the first show of my last week of A Chorus Line...for now anyway! It seems that people who become "part of the family" keep a relationship with this show for the rest of their careers. I can hardly wait to see what happens!