Winter 2009 WONG Notes

(January 2009)

HAPPY NEW YEAR!   I'd like to wish you all a Happy, Healthy and Prosperous New Year!  

So much has happened to me and ACL in the past two years. Where do I start?  Let me start by saying that the National Company is in full swing opening a three-week engagement in Detroit. They go on to Florida, where they will soak up the sun while we are deep into the February cold and wind in NYC. We had a wonderful five weeks in Toronto; they loved us in that town! Back in the old days (1976), we opened at the Royal Alexander with the First International Company. Names like Aven Harem, Sandy Reveta, Jane Summerhays, Tommy Aguliar and Tom Reed were just a few that we sent on to London to rave reviews. London had never seen anything like us. Dancers singing and dancing and, most of all, acting!!! OMG! Well, here I am thirty-some years later retracing my footsteps, looking after the show and putting in all the new cast members. History is repeating itself; except this time, I have Michael Gorman to help me when "getting low" and "eating nails" get to my thighs!

The show closed on Broadway August of 2008 with a spectacular last performance. I would say the audience was also on the line, as it was an invited crowd that knew every word, note and cue for all the actors. Every actor got an applause after their monologue and so the montages were hard as the next person had to come in. Diana (Natalie Cortez) had to wait as Connie finally got her recognition.  

Jessica Lee Goldyn went for it and did a great job, as she was given the last week to replace Charlotte d'Amboise as Cassie. Jen Foote got all the laughs as she replaced Jessica as Val. The evening was complete, as anyone who had been in the cast in the revival was invited onto the stage by our producer John Breglio. He also invited all of the musicians, stagehands, and the entire creative staff. The lights came on for the ushers and spot men and the entire front of house. I'm sure our Mario Lopez didn't know what hit him. He walked in on a love fest that has lasted thirty-three years. It was great watching him be a part of something so special. It reminded me of the 1983 performance, where the original company and five-hundred dancers graced the stage at the Shubert Theatre to break the record for the longest running show on Broadway. Michael Bennett is still hanging around, making sure his show stands the test of time. 

In June of 2007, we lost our beloved Thommie Walsh. On November 16th, 2007, we gave him a memorial at Sardi's, which Tommy Tune and I put together with lots of love. Lucy Arnaz, Mitzi Gaynor, Amanda McBroome, and Ann-Margret sent letters of joy and laughter. Andrea Martin, Michele Lee, Donna McKechnie, Kelly Bishop, Julie Budd, Mary Testa, Donald Pippin, Fran Liebergall and many others spoke and/or performed. Priscilla Lopez told a hilarious story about Thommie and me being with her when her water broke (at the end of her pregnancy with her first child, Alex) at a movie house. My assistants Michael Gorman and Steven Eng were behind the scenes and Donna Drake was our PSM, running a tight ship. Barbara Walsh, Thommie's sister, spoke and everyone noticed the resemblance; they could have been twins. Thommie's mother, Ellie, was also present. Sadly, we lost her sixteen months later. We'll see her in the sunset with our beloved Thommie. 

In December of 2007, Luis Villabon went to ITALY to re-stage ACL. When he left, he only spoke a few words of Italian. By the end of rehearsals, his Italian was flawless, and so was the show! Also, in October of 2008, Mitizi Hamilton went to Poland to re-stage ACL in Polish. She had a great time, though I don't know how her Polish is now. And we all want to know if she found her PRINCE!

I visited with Ronald Dennis, Ron Kuhlman, Kay Cole, Sandahl Bergman, Katherine Ann Wright, Justin Ross and Nancy Lane at the opening night of the ACL National Tour in Los Angeles. Sammy Williams was at his summer home in Lake Arrowhead and came down later to see the show twice and Trish Garland was away, as she travels with her husband George to NY very often. They all gave Bob Avian and me a "thumbs up" for a wonderful company.

The film EVERY LITTLE STEP will be coming to NYC April of 2009. The documentary follows Jessica Lee Goldyn, Jason Tam, Charlotte d'Amboise, Yuka Takara and Deidre Goodwin during the audition for the Broadway revival of ACL. Our "Red Carpet" moment came when Donna McKechnie, Jessica Lee Goldyn, Charlotte d'Amboise, Natlaie Cortez and myself were invited to the TORONTO FILM FESTIVAL. We were treated like celebs while Brad Pitt and Adrien Brody were there promoting their films. We represented the documentary category. We were also given promotional bags with goodies and got our faces done by Chanel; we had it all!

Our Web Master Father Bruce Janiga celebrated twenty-five years in the priesthood recently. The Mass was wonderful, with at least eight priests concelebrating the Mass with him.  They were dressed all in white and while Father Bruce was in purple. I told him his costume was fabulous and so was he. His wonderful family hosted a buffet at Libretti's, his favorite restaurant in Orange, NJ. OMG! --- Italian food, my favorite! We are so blessed to have Bruce as our Webmaster. Let me take this time to thank him for all of his love and support in keeping the website going. 

So, little by little, I will write you what's been going on. This was just a quick note to say HAPPY NEW YEAR. 
I am hoping to get you reading WONG NOTES again.

In loving spirit,

Baayork  

P.S. Let me know what you are up to...

Baayork