GRIMMerica runs on Dunkin

Excitingly, Ken Davenport, big-time Broadway producer, listed GRIMM as one of the top ten standout shows to see at this year's Fringe Festival. 

Check out the article here:
http://www.theproducersperspective.com/my_weblog/2012/07/10-shows-that-stand-out-at-the-fringe-festival-2012.html

The one line Olivia keeps referring to is the line at the end that says: "It just feels right, you know?  Let's see if the Big Theatre Company got it right." 

Got it right. Not only are people curious about our show, but they're curious if we can pull it off.  

But I think we're getting it right. The universe has been giving us its fair share of grim(m) signs: the pigeon-corpse Taylor saw on the sidewalk, the flattened vestiges of a rodent Olivia, Nicole, and I saw in the streets, the thunder storm that swept Long Island City during Thursday night's rehearsal.

This guy's shoes.
Get on this, Taylor.

The storm was especially perfect, terribly, magically apropos. Picture it: the lights off in an overheated dance studio, everyone set in position for the top of the show -- actors pretending to be dead acrobats, hunchbacks, and gypsies, a chair pretending to be a coat rack, two chairs pretending to be a trunk, tied together with red and yellow fabric, which we pretend is fire later in the show. But the weather was real; outside, the skies had turned an unsettling shade of gray. The wind had picked up. Vikki, being the good stage manager (and therefore designated safety patrol officer) that she is, wondered if the room could withstand what seemed to be a scene straight out of Independence Day.

Welcome to Grimm. ::punches alien::

In the Flashback number, there's even a moment when the ensemble shines their flashlights on a young Angelica, played by the wonderful Sierra. During a run of the song, as Sierra stood on top of a chair, hands raised, pretend flashlights all pointed at her, thunder boomed and lightning flashed. 

Now if we can just get the weather to do that so we don't have to rig any sound or lighting cues.

Speaking of stormy weather, Nicole and I braved the summer rain yesterday afternoon to drop off our postcards down at Fringe Central. 

We also brought along a box of Joe and a dozen donuts to surprise the lovely volunteers -- all of whom were ecstatic and extremely grateful.  Elena, Fringe director extraordinaire, even came over to give us a hug. The first thing she said to us when she approached, arms outstretched, was "You spelled FringeCENTRAL correctly on the card! Thank you!" 

FringeCENTRAL posted this photo on Facebook and Twitter.
Follow them!

Immediately after our sojourn down to Fringe, Nicole and I made our way to rehearsal. 

A few more casting changes -- to fill out the female voices in our ensemble, we welcome to the cast Sita Sarkar and Jackie Hughes. Already, both girls have shown incredible heart, willing to jump into things without knowing music or blocking yet. Meanwhile, Theresa and Gina have been doing a wonderful job learning the parts of the Queens, which, lest we forget, they only found out they had hardly a week ago. Friday night they worked with Kenny on music and Olivia on blocking. Theresa already knows the choreography to They'll Never Know! Watching her and Jake dance just looks right. Hearing her, Gina, and the rest of the ensemble sing just sounds right.

Indeed, to quote the aforementioned big-time Broadway producer, it just feels right. 

Our designers agree. Last night, they also attended rehearsal to watch a run of the show: Joe, our lighting designer, Keith, our set designer, and Ben, our sound designer (since we can't actually rely on Mother Nature to provide us with sound cues, Ben played for us a spooky storm effect that will weave its way through the show. When you attend Grimm, be sure to bring your thunder buddy).

Also in attendance last night was Sophia, Vikki's adorable daughter and honorary cast member. Be aware, however, her stage name is "Cookie."

I suppose it's fitting we brought the fantastic folks down at Fringe Dunkin. Besides the fact that a significant portion of my income has been going to Dunkin these days, BIG's next venture is America: the Musical. What's it about, you ask? Exactly.

Kenny already wrote the opening number. Hey, remember when BIG was just an idea on the E train?