SEEING THE SHOW

On Tuesday, day 2, Cory and Zach had an early call for a 2-hour guitar lesson. Cory is understudying the role of Zack, and Zach(ary) is playing Zack. Cory is the first lefty guitarist they have had in the show. There is a very specific guitar he needs to play when he goes on as Zack, so they are having the guitar custom made for him. Gibson hasn't made a lefty version of this guitar since 1985 and now they are making two of them for Cory. Until it comes in, Cory needs to bring his own electric guitar to rehearsal (hopefully the guitar will be here by next week). So here's Cory, walking through the streets of NYC, his backpack with his script and music and his guitar. Together the two things he's carrying weigh as much as him. But he's carrying it with confidence and pride!

Since it was July 4, and most of the world was off, except these kids who were working, Josh and I both took Cory into rehearsal. Once we dropped him off with Zach for their guitar lesson, we went with Debby and Jeff, Zach's parents, for lunch. Nothing like some greasy Shake Shack to start the day. We had to be back at 1:00pm to get the boys for a 35-minute lunch break.

So here's how it works, when it is "ON TIME" when the kids are called for rehearsal or shows or press events, the show guardians are responsible for the kids. And in fact, they really don't want/let the parents around during those times. The kids are expected to be at work, taking care of their responsibilities, not being taken care of by their parents. However, there are breaks for lunch or dinner, which are mandated by union and child labor laws. During those times, the show guardians CAN NOT be responsible for the kids. So if the break is 30 minutes or several hours, you (or a chaperone, more on that later) must pick them up, be with them, and then drop them back off at the next call time.

We knew the boys needed to eat quick, so we picked them up burgers and headed back to the rehearsal studio. They came out so happy. Cory said, "what could be better, we just jammed for 2 hours". They quickly ate and then it was time to bring them to the Winter Garden stage door. All five of the kids were going to see the show.

At exactly 1:35 all the kids started congregating around the stage door. They were buzzing with excitement. We got some great pictures of the group, the "new class of Horace Green", and then a guardian came out and off they went. And here we were, all the parents, now with about 3 hours to kill. Everyone went in different directions. Josh and I made a quick stop at guitar center to get Cory's guitar fixed and then we headed to the Marriot Marquis. They have a nice lobby, comfy chairs, and....you guessed it, a bar! I caught up on some work and we just hung out until it was time to go pick up the kids from the stage door.

At 4:35, at the stage door, the barricades were already set up for the autograph line. The theater doors flew open, the crowd was still cheering, and the line began forming for people to meet the cast. There were tons of parents around waiting for their kids. About 10 minutes later the entire cast, plus the five new kids, came out the theater door. This was an experience that was like none other yet. Watching the current kids in the cast fist bumping and embracing the new kids was amazing. They were all so welcoming, as were the parents. Moms and Dads introducing themselves, welcoming us to the SOR family and offering their help in getting us acclimated to our new lives. But again, here was the highlight, Cory's smile, the twinkle in his eye, his excitement was emanating from every part of his body. He was high-fiving all the kids, hanging out like he's known them forever. The current lead, Brandon Niederauer, who goes by Taz, is an amazing guitar prodigy, playing with people like Derek Trucks. He is someone Cory is in awe of. When Cory referred to him as Taz, he said to Cory, "my friends call me Brandon". Cory's eyes bugged so far out of his head and his smile got even bigger. We met the girl who plays Summer (the band manager) in the show. She is super spunky which is totally fitting for the part. She said, really to me and Josh, but towards Cory, "don't worry, Cory's going to be great, and I'll take care of him, I'll be his big sister." 

What we learned on the walk to the car and on the ride home was that the kids got to go backstage before the show, meet all the kids, see their dressing room and dressing station, talk to the kids who are currently playing their part and really just hang with the group. They were then escorted to a box in the theater where they watched the show. Cory could barely take a breath he had so much to say and was just so excited. He told us that the new kids are referred to as "new noodles" and the old kids are referred to as "old noodles". He exclaimed, "I'm a new noodle!"