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Hello readers! I'm sure you are not surprised there was no issue the day after the big night. I rolled into bed at 3:00 am that night and slept all through Monday. No joke! I woke up around 5:45 p.m. Monday! That's how worn out I was. I finally turned on my computer this morning (Tuesday), where I read the hundreds of emails from people who were there. The comments from these emails had tears streaming down my eyes. Some were from close friends, others from theater pals, and some from those who I did not know personally but attended the gala. You don't know how much EACH of those emails meant to me. I know my board appreciates them as well! And what a night! Those who missed it I'm sure will hear of the many great memories of Sunday's amazing night. God, I don't even know how on earth to begin to top Sunday night. In this "Award wrap up" issue I will try to give you an inside view of backstage and all that happened before, during and after the big night. First I need to one more time thank my amazing, fierce, and dedicated Advisory Board. Sunday night could NOT have happened whatsoever without them. Period. What you saw on stage and how the evening flowed was all due to this great board I have. If you see them, tell them what you thought! I know they would love to hear from you! These excellent board members are: Chris Robinson, Dennis Yslas, Doug Fowler, Sheila Rose, Ryan Roach, William Eickenloff Jr, Dave Dunning, Chris & Becky Hawthorne, Craig Hess, Tom Ortiz, Richard Armstrong II, J. Richard Lauder, and Lee Irving. To Terry Dobson-my musical director! This man is a genius! He was the reason why "Seasons of Love" and Anthony's solo were big hits for the crowd. We only had three rehearsals for the company number. Terry also got Mike McNicholas (drums) and Peggy Honea on Bass for us! I LOVE YOU TERRY DOBSON! It was simply ravishing music! Those kids you saw backstage are all from the McArthur High School Theater Department. Let me tell you, these kids worked their butts off for us! They were all VERY professional, respectful, and did their jobs like seasoned pros. Bless their hearts, they had to work around us theater trash. I think they grew up by 5 years by the end of the night. But they laughed a lot, so I think they had fun. After the show I saw several of them backstage, and they hugged me thanking me so much for letting them be a part of the event. But it is I who must thank them, cause they took their assignments so seriously and were so professional. To: Daniel "love the t-shirt" Svoboda, Raven "love the last name" Garcia, Bryan "You left your juggling things backstage" Wade, Leslie Palmer, David Wilkins, Kelsey Jones, Travis "Sorry we made you blush so much during lunch" Ponikiewski, Megan Patterson, Daniel "I am a pro at making columns glitter now!" McCalip, Kim Perry, and Michael "future UNT alumni" Rafferty. Thank you all again! And what did you think of Roman gods and guards? Those who missed the gala-we had gorgeous, muscled men who were our "Trophy guys". They wore beautiful, satin, sequined and beaded Roman costumes that were designed and created by Bruce R. Coleman! Coy Covington especially liked one of them! Lol! Even Anthony Rapp made a comment about them! Thanks again to Chad Hargrove, Colton Strait, and Joshua Reese for doing a super job on stage Sunday night. My two, tall, handsome Roman Guards were from Rockwall High School. They had to stand on those two boxes all night and be guards for the Column Stage! One was fighting an awful cold-but he remained a trooper. Thanks to Matt NcNeil and Derek (damn, I can't remember the last name! The incredible Mr. Randel Wright designed that beautiful, elegant set! When he showed me the design on paper I was jumping for joy. But then to see it in physical form. Well I was flabbergasted. And did you see all those iridescent sequins that were on the base of the columns?! I loved how they picked up the light. Those beautiful flower arrangements on either side were again created by the master of floral arranging, Timm Zitz! He was assisted by the always-helpful John Rodgers! Thanks again guys! Then there was Michelle Burdeaux's gorgeous, beautiful lighting! At our first designer meeting I told her "lots of color". My god it was overwhelming when I saw it. I mean the way the columns changed color within them, the many colors and various patterns that bathed the set all through the night! She and I had lengthy discussions on how to light the RENT number. So when I saw it at tech rehearsal, I had a lump in my throat. I could NOT believe she recreated exactly what I had hoped would happen!! I LOVE YOU MICHELLE! Michelle's haunting and emotional lighting for Anthony Rapp's solo (Yes-those who missed Sunday night missed an EMOTIONAL, BEAUTIFUL song sung by Mr. Rapp!). I saw the lighting backstage and it was powerful. Finally to the AMAZING, BRILLIANT staff at the Courtyard theater-they worked their butts off to make Sunday night happen. I am deeply impressed and thankful for them! So to Alex, Nathan, Alicia, Jason, and Shaun- you guys ROCK! To all those above I just mentioned-they were the backbone of this evening! From the bottom of my heart-thank you, thank you, thank you! Okay……..re-cap Sunday night: What did you think of our new, glass trophies with our classy awards logo on it? I love the new ones! They were expensive, but worth it from the comments I got from the winners who clutched them in their hands backstage! Special thanks to the production numbers that performed Sunday night as well: THE ROCKY HORROR SHOW (CTD), ADVENTURES OF TOM SAWYER (ICT Mainstage), BIG (Theatre Arlington), and GUYS AND DOLLS (UCOD). Tech day went really smooth. All the numbers were in and out on time. No major problems at all. Well, maybe one-getting that large cast of GUYS & DOLLS off the stage. lol. But hey-that night it gave me a great bit that got good laughs. Lol. The arrival of Anthony Rapp had everyone at the Courtyard theater very nervous. The courtyard theater staff all got dressed first, as well as the high school student assistants we had. They all looked VERY beautiful, classy, and smashing. As for me-I wore a t-shirt and shorts. Oye. Not very impressive! Rapp arrived and I took him to his dressing room, got him situated, and then brought him into the VIP room to meet the Courtyard staff and the kids. Took pics, etc. Then it was off for Anthony to rehearse his solo with Terry Dobson. When Anthony and I were in discussions about his solo, I told him he could sing whatever he wanted. He brought up the idea he did HEDWIG in Chicago. So he suggested, "Wicked Little Town". And Bam! That was the song we agreed on. After that rehearsal, he went to his dressing room to relax, I hauled a** to shower and get ready for the night! At 6:00 p.m. (Oh I had been up since 6:30 am that Sunday!) I knocked on Rapp's door and I took him to meet the "Seasons of Love" cast. I LOVED the looks on all their faces. Utter shock. Speechless. Then we started to sing the number. We did the number again with the staging. When we finished Anthony Rapp gave the company some notes on the music, wording, phrasing, and then explained to us some of the meaning of the words. When he said, "Jonathan wanted…." That's when it me. I can't believe this is happening. We are getting actual feedback from someone who was there who created this music. I know for all of us it was a rehearsal we all will NEVER forget. After that rehearsal the RENT cast took pics, got autographs, etc. While the opening number rehearsed on stage (bless their hearts, they had to miss most of the reception due to working the number). Everyone else got ready. Anthony and I retreated back to his dressing room to quickly film our interview for my new cable show. The interview went GREAT! We had a very insightful conversation about his book as well as how radically different the reviews were for RENT the film. Then at the very end of the interview I said, "On a personal note, I just wanted to thank you Anthony so much for writing this book. I read in interviews and reviews that this book really touches those who lost loved one to cancer and how to help them get through it. I couldn't agree more. I lost my younger brother to cancer during the Christmas holidays, and your book really spoke to me on a very personal level. You honestly grasped what we go through losing someone through cancer…" and that's when I could feel my throat tightened. My eyes started to well up. Anthony gently grabbed my hand and held it. Keep it cool Garcia! Be professional! That was what was screaming through my head! "Anyway, I just want to thank you for helping us through such a difficult situation." And with that we hugged and he was very sweet. Then it was off to the VIP reception! I knew that Rapp's favorite color was purple, so for the VIP reception I got a purple shirt and cool looking tie. He work a purple-stripped shirt with purple, glittery gems for cufflinks! By then the nervousness had left my system, and that's when he and I started the jokes. God this guy is hilarious! Earlier with the Seasons of Love cast I was having problems with several cameras, which Rapp made jokes about. So at the VIP reception I finally got the hang of it. But Rapp still cracked jokes about it! He had a GREAT time meeting all the VIP people. After the VIP reception, he said to me, "I'm really impressed with all this. You guys really know how to throw an awards event in Dallas." It was time to do the actual show! Rapp was taken to the Tech booth to watch the show (He watched all of it by the way). *OPENING NUMBER: How GREAT was that number? I was so happy to showcase our talented dancers within our talent pool! Our very own John De Los Santos choreographed that number! When I saw their rehearsal, I was speechless. My god it looked incredible! So a HUGE thank you to those amazing, talented, brilliant dancers: Michael Albee, Charnell Bratton, Brendan Cyrus, Charlet Dupar, Eddie Floresca, Carlos Gomez, Joi Jackson, Mandy Nguyen, and John De lala. Anthony later said the opening number FLOORED him! "How on earth did you guys get that number done?" he asked. BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN film clip: I was SOOOOO SCARED that spoof would not be funny! And the audience HOWLED, I mean they HOWLED at that film clip! Chris Robinson, Dennis Yslas, John Venable, and I all took a day off from our day jobs and drove to Corsicana Texas. Chris's cousin Lori Robinson owns a ranch with horses. So we filmed all of that there. Did you read what it said at the beginning, You know how all movie previews have that ratings grade? Ours said, "Rated R-For Adult language and excessive use of glitter". LOL. Instead of "Focus Features", our said "Out of Focus Features". John Venable played "Ennis" and I was his "Jack". The images of me riding a horse will haunt many in the audience for a long time! Lol. I was so relieved the joke of me in a towel and a blow dryer in the middle of a forest worked. How about when Venable and I are walking down the forest…and he pushes me out of camera! What about the "seduction" scene involving the water bottle? Oh lord, we are sick! Lol! Did John V. get Heath Ledger's voice pact down or what? He was GREAT in the clip! I was happy the audience laughed a lot. Thank you John Venable! When Chris and I came up with the BKBK MT idea, my first choice to play "Ennis" was John Venable! I was so thrilled he accepted to do this! I LOVE YOU ENNIS… I MEAN JOHN!" Throughout the evening we had created these film clips from various reality shows. Since our theme was "A Funny Thing Happened on the way to The Columns". The clips were of me trying to get to the columns, but several reality shows kept blocking my journey. We did the following: SURVIVOR OAKLAWN: The logo had "Out Camp" and "Out Cruise"! hahaha. The scene had my advisory board and I coming back from that day's challenge to tribal council. Which was a living room! What was the day's challenge? To find the one straight man in oak lawn! Our "Jeff Probst (The funny Lon Barrera) told us to go into the powder room and cast our vote. Everyone voted to kick me off! Instead of a torch, whoever was voted off had to "Bring their scented candle to Jeff and it have it extinguished". But who was voted off? Not me, but Barbra Streisand!! The crowed laughed so hard when the camera panned all the faces of the board and there at the end was Barbra Streisand! Okay so it was Dennis Caniwright! Then when the film clip ended….out came Dennis all dragged up as La Streisand to present the award!!! Thank you Dennis and Lon for joining us on this clip! THE AMAZING RACE: This had Shelia Rose in a blonde wig to be Charla! She and I were in the middle of the race. The image of Sheila running with that string of mini sausages had me rolling on the floor. "Run Sheila Run!". HAHAHAHA. PROJECT RUNWAY: This one killed the audience! I mean they could NOT stop laughing! We had Coy Covington as "Heid Klum" all pregnant! Renee Smith as my model, John De Los Santos as Doug Fowler's model. Oh Doug was playing "Jay". We filmed part of it at the Rose Room at Station 4. A HUGE thank you again to Rick Espillat and everyone at Caven Enterprises for allowing us to shoot there. The other part was filmed at Dallas Costume Shoppe with Michael Robinson as "Tim" and a cameo by Paul Taylor! That was Paul in the blonde wig that devoured that banana behind Doug Fowler. The audience died with that scene. OHMIGOD were Coy and Michael hilarious or what? Coy with that massive pregnant pillow under his sequined dress, and Michael getting Tim's voice pact down? The audience went crazy when Michael/Tim said, "Well carry on" and "Andre and I are going to Red Lobster". But when Doug and I showed our outfits……..well you had to be there to get the joke-the audience loved it! AMERICAN IDOL: We used actual video clips from the actual show! That was our very Alex Branton auditioning first. He killed me in laughter with his Stevie Wonder impersonation. How funny was Alex when he was told he was going to Hollywood? Those screams! My god the audience and I were laughing so hard! I just adore you Alex! And who knew Kevin Moore was so damn, damn funny! He was our "Ryan Seacrest". We had to do several takes that night cause I kept laughing behind the camera. God Kevin you were hysterical! We had Kevin trying to hit on Alex, with Kevin as Seacrest saying, "Give me you number. That way we can have private lessons." Alex's blank confusion on his face was perfect. Then it was my turn to audition, Kevin aka Seacrest said to the camera, "and we are making American Idol history here today For the first time we have a real live Latina Transsexual auditioning today." I look directly into the camera, shocked, and say to Seacrest, "I'm a boy". Seacrest then looks blank and said, "Never mind". My audition to the judges was "And I will Always Love you" by Whitney Houston. Which Simon ripped to shreds. Seacrest (Kevin) asks me afterwards how it went, I go off on him and the judges, which ended with Kevin as Seacrest looking at the camera and say, "Seacrest out". Which I run back into the camera and yell, "You've been out for years queen!". The audience went wild with that one! LOL! Chris Robinson was the photographer and editor of all those clips! He is a GENIUS! I LOVE YOU CHRIS! Thanks to all the talent that took time from their hectic schedules to do these film clips. We could NOT have done without you all! *KATHLEEN FREEMAN AWARD: Grant James and Juli Erickson won the award. I wanted the presenters to have a personal connection to them, so I asked Stephanie Riggs and Scott Kirkham to present. I loved it when Stephanie opened the envelope to find out that both Grant and Juli won! Stephanie choked up and could barely get their names out. I had tears streaming down my face. When their names were announced the audience were all so touched by this, they even gave this couple a standing ovation What got me was Juli crying as she walked on stage to receive her award. That made me almost lose it. I looked at Josh the Roman god and said, "This makes all this worth it." I found out later both Grant and Juli were both in tears backstage and could not believe they won. *CHITA RIVERA DANCE AWARD: John De Los Santos and Emily Lockhart won. Sadly Emily was not there due to an illness. Before I did not let John leave the stage, I took him center stage and then in front of the audience I said, "John, I received this letter Saturday and would like to read it to you." What I read was a special letter that was written by the Broadway legend herself-Chita Rivera-congratulating the winners of her award. She specifically named John and Emily in her letter. Several in the audience gasped and I could hear from the audience some "wow's" and "oooo's". John DLS was very moved by the letter. Later that night Anthony Rapp said that what I said about Chita Rivera (how she inspired me as an actor) was very moving. He thought Chita sending that letter was really wonderful. *THE BEN BRETTELL AWARD: If you were there Sunday night, now you know why I have such a hard time presenting that award. That's why I really prefer others to do it. It is still so hard for me to get through that award. Sadly the person who was supposed to present it was a no-show. So I had to. I spoke directly from the heart, so I hope it didn't come off sappy. But it was so hard to talk. I kept looking at Ben's picture behind me on the massive screen and images of him backstage at ANYTHING GOES were floating through my head. I could see Sara Shelby Martin, BJ Cleveland, Heather Alexander, and Ben all laughing. I loved making Ben laugh. He had one of those laughs that you love hearing. All that was filling my head as I tried to talk on stage. I later heard that night that Sara was crying in the audience too. If I saw her face at that moment I would have lost it. The winners of Ben's award this year were Daniel Svoboda and Alex Branton! Daniel was backstage getting into costume for the next nominated number to perform, ADVENTURES OF TOM SAWYER. But Alex rushed to the stage and we just hugged with the applause of the audience surrounding us. Alex's eyes watered up and we just kept hugging. Backstage we both just lost it! Another beautiful, beautiful moment that I will treasure forever. Even as I type this my eyes are watering up again. Ben would have been so proud of Alex and Daniel. We miss you Ben so much! "THE SPECIAL NUMBER"- I have always had a fantasy of singing "Seasons of love" with someone from the original cast of RENT. A fantasy. I knew that would never happen. But then Anthony Rapp accepted to come to Dallas to the Column awards. When Anthony and I talked on the phone and via emails I was so, so, so nervous about asking him if would like to sing the number with a group of selected singers that I chosen. I have read in several interviews that many of the original Broadway cast say that they would never perform RENT without each other again. So I was already accepting the fact he would say no. To my utter shock he said, "Sure!". When I told my board and the performers that he said yes, well hearts stopped and screams erupted! I had in my mind exactly how to stage the number already from day one. I also had in my "vision" exactly how I wanted it lit. I wanted that special lighting that was in both the film and Broadway productions. Could Michelle Burdeaux my lighting designer re-create this magic? If you were one of those VERY SPECIAL people in the audience…..you did! I had to force those tears back down at tech because the lighting was EXACTLY what I envisioned! I still cannot believe that Michelle did this! I LOVE YOU! Finally, we came to the "Seasons of Love " number. As the piano played those first few notes, the audience already started to scream and applaud. Then we started to sing. Philip Bentham, Sara Shelby Martin, and Kia Dawn Fulton were the soloists. And man did the audience go wild when they sang those soaring, belting notes. We as the company reached the big crescendo of the
song, only to have the piano play the beginning notes again. That is when a
light way upstage lit up….and there basking in the glow of the light was
Anthony Rapp! The cast (which were all in a line downstage) then parted to
allow Rapp to join us downstage. As Rapp walked downstage, the light above
followed him!!
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