Entries by Samuel Kiernan

Sam Kiernan phoning Show Buzz fans while driving riving around, getting ready to get back on the road with Gypsy to Modesto CA.

MP3 File

Hey, this is Sam, Tulsa in the National Tour of Gypsy. I’m calling in to say a quick hello. It is Saturday night here in Modesto, California and we just finished a 2-show day and last night was our first show back from break, which actually went really well until the middle of the first act when the main curtain stopped working so we had to re-adjust to lot of our blocking around the main curtain not coming and out. So that was pretty difficult.

But then once intermission happened, you know, we finally go it down and then we had people come in and fix and I think, it just came off some of the rails or something to that degree. But everything was fine after that. It was a great show. Audiences here in Modesto have been fantastic. And yeah, they seem to really be enjoying the show, which is great.

And today, we had a 2-show day and I actually have been hurting quite a bit because my shins have been killing me all day long and I think it’s really haven’t gotten to those shoes in a long time and they’re kind of hard to dance in and we do a lot of you know jumping over our legs and probably that after a while and I was running last night and this morning and I think I may have over done a little bit. So I need to take my own advice and you know, keep myself in check a little bit.

I’m not sure, I think we have one (indistinguishable) tomorrow and then we have a night off in Modesto and then on Monday, we drive 400 something miles to Las Vegas and I’m going to be seeing a friend, within the Mamma Mia cast out in Las Vegas so that will be fun.

Alright, that’s about it. Well, have fun guys and talk to you soon. Great, bye!

Kathy Halenda is our Mama Rose. She really is wonderful. She has done so many tours. She has played the role before in regional theaters. Because of the fact that she is not neccessarily known to many of these audiences, it allows people to really focus on the character of Rose. Most of the Roses that people have heard of or have seen perform take the character to a particular "star" place. This show was written for a star (Ethel Merman). Her entrance and the whole opening scene usually just about "Ethel Merman just walked in!" in or Bernadette Peters or Patti LuPone and then the whole first scene is people just getting used to her being on stage.

With Kathy they really get more of a sense of the character. With her I feel like the show is a little more poignant. You can get a little sense of it from the video.

Hey, this is Samuel Kiernan blogging here on Show Buzz. I am playing Tulsa in the National Tour of Gypsy, which is actually right now on a quick layoff, but soon will continuing in Modesto, California.

So far we’ve played the Schubert in New Haven. And we have done pretty much all the South. We’ve played in Huntsville, Alabama, a casino in Louisiana, Sarasota, & Clearwater Florida. We have been to a bunch of places but to tell you the truth I usually only see where I am right as I leave.

I was really excited to do this tour because I lived in London for 2 years, going to school, working, and seeing a lot of Europe and then when I came back here I really wanted to see America because I spent so much time away.

About one week out of the month, we get a week to sit down, which is nice. Sometimes we do a lot of one-nighters where you wake up, travel for 6, 7 hours, hop off the bus and try to get something to eat. Then you do the show, and then you leave first thing the next morning then it just goes and goes and goes.

One of my favorite cities was Madison, Wisconsin, which is kind of small, little hippy town that had this great artsy environment, It kind of reminded me of Cambridge, Massachusetts. I’m from Boston so that what I related to. It was a lot of fun. We got to spend, I think it was 4 or 5 days there and I was sad to leave. I never felt such a strong attachment to a place in such a short amount of time.

Well I will be back soon to blog more about the tour! Stay tuned!