August 18, 1999

Well, my goodness a lot has happened since I put fingers to keyboard last on the subject of the mini-tour. When last I wrote we were right smack in the middle of tech in Purchase. This was a wonderful but odd experience, putting on a full scale Broadway musical in a theatre that seats maybe 500, 475 of those seats empty for all but one dress rehearsal. I thought, if I have to do this "spelling scene" to an empty auditorium one more time, I will go insane. Sir Percy is one of those roles in which you have many acting partners; the audience is one of them. It was difficult to wait until opening night in Dallas to find out what my acting partner was going to do!

We finished our time in Purchase rather successfully, with only one hair-raising moment for me—during the final Duel with Chauvelin, I fell off the top of the Guillotine. Certain set changes were still being timed and worked out and on this day, the seacoast set hadn’t gotten completely assembled. We reached the point in the duel where Chauvelin chases me up the stairs toward the guillotine and I suddenly turn on the narrow steps and attack him. With a sword in one hand, there is a "mooring post" that I use to steady myself as I turn on the stairs. I reached out for the post with my other hand – and it wasn’t there. It simply hadn’t been attached to the set during the scenery change. I suddenly felt all of my weight falling backwards, 11 feet off the ground with a sword in my hand.

Two things happened; one of my long flowing sleeves (which I had been cursing just the day before for being difficult to sword-fight in) caught a piece of wood on the back of the set. As it ripped, it slowed my fall and turned my body up toward the ceiling. At that moment Liz Ward Land, who plays Marie, literally "saved my ass". She was waiting below to make her final entrance and when my falling body swung around above her, she put her hands under my butt and guided me to the ground. I landed square on my feet. The whole thing took about 7 seconds, but apparently stopped about 50 hearts (mine included). When I started breathing again I looked around me and the entire cast plus the 30-odd production people who had been out in the auditorium had flown up onto the stage to see if I was alright. It was certainly re-assuring at that scary moment to have so many caring people there. Except for a rather ugly black bruise that materialized on my rib cage the next day, I was completely uninjured, thanks to my guardian angel, Elizabeth Ward Land.

We finished our tech week in great shape; everyone seemed very pleased and excited, from Bobby Longbottom to Nan Knighton and Frank Wildhorn to the MSG folks. And I can’t begin to tell you what a thrill it was to finally put all the elements together and to hear this great score with a live orchestra! We had a couple of days off before the trip to Dallas. I had a final Costume fitting with Jane Greenwood before leaving NYC; They had decided to re-design a few of my costumes (same fabrics but different styles), to better suit my body and to give me my own unique look as Percy. The new "Ball" costume is in now, the rest will be appearing in NYC. It’s been a wonderful feeling for me, how everyone on the production and design staff has passionately contributed toward personalizing this role for me. It’s rare in "taking over" a role that you really get the chance to reshape it. But from the beginning, everyone has been there for me to help me make Sir Percy my own. I’m very, very grateful for that.

Coming soon…our opening in Dallas, performances in Houston and hopefully some photos!!