Gotta Sing, Gotta Dance, Gotta Pitch?

Hi Everyone,

I am now writing some features for BroadwayWorld.com... and the first one is up!

It's called "Gotta Sing, Gotta Dance, Gotta Pitch?". It's a feature and interview of MLB pitcher Jeremy Guthrie and his love of Broadway Musicals, including Jersey Boys.

Please check it out by clicking the link below, or copying and pasting it into a new window.

http://www.broadwayworld.com/toronto/article/BWW-Special-Feature-Gotta-Sing-Gotta-Dance-Gotta-Pitch-20130910

 

 That's Quinn Van Antwerp on the left - he was a Bob in Jersey Boys in Toronto, Broadway and the US Tour.

Cheers, 

Jeff

An Australian Superbowl

An Australian Superbowl

The most-watched televised event in America has now come and gone. Taking part in the Superbowl festivities in Australia has been an interesting experience, to say the least.

Working in Melbourne (I'm playing Frankie Valli in Jersey Boys Australia here until March 24) and craving a bit of North American culture – such as it is – I spent the better part of a week rallying the troops to join me for a Superbowl party. At first only a few friends were keen, and a tiny gathering at my place looked imminent. But as game day approached and others started getting interested, it was clear that we’d be best served by moving the party to a nearby drinking establishment. Watching the big game on a big screen, with big sound and a big crowd would be the attraction – even if we couldn’t enjoy the American commercials.

Australians love sports. Athletics are a huge part of their culture, indeed their identity. This should be a shock to no one. Aussies routinely do well in the Summer Olympics and are known world-wide for their Rugby and Cricket playing public. But it appears that American sports are on the upswing here, too. Surprisingly, many of my colleagues know the names of players and teams in the NFL, NBA and MLB, if not so much the NHL. I didn’t think I’d be having daily discussions about the Toronto Raptors here in Melbourne, but I do.

But the Superbowl is no footy game – this is AMERICAN football, and game time is 10am on a Monday. How much of a real interest would there be here? Well, it turns out, quite a lot.

A week before the game, I called three downtown sports bars and each was completely booked out, with entrance fees and standing room only available. I felt fortunate to find a fourth that had room for our group of 12. Aside from us theatre practitioners who have the day off, the bar soon filled up with an interesting crowd. Some walked in wearing NFL jerseys, some in shirts and ties. Some called in sick, some booked the day off specifically to watch the game, and some appeared, well, to put it politely, unlikely to have a job whatsoever.

Oh, Australians love beer, too. And as game time approached, even though it was not yet 11am, buckets of Bud became the standard centerpiece on our tables. Um, I’m pretty sure the “it’s 5 O’clock somewhere” thing started here in Australia.

 But for the locals, this outing wasn’t purely an excuse to drink. During the breaks in the action, I was often asked about specific rules, position names and player, as they wanting a better understanding of American football. The three forms of Aussie Rules football were referenced as a comparison, with more than a couple half-tongue-in-cheek comments about how real men don’t need to wear helmets and pads. There’s always that part of the Aussies, too. Makes me smile.

Most of the bar patrons were surprisingly fans of the San Francisco 49ers. Maybe it’s because flights from Australia to North America usually land in Los Angeles, meaning Aussies feel comfortable with California. Maybe it’s because the 49ers are perennial winners and are 6-0 in Superbowls. Personally, I was rooting for the Ravens, who I figured to win in a very close game. (Aren’t I smart?!?!?)

Aside from the outcome of the game, some patrons were equally interested in the innumerable betting options, even tracking via their phones how the odds changed throughout the game. One friend bet (wisely) on Boldin scoring the 1^st touchdown of the game, at 10-1 odds. Another bloke bet $5 (unwisely) that Beyonce would trip during her halftime show. This particular guy was also completely loaded by Halftime, but … whatever. It takes all kinds, you know?

(Editor’s note: We interrupt this sports and culture piece to bring you an Arts review.)

Speaking of Beyonce, I was stoked that three of my favorite female vocalists would do their thing on this year’s broadcast. In the Pregame ceremony, Jennifer Hudson was unbelievable, effortlessly wailing overtop of those sweet children from Sandy Hook, CT during America the Beautiful. Beautiful it was.

Unfortunately, Alicia Keys disappointed in her rendition of the National Anthem. I give her credit for playing the piano while singing, but why does she choose to sing every song a tone too high? Her upper notes always sound on the brink – because of this, some are thrilling, but most make me afraid that her larynx might pop out of her neck. Alicia, just drop the key a bit and sing your heart out. You know? We’ll still love you. (Note in the picture below how Alicia is reaching for a note juuuuust out of reach…)

In the 15-minute Halftime show, Beyonce did her thang, and did it very well, proving that she’s still the Superbowl Champ of female Pop Stars. Great looks, great voice, great moves, good songs, interesting production - she’s the total package, amiright?

 As for the game itself, I found it totally engaging. In the 1^st half, the newest elite quarterback Joe Flacco skillfully led the Ravens on offence, and as they are wont to do on defence, they forced San Francisco into some turnovers. The Ravens raced out to a big 21-6 Halftime lead, leaving many fans in our bar stunned. Their surprise turned to pure shock on the opening play of the 2^nd half, as the Ravens ran the kickoff all the way back for a 108-yard touchdown, which tied an all-time NFL record for the longest kickoff return. At 28-6, it was looking like a blowout.

Then came another shock – the power went out at the Superdome. A Superbowl-first 34-minute Power-Outage delay while annoying, was not a distraction and was tolerated well by everyone. More time for beer and wings, amiright?!?!? I mused half-jokingly that the power outage was due to Beyonce’s energetic Halftime show. All stunning to look at, but holy crap – a whole lot of power (and dough!) went into those extras. For example, did you see that massive video screen that rose out of the stage?

 Did you see that reflective LCD floor?

How about those numerous burst of fire?

 Hey Superdome, “If you like it then you shoulda put a backup generator on it…“ (I know – it doesn’t scan very well, but I still like it.)

But I digress. Um, yeah. Back to the Macho stuff. 

When play resumed, the 2^nd half went according to the pregame script, as the 49ers came roaring back, led by their heavily tattooed Quarterback Colin Kaepernick. Most fans in our bar leapt to their feet every time the exciting Kaepernick took off for a running play, and yelled in amazement as he drilled one of his fastballs into the arms of a waiting teammate.

 He is a thrilling athlete to watch, but in his first Superbowl, Kaepernick made a few costly mistakes. The interception he threw in the 1^st half was an awful and costly throw, but equally glaring was his decision to call a timeout in the 3^rd Quarter down 28-6, on a 1^st and 10 near midfield. Even if he was confused at the play call, taking the snap and running a basic play – heck, even taking a knee – would have been much more preferable to losing a timeout. 

 

While his 4^th quarter 20-yard TD run was thrilling to watch, once again he was unable to deal with the pressure of the moment. On the next play, the potential game-tying 2-point conversion attempt, he was unable to read the Ravens blitz and quickly threw the ball away, keeping the Ravens ahead 31-29, a lead which they would not give up. And sure enough, down five points and with no timeouts left, Kaepernick could only watch as the Ravens ran out the clock, preventing the 49ers from getting one last good chance to win the game.

I’m not blaming Kaepernick for the loss – indeed, if a couple passes had not slipped through his receiver’s fingers, or a couple non-penalty calls were made in their favour, he may well have been the Superbowl MVP. But this is Sports – and what makes it so endlessly compelling for me. On any given day, anything can and will happen, and usually things don’t end up happening the way the experts predict. In the end, the Ravens played well enough to win, and although they buckled in the 2^nd half, they would not break, holding on to record the upset victory, 34-31. It was a very exciting and interesting game, and a good time was had by all. Even Joe Flacco went home happy, too.

The Aussie mates are good blokes. They love hanging out together, the love just about any sporting endeavor, they love to drink a few pints, they love to place a bet, and are genuinely interested in learning more of the finer points of American sports. They will even down some good ol’ American chicken wings and bottles of Budweiser every once in a while. My next job is to convert them all to Blue Jays fans, which shouldn’t be too hard. With the new and improved Jays line up and Spring Training just around the corner, I don’t think it will be a problem.

Ah, there’s nothing like heading home the bar in the early afternoon on wobbly legs, after hours of good times. Such is life in Melbourne, Australia.

My 2nd Aussie Open Experience

And rock up I did.

Indeed, Day 4 of the Australian Open promised many interesting matches and storylines, more than enough to convince me to come back and pick up a Ground Pass for the afternoon. Between my evening performance and my publicity photo shoot with my Jersey Boys mates with the Head Coach and former soccer star of the Melbourne Heart FC John Aloisi, I had several hours to kill. When the photo shoot wrapped up at AAMI stadium around 12:30pm, I literally crossed the street and walked the few minutes down Swan Street to Melbourne Park. (Disappointingly, I did not need to walk on Batman Avenue this time.)

(AAMI stadium would be just off the upper right corner of this map.)

The main purpose of my visit was to see the 2nd round match of Richmond Hill, Ontario’s Milos Raonic. Having risen from seemingly out of nowhere in 2010, and out of the Top-100 as recently as 2011, Milos’s hard work and natural talent have carried him to become the 13th seed here. And he would need to prove his worth today, facing off against Czech Lucas Rosol, whose claim to fame was knocking off Rafial Nadal at last year’s Wimbledon. So, clearly, Rosol is no push-over.

Lucky 13’s.

When I arrived at the rather remote Court 13 just before 13:00 local time, Raonic had a slight 4-3 lead, on serve in the 1st set. Even though he is young and without great fanfare, I was somewhat surprised that the Open would schedule the 13th seed to play so far away from the main courts here. (Though from the photo above, you can see how just how close the tennis facility is to Melbourne’s downtown core.)

I was, however, happy to see an estimated 250 fans watching, many of whom were proudly Canadian, held flags, donned shirts or the increasingly ubiquitous Blue Jays hats (I had mine on). At 6’5” and just 22 years old, Raonic’s natural gifts have been amplified by a new extensive training regimen, and upon first sight today, he looked stronger overall, thicker through the upper body, and possessed perhaps a bit more poise than usual in those rare moments when he struggled.

The two men held serve for the next few games, although Rosol struggled more on his serving games. A typical Raonic serving game was at 4-4 when an Ace of his cracked the ballgirl in the back, eliciting a sympathetic groan from the crowd. Undeterred, he followed that one with two more Aces. Raonic did seem uneasy at times, perhaps frustrated with not having broken Rosol yet in the match. Ahead 6-5, Raonic let out a “So Bad!” critique of an easy topspin forehand attempt that went well long.

If this match was close in the early going, from the 1st set tie-break on, it was all Raonic. He cruised through the tiebreak 7-2, and then broke Rosol in the 1st game of the 2nd set, setting the tone for what was to come. In the 39C heat, Raonic fired 18 Aces, 18 winners against only 6 unforced errors, losing only 1 service game and coasted easily to a straight set victory 7-6, 6-2, 6-3.

Raonic kept his cool during under this umbrella sponsored by everyone’s family car company, Kia. Every sit-down, he had a towel wrapped around his neck and shoulders that appeared to hold three ice-packs, taped into place. He also drank copious amounts of water and an orange-coloured sports drink.

His biggest weapon is obviously his serving game. Unfortunately, there was no radar gun out on Court 13 to track the pace, but regardless, Rosol didn’t have much of an answer for it. Throughout the 2nd and 3rd Sets, Raonic showed incredible poise, even when coming back from down 0-30. Serving at 3-2 in the 3rd set, he fell behind Rosol 0-30, only to follow up with four straight incredible 1st serves – three un-returnable and one Ace. Aside from the serve, his groundstrokes looked strong too, especially up 4-3 in the 3rd when his three consecutive slice backhands won him the point to go up 30-0, and eventually break Rosol at Love. A few minutes later he would break again to end the match.

With Raonic’s match concluded, I wandered over to watch a few minutes of several different matches ongoing at Melbourne Park. None of them terribly caught my interest until I found one of the best stories so far in the Aussie Open. The formerly-retired, 42-year-old Japanese Energizer bunny Kimiko Date-Krumm became the oldest woman to win a singles match at this tournament by winning her first round match. I found her squaring off against Israeli Shahar Peer at the start of the 2nd Set.

Once ranked as high as 4th in the world, the diminutive Date-Krumm had retired from tennis for 10 years, only to come back with a vengeance. A former semi-finalist here (albeit back in 1996!), Date turned pro in 1989 when her opponent was literally still in diapers. After a grueling battle of wills in the 39C heat, Date-Krumm gave Peer a spanking and sent her to her room, 6-2, 7-5. She continues her dream run in the 3rd round against 53rd ranked Serbian Bojana Jovanovski. I hope she wins that one, too, just to see that winning smile again.

The crowd was especially colourful during the match. Barely a word of English was heard, as repetitive chants in Hebrew were shouted by Peer’s admirers, hoping to help her get back in the match. Then, the ever-polite and plentiful Japanese supporters would applaud and hold their flags aloft, beaming their support to Date. And then there was the Japanese press and photographers, out in full force. This reminded me just how international the tennis world is. This is a pretty incredible experience to take in.

The other top stories of the day featured Australian men. Bernard Tomic toughed out a tight victory over Daniel Brands and has himself a hot date with Roger Federer in the 3rd round. The winner of that match may end up facing our homeboy Milos Raonic if he can win his 3rd round match against 27th seeded German Philipp Kohlschreiber. And local hero 20-year old James Duckworth broke his 1st round Aussie Open record for the longest match, this time losing in five sets, 4 hours and 52 minutes out in the 39C afternoon sun. The sold-out crowd on Show Court 2 was firmly on his side, and their chanting could be heard all over Melbourne Park. He has certainly earned their respect this week, by playing his way into the tournament as a wildcard, and then gutting out 10 sets and over nine hours of tennis in grueling conditions.

All in all, it was a great afternoon. Who knows, maybe I’ll be back again on Monday… Raonic vs Federer on Centre Court at Rod Laver Arena? Yes, please – and Monday is my day off, so if it’s a night game, I’ll be there, with my Blue Jays hat on.