it looks like the premier will be pushed into sometime in early February
Before this changed, Vienna was going to be in school for the whole main run of the show. She told me she might be able to make it to a preview night if there's one on a weekend. Maybe now some shows will overlap with her break?
Anyway, I finally got a chance to write a little bit about what happened for Splendor In The Garden. Although I'm probably just going to talk more about the food and the setting, since we're still keeping it vague while the progress on the musical is ongoing.
It was hot up in Mill Valley as we piled into a shuttle to go up a long, winding road to a beautiful view of the hillside, valley, and San Francisco far off in the distance. Erik likened it to going to a house from The Real World - a house opened up to us, with a foyer and living room as well as the kitchen containing the spread of food, several ledges set up outdoors for eating overlooking the valley, a separate wine bar. Down winding stairs and past blocked off bee hive boxes was a whole separate cottage for the talent, and a stage set up. All around us were trees, flowers, and a few Buddha statues here and there, fitting for the musical's story.
The menu: vegetable stew, bread butter and pesto, radish, nectarines, rice, local cheese. Apparently I missed out on the house honey. Very delicious. The bread and water goes with one of the songs in the musical, even.
An lurking forumer, wildernessguy, introduced himself to me. Thanks for saying hi! Now delurk already
The other locals here would back me up when I say participating in the online community has its advantages...
As we ate, the new orchestrator for the musical, Robin Reynolds, played beautiful cello. She played classical pieces, although she normally performs with jazz/hip-hop ensembles, such as Shotgun Wedding Hip Hop Symphony with Dina, and Jazz Mafia Symphony with Jess. She didn't perform with the actors for this time out. Sadly I didn't get a picture of her.
After baking in the sun as we waited for the main performance to start, the shade from the trees changed, which shaded the audience and lit the stage. Good for sight, boiling for the performers. They did admirably under the circumstances. After an intro by the chef, and then a story from the house owner about the space and his relationship with Tanya, seven songs were performed, a few of them brand new, some newly reworked from previous versions. I thought the musical was already getting pretty close with the previous version I had seen, but there were some good improvements. That said, the fate of some characters and plot points are up in the air again. So in some places it's still not close at all. I know it'll come together by show time, it's just interesting to see the process unfold, and how nothing is really certain even if you think it will be.
There were 7 out of 11 (heard it was 12, but the auditions only call for 11) actors for this performance. Funny thing is, three others we've seen before were in the audience. Not sure if they were there for moral support or if they were observing for their own parts.
Everyone was crying at the end again.
We weren't told not to do anything that we're usually told not to do, so
here are some pics. Probably won't get to take any more, and I'm guessing the next time we see this, it'll be with the final cast.
Vienna's credit on the musical has gone from just music, to additional lyrics by, and now to potentially a co-write on a song.
Afterward was dessert, including little bitty brownie squares, strawberries, little bitty strawberry tarts, cookies, and more bread and different cheeses.
After afterward, we met up in another garden, the one behind the Bazaar Cafe, and discussed some ideas for next year that she has floating around. She's planning a feast, but she's still putting together the recipes...
by cmooreNC » Tue Jan 10, 2012 7:56 pm 
You can find some discussion here on the musical under its previous title, Sid Arthur. We've been vague on details since it's been a work in progress, and don't want to mislead anyone because things change quickly and dramatically. There's several different threads here, with a summary post in this one. A fresh thread seems like a good place to post! Enjoy your time here this weekend!
