RETRO KIMMER'S BLOG: RETROKIMMER VISITS "MY BROTHER MARVIN" CAST REHEARSAL

2.10.2013

RETROKIMMER VISITS "MY BROTHER MARVIN" CAST REHEARSAL

Ms Patty Turner wrote... Hi Kimmer, Just Wanted To Thank You Sooooooo Much 4 Such Kind Words & Photo's About The Play " My Brother Marvin " ! Much Love 4 Life, Ms. Patty.......

This play is adapted from Marvin Gaye's sister Zeola's Book ...My Brother Marvin Book

This story begins with a young Marvin singing in his Father's church and his father's jealousy over the attention Marvin's singing receives from the parishioners and also the jealousy over his wife (Marvin's Mother Alberta paying more attention to her son than her husband. Read More About the Play in The Detroit Free Press Story

My friend Paul Buono the "master" operating engineer behind the scenes of the Masonic Temple and also the Incredible Fisher Theater in Downtown Detroit invited to spend my birthday with him at a rehearsal for the new play "My Brother Marvin"

This is the Fisher Theater Stage when the play opens (in rehearsal)

My story begins with Paul Buono inviting me to see this amazing rehearsal. I invited my friend singer Brian Bogart along for this adventure..I knew he would really enjoy Paul's informative tour of the Fisher Theater and the rehearsal too. Being a massive Marvin Gaye fan and also a huge fan of all the Detroit Theaters, I couldn't wait to spend my birthday in Detroit with Paul, Brian, and MARVIN.

After running around behind Paul for awhile, I grabbed a seat in the theater and kicked back to watch the crew building and arranging the sets. Wasn't sitting alone for long....Tony Wilson the Production Manager introduced himself to me. What a great Detroiter! He and I had such fun gossiping about old shows and politics from back in the day...

Mentioned to Tony that I had seen these awesome costumes in the basement area of the Fisher and I wanted to photograph them. Next thing I knew I was introduced to Miss Patty... Oh my...what a charming woman....We got along like a house on fire........woo hoo off to see the clothes!!!! More on the clothes in a bit...

Tony Grant plays the "Prince of Motown" Marvin, MISS PATTY, and Lia Grant plays Tammi Terrell

We saw the rehearsal/play without costumes on the main actors. The dancers were in costume as were other musical performers who I won't name and be a "spoiler". But in one scene Tony Grant sang a favorite song of mine and just blew me right out of my seat! Brian and I both just freaked!! What a voice and so handsome....I had to go meet him!!! Seriously I didn't have adjectives big enough to describe how much I loved Tony Grant's vocal performance!! Go see this play........

The beginning of the stage set up...

Javier (15) with his very proud uncle, portrays young Marvin Gaye as a teenager

Javier was such a gentleman. Quietly working on his script (I think). Spoke with him about his future plans and he is so multi-talented. Actor, singer, dancer Javier is the whole package...Ellen Degeneres is going to know him soon....

The beautiful entrance to Detroit's Fisher Theater

The Fisher Theater is named after the famous Fisher Brothers of Fisher Body fame.

Fisher Theatre, one of Detroit's oldest live theater venues. The theatre originally featured a lavish Aztec-themed interior in the Mayan Revival style, and once had Mexican-Indian art, banana trees and live macaws that its patrons could feed. After the Depression, the theater operated primarily as a movie house until 1961.

Originally containing 3,500 seats, the interior was renovated into a 2,089-seat playhouse that allowed for more spacious seating and lobbies for patrons at a cost of $3,500,000. The decor was changed to a simple mid-century design. Not nearly as ornate as the Fox Theater but very spacious and beautiful.

The New Fisher Theater opened October 2, 1961 and is owned and operated by the Nederlander Organization. It primarily features traveling productions of Broadway shows and has hosted the premieres of Hello, Dolly!, Fiddler on the Roof, Golden Boy, Sweet Charity and now the premiere of My Brother Marvin.

The Fisher Building rises 30-stories with a roof height of 428 feet (130 m), a top floor height of 339 feet (103 m), and the spire reaching 444 feet (135 m). The building has 21 elevators. Designed by Albert Kahn and Associates with Joseph Nathaniel French as chief architect,[8] it has been called Detroit's largest art object and is widely considered Kahn's greatest achievement.

Had a coney lunch for my birthday with Paul and Brian...Cute place in New Center

Paul took us up to the projection room where 2 big spotlights point down to the stage. You can view any show and hear the audio as well from way up there.

In the projection room there are tons of past show posters autographed by their players. I picked a few of my favorites to show you.

Not sure why it would say theater under Seven Brides but it was a cool plaque.

The little girl in this Les Miz poster is Paul's cousin! She is very active and was recently featured on Ellen Degeneres..She is now 24.

Beautiful chandelier

I learned a lot about the music for the stage from Paul and Brian. There is no more full orchestra as in the past. Most instruments can all be generated by various keyboards...

Dressing rooms

Brian Begdorian Tony Wilson and Paul Buono

Tondy Gallant (Anna Gordy and Zeola Gaye) and Lia Grant (Tammi Terrell)

Tondy is a spectacular actress....just amazing...Tia, so beautiful and what a voice! These young actresses were so kind to me and full of such joyous energy. Loved them all....