McGuire on Walton's World

Listen to Bill Walton's Podcast. He mentions and praises McGuire. Listen to the whole podcast, its pretty cool. His McGuire coverage is about 10 minutes in.

Links about production

Here are some links about McGuire in Atlanta during the Final Four.

Marquette Hoops

Sports Illustrated

Atlanta Journal-Constitution (Preview)

Atlanta Journal-Constitution (Review)

The Sidewalks

The sidewalks were being rebuilt in the Buckhead area where our hotel was. It seemed like the sidewalks were 8 feet off the ground. And there were potholes...in the sidewalks. I thought about putting a cash bond on Cotter in case he tripped and twisted his ankle.

I thought I heard Coach Tom Izzo of Michigan State say he had it happen to him when he appeared on a CBS Final Four pre-game show.

MARTA

MARTA is the public transportation system in Atlanta. We bought passes that allowed for unlimited riding. Very convenient. And easy to use.

The only glitch was Sunday night, after 9pm, when we tried to get back to the hotel. There was some train switching, so it took some time. Still less expensive and probably just as fast as a cab.

End of the Night Quotes

Heidi M-S: "The earths crust is not right here."
Cotter: "We've taken this play to another level"
Stephen H-M: "There is a banana in my bag."
Heidi M-S: "Dumb _ _ _."

Political Side-note

The chief of staff for the Atlanta Mayor was at the 5pm show.

He was very gracious and at the post-show talkback he was very complimentary and said the City of Atlanta was proud to be able to host such a fine production.

More on Bill Walton

After talking with Cotter, he said Mr. Walton really liked the show. He passed on his card to Cotter and called him one of his new friends.

Cotter (and I) both feel Bill is one of the better basketball announcers. He is a straight shooter with a good sense of humor.

Interesting side note: Bill told Cotter that Bill named his son Luke (who now plays for the LA Lakers) after Maurice Lucas, former Marquette basketball star who was coached by Al. Bill and Maurice became best friends when they played together for the NBA Portland Trailblazers.

Raves from Tim Brando

CBS broadcaster, Tom Brando, who I didn't spot in the lobby, couldn't stop raving about the show. He couldn't thank Dick and Cotter enough for their work.

Heidi Meuller-Smith

Heidi, the director, was a rock for the whole project. Through her collabration with Cotter and Dick, she helped craft a show that has affected anyone who sees it.

Talkbacks

Dick has done a great job at the talkbacks after the performances. The entire audience for both shows today stayed to hear his insight on the project and to hear other Al stories.

Who is at the evening performance

Marquette center from the 77 cahmpionship team Bo Ellis and his family saw the show.

CBS broadcaster Clark Kellogg was here.

And coaching great Eddie Sutton.

Reflections on the matinee

While eating lunch Farmerie had this thought on the matinee: "People were the most receptive I've ever heard them. This run had the greatest amount of laughers, clappers, and criers. The audience was nuts, and it made me happy."

Roberts said this: "The audience was enjoying the show to a new level. Dick stood in the lobby after the show and almost everyone stopped to shake his hand and tell him how much they loved it. One guy gave him a game program from the 1977 Championship game. And another told Dick he never expected to cry at the Final Four. Amazing show!"

Coach Smith

Coaching legend Coach Dean Smith congratulating Dick Enberg. Coach Smith seemed to thoroughly enjoy the show.

Bill Walton and Cotter

Basketball great Bill Walton congratulating Cotter on this afternoon's performance.

Grocery store

I found the store the G-town fans I mentioned earlier pointed to. And I was able to get some beer.

I just don't understand why they were on the other side of town with a 12 pack of beer.

Guess who showed up to our 1pm show

Sitting back stage waiting for the show to start.

While waiting in the lobby, I saw CBS broadcaster and one of Mr. Enberg's colleagues - Lesley Visser.

Georgia Tech Head Coach Paul Hewiit is here.

Basketball great and ESPN announcer Bill Walton is here.

And....... and former North Carolina head coach, the great Dean Smith.

The Final Four Games: So Close...

Here's a picture of the Georgia Dome. (It's from the outside, because we didn't make it in.)

We thought this was amusing. There were lines for the boys and girls to enter the dome.

Here, we also witnessed a high speed chase of security gaurds after some guy. We can only assume the culprit is still at large with some inebriated person's tickets.

We watched the first game at Centennial Park a few blocks from the Dome. It was a mini Summer fest.

There was a stage with two large screens projecting the game. Ludicrous performed a concert, but food was a larger priority for us, so we headed back to the hotel.

More night time scenery. (Just outside the Dome.)

We beat the crowds to the MARTA

Kate thought it would be nice to take a picture of our experience.

This was taken as she fell onto the tracks she didn't realize were right behind her.

McGuire set again

Here is the set with some of the stage lighting on it.

Chester is just as joyful

I am really pleased with the Alliance Theatre tech table. This is where I sat when setting the lighting cues. The table went away quickly and easily before the audience was let in the theatre.

Farmerie joyful

Farmerie (MU projectionist) is happy she finished her Theatre History quiz on time. She believes she received an A for her effort.

Projector

We used two of these massive projectors that gave us nice clean and bright images.

They are so big they take an hour to shut down.

Speaking of Georgetown

As walked to the mall to find a charger for my cell phone (currently at half battery and no luck finding a charger) I walked past two young, female Georgetown fans.

They were carrying a twelve pack of beer.

Much to the dismay of the majority of the McGuire production team, we have not had success finding a beer retailer within walking distance of the hotel. Remember, the free beer only flows between 530 and 730.

I asked the girls where they got the beer. They said, the supermarket. I asked where was the supermarket.

They pointed the opposite direction that I was walking.

I'm still rooting for G-Town.

The Excitement is Building

On the way back to the hotel after the show, we saw mostly Florida fans. It seemed to be a tie between UCLA and Ohio State. Georgetown looked to be a distant last.

It is apparent that basketball has taken over Atlanta

Oh my

To quote Dick Enberg...Oh my....Cotter was great and the audience was into the whole performance.

Mr. Enberg was outstanding with his preshow talk.

And now it appears there is a TV crew setting up to film something. Don't know what is really going on.

I'm in the balcony, I don't really fell like yelling down.

Dick Enberg in the House

Dick came to the rehearsal Friday night and was pleased. Here he is chatting with Heidi Meuller-Smith, director, and Cotter Smith, actor.

Opening

We are about 5 minutes until the first performance. Mr. Enberg will be doing a pre-show talk. Looks like we have a nice crowd coming in.

Tech last night and this morning went well. My assistant did a great job typing in the light cues in Milwaukee. They loaded into the Alliance board accurately and we only had to make a few adjustments while we were rehearsing.

Bosun's chair

Alliance stagehand Darren is hoisted up on a buson's chair. By attaching the chair to a track, the stagehand can slide along a lighting position. to allow refocus and recolring of the lightng equipment. We recolored the Go Dog Go plot and refocused about 30 lights.

Darren is about 30 feet in the air.

McGuire Lobby Display

Photos of Al and reviews of the Milwaukee producion set up in the foyer outside the theatre.

McGuire set i

The McGuire set installed a few hours later.

Go Dog Go Set

This is the set for Go Dog Go, which needed to be torn down before McGuire could be installed.

Alliance JumboTron

The Alliance sign announcing McGuire.

Load-In

(sidenote) So the theatre is really impressive, the lobby is swanky and they have a lot cleaner and a lot better everything. It was really interesting to look at the booth. They have an infared monitor to watch the stage during blackouts so that the SM can tell when to call the next cue, which is ridiculously awesome. Gunner sucks at life. (This paragraph by Kate Roberts)

From Gunner:

After lunch, Chester, Stephen, Roberts, and I arrived at the Alliance theatre to prepare for load-in. We watched the strike of "Go Dog Go". (We have a lot to learn.) [See captions of pictures for further explanation]

Beginning at 3:30pm, we "started doing crap." Tensions were high at times with getting things to work right. (It was as if we were back at the Healfare)
In the end: Load in was successful. Cotter and Heidi are happy.

Pictures will be posted later tonite.

We begin rehearsal at 8pm. Dick Enberg and a CBS crew arrive at 730pm to shoot a piece about Al McGuire that will air tomorrow..

MU staff arrives

Cotter and his family arrived without incident.

Roberts, stage manager, and Famarie, projectionist, made it as well.

We begin load in about an hour.

End of Day 1

Atlanta is warm.

The subway is very convenient.

The hotel is nice, free drinks from 530 to 730. The hotel is in Buckhead, the financial district of Atlanta. So pricey restaurants seem to be the norm.

Stephen H-M (scenery and projections designer) and I had fruitful discussions with the Alliance Theatre staff. Stephen confirmed the props we will be using from the Alliance stock and we checked the scenery we shipped from Milwaukee. All looked good. Stephen was also able to look at the stage space.

Tomorrow, the rest of the MU staff arrives. We begin load in at 1pm while the Alliance strikes their show. We will work until 7pm, then rehearse and tech the show with Cotter at 8pm.

I will try to take and post some photos tomorrow.

Ugh

At the hotel getting myself situated.

Got up up at 430am for a 620am flight. l will get to Atlanta around 930am.

Best part of the trip so far......xm radio.....i can listen to Mike and Mike on ESPN Radio....much like my drive to MU everyday.

My Bracket

Wisconsin losing in the second round hurt my bracket bad, as I felt that they would make the Final Four. I was right with G-Town, UCLA and Ohio State.

I will go with the Big East and G-Town to win the title.

This really has to be one of the strongest Final Fours in quite some time. The semis should be outstanding.

Cotter Smith as McGuire

Cotter Smith, along with his wife Heidi, is a Founder and Artistic Director of the Cornerstone Theatre Company in Milwaukee, where they will return after this production, and she will direct him in Eugene O’Neill’s Long Day’s Journey Into Night. His many New York theatre credits include the Broadway production of Wendy Wasserstein’s An American Daughter, Lanford Wilson’s Burn This and Paula Vogel’s Pulitzer Prize-winning How I Learned to Drive, as well as ten years as a member of the Circle Repertory Company. His television and film work ranges from his debut as Robert Kennedy in the mini-series “Blood Feud” 20 years ago to his role as the President of the United States in the 20th Century Fox film X2. He has ppeared in more than 50 television shows over the years, most recently this season in “The Unit” and “Without a Trace.”

For info on Cotter click here: Cotter Smith.

The McGuire Bar

The bar is the biggest piece of scenery in the show. It is in two pieces. It is very heavy and has been taking up space either on the MU backstage or in the scene shop. While it is an excellent piece of scenery, I was happy to see it go last week when the trucking company came to pick it up.

It will not be returning to Marquette after this run of McGuire. The Alliance Theatre has agreed to dispose of it.

Future performances of McGuire will require a new and more easily transportable bar to be built.

The night before my scouting trip to Atlanta

Being a father a of 3 year old son - Joe (I also have 2 more sons, 17 and 13, they do all right on their own) I have logistical challenges with his care. I arranged to stay the night with Joe at my parents so I had a shorter drive to the airport. I live in Mukwonago, my folks live in West Allis. Also, someone could watch Joe when he gets up in the morning.

Well, my mom is the mayor of West Allis (Jeannette Bell). That night there was hearing regarding the demolition of my parents’ house to make access for a new Walgreens. A reporter stopped by with a camera crew. The phone rang….more reporters. Of course, my mom who has dealt with the media for a long time, handled things well.

Anyway, as I watched Marquette play in the Big East tournament against Pitt, I flipped to the local news and there were live shots of my parents’ house. Pretty surreal.

Joe slept pretty well.

Scouting trip to Atlanta

A few weeks I took a day trip to Atlanta to meet the production crew the Alliance Theatre. It was a short but valuable experience.

The function of the trip was for me to meet the key production people and check out the stage space. I also took some photos of some of the props we might use from their stock.

I’d never been to Atlanta before, just driven through (and usually getting stuck in a traffic jam) or changed planes in the airport (invariably busting my tail to get to different terminals to make a connection). The trip itself was uneventful and getting to the theatre was a piece of cake. The subway had a stop right at the facility. I just needed some training to get the gate open with my subway ticket.

I had a nice lunch at a café in a food court by the theatre. A ham and cheese omelet, toast and coffee. It hit the spot as I didn’t have breakfast. The coffee was good and the service very friendly.

As I said, the meeting was shorter than expected. The crew at the Alliance are true pros. For 25 bucks, I was able to get an earlier flight and was home by 630pm instead of 10pm.

McGuire - the Basics

McGuire is a one act play based on the life of legendary Marquette basketball coach Al McGuire written by broadcasting great Dick Enberg. It is a one actor show starring Cotter Smith.

It premiered two years ago at the Marquette University Helfaer Theatre, produced by the MU Department of Performing Arts, Phylis Ravel, Artistic Director. McGuire was directed by Heidi Meuller-Smith. The design team was Stephen Hudson-Mairet, scenery, Debra Krajec, costumes, Chester Loeffler-Bell (that’s me, the author of this blog), lighting, and Mikhail Moore, sound. The stage manager is Kate Roberts, one of our outstanding students.

The show was huge hit for its 1st run and was just as a successful for its 2nd run last summer.

Here is the link for the official press release for the production in Atlanta - Marquette Newsroom Al McGuire Play.