After months of lonely monotony, Celia Rose Gooding recently woke up on Sunday morning and grabbed her denim jacket, plaid skirt and black boots. From Westchester, where he lives with his mother, Tony-winning actress LaChanze, he traveled to Manhattan, a familiar commute he had left for months.
He and his fellow actors a Broadway musical: “Jagged Little Pill” they reunited to record a performance of Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade. It was the first time they could sing together since Broadway stopped in March.
“It felt really good to see the people I love and what we all love to do,” said Gooding, who made her debut on Broadway in the jukebox musical. “Even if only for a few minutes, but we had to get back to our characters and try to make it feel as magical as when we’re showing the show eight times a week. It was very special to taste this energy. “
On Thursday morning at 9 a.m., the epidemic release of NBC and Telemundo, Macy’s Thanksgiving Daily Parade, is a socially demarcated mix of live and pre-recorded segments. Marching bands and musical guests have been confined to the three states to reduce travel risks, flying huge-character balloons in special vehicles instead of the usual hundreds of operators, and there will be no personal spectators.
Celia Rose Gooding, left, and Lauren Patten will perform the song “Jagged Little Pill” at the parade.
(Virginia Sherwood / NBC)
Further measures have been taken New York City’s current peak in cases of coronavirus, for example, greater physical distance between elements of the parade should be provided and the number of volunteer personnel further reduced. Their series, which typically ranges from 8,000 to 10,000 people, fell 88% this year to 950. “We will take all necessary precautions to ensure everyone’s safety,” said Susan Tercero, executive producer of Macy’s Thanksgiving Day. Procession.
For Broadway’s music stars, the concert has become a passing rite that requires late-night rehearsals and the earliest – and perhaps coldest – calling time of their careers. But since then singing as a group a method by which COVID-19 can spread quickly, all participants were tested before meeting in person and remained masked when the numbers were brushed indoors.
“It was surreal in many ways, mainly because we could see people in person, outside a box on the screen.” said actress “Jagged Little Pill” for the third time in the parade, Elizabeth Stanley. “And since we were all singing alone in our homes to be in the same physical space and harmonize — to hear those voices we knew on that line or that vocal part — it was really great.”
The actors of “Jagged Little Pill” – as well as “Hamilton”, “Ain’t Too Proud – The Life and Times of the Temptations” and “Mean Girls” – then rehearsed and filmed their performances in Midtown. (Since the “Jagged” costumes couldn’t be obtained for the tape, the actors wore their own outfits, selected by costume designer Emily Rebholz during the video chat.)
Although they sang and danced without the sidewalks lining the usual crowd, their efforts were still rewarded with applause. “We finished a song and saw people applaud in the apartment buildings around us,” said Joshua Henry, who paused Lin-Manuel Miranda “Tick, Tick … Boom!” In the filming of his film. for the parade’s “Hamilton” mixed race. “I really missed that feeling – the collective effort that comes with making a work of art to get the audience to feel something right away.”
Joshua Henry will perform with “Hamilton” characters in the parade.
(Virginia Sherwood / NBC)
As much as Gooding misses performing in a theater’s large audience, “I also know that if I don’t, I am to keep everyone else healthy and secure, and it’s more important than any show, any contract, than anything else. Although homeowners will only see the actors on screen, he says the performances will also represent industry designers, stage leaders and other crew members: “The people we can’t do without show them and who often look at them for the last time after.”
The NBC / Telemundo event will also feature Radio City Rockettes and the New York City Ballet, and “Dear Evan Hansen” and “Come From Away” will take part in the CBS Thanksgiving parade. Henry hopes the festivities will remind viewers of a key “Hamilton” lyric.
“” Look around, look around, how lucky we are to be alive now, “he sang.” In this moment of Thanksgiving, I hope people can really watch these performances and be grateful for what we have, for our work, which they are still capable of. we’re breathing in. A lot of losses have happened during this time, but the theater is still here.And we’ll be back.
“94th Annual Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade”
Where: NBC
When: Thursday from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Evaluation: TV-PG (may not be suitable for young children)
