Introductions: Alien Green Gorilla

New Port Richey, FL is fun and restful, but we've had a lot of downtime (and it's currently raining). So, apart from beautiful beaches and good dinners, there isn't too much to report (besides the fact that my shoulders have come down about three inches due to the extreme amounts of sleep I've been getting, and that my skin is a few shades darker.) Which leads me to my next introduction. Meet the Alien Green Gorilla:



The good-old AGG is a hardcore toy. As Robin told me at my initial audition, "It's not enough that he's just an alien gorilla - he's also green." And, indeed, I would add: he's not just an alien green gorilla - he's a cowboy alien green gorilla (because he sings a verse of our country-western song "Cowboy Max"). So, you see, the part gave me a lot to work with from the get-go. We've had to integrate elements of Star Trek with Bonanza and bits of King Kong. I actually get to leap onstage (catching some serious air in the process) and do the whole "sitting on my knuckles" thing while riding a hobbyhorse and shouting "YEEHAW!" And, the best part, the little boys and dads love me, with more than one going "whoa" when I make my entrance!! What could be better, right?

For me, the hardest thing to figure out was the gorilla's "growl so mean" (lyric quote, in case you were confused). According to the script, he is to utter a "guttural OO OO OO RAHHHR!" as both the mini doppelgänger version that Ruby and Max play with earlier in the scene and as my human-sized version. Initially, I had a really fierce growl going on, higher pitched for the little guy and deep and burly (well, as much as a tenor can) for the real entrance. However, after a few attempts this way, choreographer Tracy suggested something that would not strain my chords quite as much. We experimented with a few different growls and, on the very last day of rehearsal, discovered a loud, supported, sorta-resonant and very onomatopoeic "ROAR!!," identical for both the little guy and the big one. Emileena reports that my growls sound like they are coming from inside the house when I roar for the little guy, which I think is pretty cool.

And then there's the gorilla suit. Which I love, exhibited (I hope) by the fact that I keep repairing it. I have a wild costume change out of the gorilla, which causes most of the problems, as I essentially flip the entire thing inside out (it's one huge piece with a zipper in the back). It's also pretty warm inside, and not exactly the kind of thing that can be sent to the dry cleaners with all the other costumes, so I spray it down every day it Isopropyl alcohol and Febreze, and then wipe the inside out with baby wipes. This has helped a lot, but it's still a little smelly. Sorry Theatreworks/USA costume shop; I tried.

ROAR!!



Kid quote of the day: (This one is apropos) After my first "growl so mean," a little boy decided he wanted to join in. Thus, every time I growled or shouted "YEEHAW," he did too. Made me feel kinda special.

Call tomorrow: 7:30am, Days Inn parking lot in New Port Richey, FL. We're off to do our show again!