WHERE’S CHRLIE? Charlie Alterman and Nicole Lewis at the Tony Awards.
Photo: C. Alterman
How did you end up at the Weathervane? They hired me very last minute. Most of the big breaks in my career have been at the last minute. It was through the NETCs. I didn’t actually meet with anyone from the Weathervane there, but they had my form and realized they needed someone. They saw that I’d been at Brown with Heather Cousens, and they called her to get the scoop. She said something really flattering, along the lines of, “Anything that went right in those shows was because of Charlie.” And then they called me.
What were the origins of your Weathervane nickname? The first summer I was there, Tommy B. came late. Forever Plaid was the first show, and no one in the cast had ever done it before. The show is all music, all harmonies, and very difficult to learn in a one-week rehearsal period. But we all jumped in and at one point Steve [Tewksbury, who played Frankie] said to Jacques, “Looks like we really hit the jackpot with this guy.” Jacques said, “I like that. Jackpot.” And the name stuck.
What surprised you the most? How intense it is. I was very up for the chal lenge, very energized, and I like to think that I met the challenge. But it was the craziest schedule I’ve ever experienced. It was the hardest thing I’ve ever done in my life.
What about the Weathervane experience has helped you at other moments in your career? There are still tricks I use to this day that are Tommy B. Tricks. He was a great mentor and a great guy. I owe so much to him.
It was also the ultimate trial by fire. Many time, particularly in the second season, the schedule was so intense that looking ahead to prep stuff was just not an option. So there were rehearsals where I showed up to teach a piece of music that I’d never even looked at. I was horrified by the very thought of it, but I learned to just dive in and not think about it, because it’s got to get done. And then I realized, oh, okay, I can actually do this. It got me over my fear of diving in and going into a rehearsal with the attitude of “Let’s get down and dirty and see what happens.” Those on-the-spot problem solving skills, asking myself, “What can I get out of this situation right now?” and dealing with whatever the reality is—that’s invaluable.
Favorite memories? The people, the space, being up there in the mountains, the Inn, Barn Bat, The Balsams, all of it.
My favorite onstage moment was during a performance of Carousel. We hadn’t done the show in a couple of weeks, and we were deep in rehearsals for the last show. During ‘June Is Bustin’ Out All Over’, Cheryl [Monroe] totally froze and went up on her lyrics right in the middle of a verse. She gave the audience this look and then shouted, “Dance break!” and did a jig around the stage for the rest of the verse. I lost it and the audience lost it. We all just had the best time.
Describe your TONY experience. One of my favorite moments of the whole day was at the dress rehearsal. Everybody stumbles in bleary-eyed at 8am on Sunday morning, clutching their coffee, but everyone is in the best mood since at that point it’s all about the performances and not about who wins—and you run into all your friends from all the other shows. One of the first people I ran into was Nicole [Lewis, fellow W’vane alumna, currently performing in HAIR], and we shared this amazing moment of, “Who would have thought when we were performing together in the barn that fourteen years later, we’d be performing on the TONY’s?”
TONY night was really exciting, too. We were all so proud of the show and proud of our nominations. When we tied for Orchestrations on the very first award of the night, there was a moment of, “maybe we can do this” [win against Billy Elliot for Best Musical]. Michael Starobin [co-orchestrator]—one of the most brilliant people I’ve ever worked with—thanked me in his speech. I was so flattered. And they played a clip of it right before our number, so I saw it on the monitor when I was up in the orchestra room, surrounded by lots of people I knew, and they all cheered. That award wasn’t on the regular broadcast, it was given out earlier. And his speech was about two minutes long, so that they actually chose the section—where he thanked me—to play on the live show, that was amazing.
Last thoughts? I’m so thankful for my time at Weathervane because it’s really how I got my start. It was the best training I could’ve gotten—in a way, everything I’ve done since, seems easier, by comparison. I adore Gibbs and his commitment to the place. So many great people took me under their wing. I owe them all so much. |
