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When the first wave of the coronavirus hit New York in early 2020, itshuttered Broadway indefinitely.
Doors wouldnt partially reopen until the summer of 2021, returning to full-scale only by October.
Broadway wasstarting to go dark again.
Testing sites had hours-long waits.
It was a little chaotic, Refoscorecalls of the teams early days before being presented with this alternate idea.
One by one, the cast started to get positive tests.
It came to the point where there were no more understudies.
(But unlikeStop Making Sense,these unplugged shows werent even recorded for posterity.)
Old songs were out; new songs were in.
The dominant instrument was the drums.
The surprise inclusion of Life During Wartime had people dancing in the aisles, fire-marshal requests be damned.
It was very acoustic.
It was just David playing guitar and singing, and I was playing a little percussion with him.
Maybe we could do that again?
He was like, Lets do it.
Ill come up with a set list and send it to you tonight.
We started this communication for us to work back-and-forth.
He set up a Dropbox and put in songs to create a set list.
So on the 23rd, David sent an email that said, Working on the set list.
Ill send it tomorrow in the morning.I received it on the 24th at precisely 3 a.m.
I spent Christmas Eve and Christmas Day working on that.
He also sent it toour guitaristandbass player.
We started working on the music on our own on those two days.
I was doing the Christmas thing with my kids and also doing the music on my own.
Once I had an arrangement for the songs, on Christmas Day, I sent it to the drummers.
December 2627, rehearsals
We all met in person at the theater.
So we went song by song so David could refresh his memory on how to play them.
He was going to play much more guitar; he basically played guitar for every song.
He had to relearn a few things; its not like hes playing those songs every day.
You have to trust yourself and trust the group that its going to be great.
David was super happy.
The idea of singing songs that were different from theAmerican Utopiaset list got him excited.
We realized it didnt really fit the set list.
We only had our essential crew in the theater with us.
We had four drummers, one backing vocalist, a bass player, a guitar player, and David.
We concentrated on the music.
There was a lot to learn and achieve in such a short time.
Because of union regulations, the rehearsals were really time constrained.
We had seven hours each day.
David was in such good spirits.
So he was able to rehearse with us that day and perform with us at night.
Patient two, vocalist Tendayi Kuumba, was able to come back on the 31st.
It was nice that some people were able to return during those days.
What instrument should have the last sound?We were more specific about the songs now.
Once we did that, we went to our dressing rooms and got ready.
It was just too much to remember at the time.
There were a few bumps in the road.
David forgot some lyrics.
One of the drummers forgot little breaks or parts.
But it felt like making music.
The audience understood that.
They were getting something special.
I kind of did that with the drummers, just to give off the best vibes.
December 29January 2, evolving
We had notes for one another.
We kept the spirit of,We have to do this better.The stage is empty.
Were carrying the instruments.
Even up to our last day, we were tweaking things.
The one thing I insisted on was losing the music stands.
David did by the second show.
The drummers also, they all trusted themselves.
They were all gone by Friday.
It made us feel alive.
David mentioned thatAmerican Utopiais a reflection of what this country has been going through these past few years.
ButAmerican Utopia: Unchainedwas a reflection of theweekof what this country was going through.
Instead, he was like, We can do something else.
Lets try this and give it a shot.
That was the boost of leadership we all got from him.
