Sorry, but if you want silky smooth walk and talks you pretty much need a Steadicam unless you want to haul out a dolly, and it sounds like you don't have time for that. If you use a cat griller or similar quick release system, you can switch to steadicam in less than 10 seconds. I bought a cat griller after having to switch back and forth from my Master Series to sticks 12 times in a half day shoot. I was about ready to kill the director.
As for the CMR blackbird, dude, did you even read the thread? a loaded epic with Zeiss primes weighs well over 20lbs. A blackbird can hold what? 6 lbs?
Also, If you are talking about the merlin vs the blackbird, I've found the merlin to be harder to balance, but has a better build quality and has a almost frictionless gimbal. The blackbird is just meh.