Well, dear readers, not that anyone is counting, but it is a mere three days until the new year. Since we had The Round Up yesterday, today I thought we should have The Square Up, because I don’t want to become predictable, shape-wise. Did anyone notice just how few pithy comments we had yesterday? I was sitting here like so much fish, wondering Where Have All The Hainsies Gone (Long Time Passing)? Perhaps you were all out doing your post-Christmas shopping and taking advantage of all the sales. We miss your pithy comments, though, so you simply must leave them or we shall be very sad and we shall commit Hari Kari, or, as it’s better known in the United States of America, Harry Carey. You don’t want me to commit Harry Carey, do you? First off, how would Harry feel about that? Second off, I’d much rather read your pithy comments than commit Harry Carey, who was so good in Mr. John Ford’s The Searchers, a wonderful film about revenge. I just love wonderful films about revenge, and the hero, Mr. John Wayne, is maniacal in this film in his pursuit for revenge. He just keeps on coming, there is no escaping Mr. John Wayne in his quest for revenge. And what he does to the person responsible for Bad Things is… well, let’s just say they get their comeuppance in a very satisfying way. Where was I? Oh, yes, lack of pithy comments and Harry Carey. It’s just that it’s a pity when there are no pithy comments, but of course “pity” is “pithy” without that unseemly “h”. Speaking of unseemly, isn’t about time we all just clicked on that Unseemly Button below? I do believe it is, or we shall all be bitch-slapped by Mr. Mark Bakalor, who, by the way, has never left a pithy comment.
The thing I really want to know, pithy comment-wise, is if you people are wearing pith helmets when you’re leaving your pithy comments. Yes, that is the thing I want to know and I will not rest until I have the answer. I will be relentless in my pursuit of the answer, rather like Mr. John Wayne in The Searchers, a film about obsessive revenge.
I don’t want anyone to think I’m cranky, however, because frankly the traffic to this here site has been very good, considering the holidays and all. Well, without further ado – because I’ve had just about enough ado in these notes – I am just about fed up to here with ado in these here notes, without further ado let’s continue our yearly round up (or square up) of the musicals I saw this year.
The Spitfire Grill was, I thought, a lovely small musical with some exquisite performances, especially from my pal Liz Callaway, and the wonderful Garrett Somebody (don’t have the program in front of me) who played the lead. The score had some very nice things in it, too. Not perfect, but intimate and nice.
And then there was Bat Boy. I must tell you, dear readers, that I was not looking forward to seeing Bat Boy, because I’d listened to the CD and really not liked it (I found it difficult to get past the production of the CD which I did not find wonderful – strident, dry and sounding like it was recorded in a tiny dead drum booth). So, I went with some trepidation. What does that mean, “I went with some trepidation”? I went with Crista Moore is who I went with, not some trepidation I just picked up off the street. In any case, imagine my surprise when I found that I actually enjoyed a lot of Bat Boy. The score came across much better in person, and the performances of Devon May, Kaitlin Hopkins and Kerry Butler were excellent. Scott Schwartz’ direction moved things along nicely, although I got a bit weary of the in joke musical references. I also thought that cutting ten minutes out of the show would have done wonders. Still and all I had a good time.
I had to see The Grave White Way, a musical which was done here in Los Angeles, because my very close personal friend, Mr. Guy Haines, was guest-starring in it. It’s a parody of various musicals, and when it works it’s pretty funny and when it doesn’t, it isn’t. Very difficult to pull off shows like this, because if the satire doesn’t work, one doesn’t have anything to hold on to, one just waits for the next bit that will work. Still, some funny bits and if they do some good work on it, it could be a viable piece for small theaters.
What am I, Ken Mandelbaum all of a sudden? Don’t forget, tomorrow we’ll have a brand spanking new and difficult trivia question for you to answer. And remember, the first person to get it right gets a special handy-dandy prize, and the runners-up get mentioned in these here notes.
I intend to catch up on some recent movies this weekend. Have you ever caught up? Up is a slippery little imp and I find it difficult to catch up because up is always skittering hither and thither and there and yon and what the hell am I talking about? I think I shall see The Lord of the Rings, the sequel to Lord of the Dance, because I can’t wait to see what happens to all those wonderful Lord of the Dance characters. I might see Kate and Leopold, too, although it looks pretty terrible. If anyone can recommend anything else that’s excellent please do so in the Unseemly Comment Box below. And, while you’re there, leave some pithy comments, too (whilst wearing your pith helmet, of course), otherwise I shall have no choice but to commit Harry Carey. Tomorrow, we’ll continue our look back at what I saw in the year 2001: A Space Odyssey. Speaking of pithy, I think today’s notes have lacked pith. Not much pith in these here notes, but yesterday there was so much pith it was astounding. I have never seen as much pith as in yesterday’s notes. In fact, when I finished yesterday’s notes I could be heard singing:
I feel pithy,
Oh, so pithy,
I feel pithy and withy and wythe
And I’m pithy
When I eat a burger with french frythe.
Then someone came by and hurled a vile epithet at me and brought me down to earth. “French frythe”? I believe we have reached a new low, dear readers, and that is all to the good, say I. Say I, that is all to the good. Well, I have to pith off now, but I will be back bright and early tomorrow morning.