Well, dear readers, I trust that you are having a lovely Labor Day. It is unbearably hot here in Los Angeles, California USA. I shall keep today’s notes very brief since everyone is off doing non-laborious Labor Day doings. When everyone is off doing non-laborious Labor Day doings that means that traffic will be slow and if traffic will be slow there is no sense in me slaving over a hot computer for an hour. I myself will be doing absolutely nothing today. Oh, I may watch a DVD or two or I may just sit on the couch like so much fish, but I have no parties to go to and no non-laborious Labor Day doings to attend to.
Last night I watched the final performance of Contact on Live at Lincoln Center. I hadn’t seen it before – somehow I never got around to it in New York, and when it came to the Ahmanson I was supposed to go to opening night and something came up and I couldn’t. I found it interesting, but I know I would have enjoyed it much more actually seeing it on stage. I read various comments on another site from several theater know-it-alls, about how wonderfully they thought it was shot for TV. I also read how annoyed people were with the bleeping out of the ‘F’ word. I also read how people hated it, how people loved it, blah, blah, blah. I am no fan of Mr. John Weidman. I like Susan Stroman, but don’t find her a visionary director/choreographer along the lines of Mr. Jerome Robbins, Mr. Michael Bennett or Mr. Bob Fosse. But I thought there were interesting things in the piece and I thought it looked very good (sets, lighting and costume-wise). The first sequence, Swinging, seems to be the most hated, at least from the comments I read, but I didn’t mind it. Miss Stroman’s strong suit seems to be props and she uses the swing in very clever fun ways and it moved right along as the curtain-opener it’s designed to be. The second piece, Did You Move?, was longer. I found it labored (appropriate since it’s Labor Day) in its caricatured portrayal of “the lout”, but I liked the choreography fine and I thought Charlotte d’Amboise, who I always enjoy, did a terrific job. I wish I’d seen my pal Karen Ziemba do it. The taping of this number was horrid – anyone who thought it was done well knows nothing about dance or camera. The director was often in the wrong place at important moments, focusing on business or dancers who were not central to the point of the piece. The most obvious example was the very end of the biggest dance section. It builds and builds and builds and the director cuts to people who are sliding on the floor or something, instead of staying wide so we can see the final tableau and the final triumphant pose of Miss d’Amboise, which would be the point of the whole damn build.
Then we had an intermission and on the broadcast, Miss Stroman explained the point of Contact for those of the viewers who may have missed that it was a show about contact. Then we had the final and longest piece, The Girl in the Yellow Dress or whatever it was called. Again, Mr. Weidman just hits us over the head constantly – the whole first apartment scene just goes on and on and on, saying the same thing. Some judicious pruning from that scene would have done wonders. But all the stuff in the bar was done very well and Alan Campbell did a fine job, as did the girl in the yellow dress. The choreography was swell, and once you got to the bar it moved right along. The payoff at the end worked well, too. Again, the director was frequently focusing on dancers who were not central to the action, and wide shots are better – however, if you’re going to have continuous closer shots, at least make sure we see the two people who are the point of the piece. Or at least one of the two.
What am I, Ben Brantley all of a sudden? It is fascinating that this show was the hit it was. It is fascinating that it won Best Musical.
These are short notes? Quick, let’s all click on the Unseemly Button below so we can get on with it.
Whatever problems there were with accessing the radio show have apparently been fixed, so do tune in. Since there were problems for some of last week, and since some of you did miss last week’s show, we’ll repeat it for you very soon. And don’t forget, you have until midnight tonight to submit your answers to this week’s Unseemly Trivia contest.
I will admit to you that I have been sneaking glances at the Jerry Lewis telethon. If you haven’t seen Mr. Lewis lately, it’s a bit of a shock. He’s had some very bad health problems and has been taking Prednisone, which has caused his weight to balloon to huge proportions. He jokingly said he was going to become a Sumo wrestler. He seems to have good humor about it, which is nice. He said he’s gone from a 33 waist to a 49 waist. And his neck size has doubled. But he also says he feels better than he has in years, so that’s good. I saw Nancy Sinatra sing These Boots are Made For Walkin’, which was grand fun. I saw Norm Crosby tell some hoary jokes – may I just say that I have never found Mr. Crosby amusing. I saw Mr. Andy Williams, who still sounds very good indeed. The whole affair seems very scaled down from what it once was, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing.
Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do which in the case of this non-laborious Labor Day, is nothing. I shall do nothing. And if anyone tries to get me to do anything I shall laugh at them. Ha ha, I shall say, and I shall look at them with a bemused expression. Today’s topic of discussion: Since I’ve written about two things today, we’ll have two topics of discussions – I mentioned the visionary Mr. Fosse, Mr. Bennett and Mr. Robbins. What are your favorite dance numbers from each of these men? I’ll start – Mr. Fosse: Magic to Do, Rich Man’s Frug, I’m a Brass Band, With You (Pippin), Coffee Break, Crunchy Granola Suite, Steam Heat and Who’s Got the Pain. Mr. Bennett (keeping in mind that I didn’t see Ballroom): Turkey Lurkey Time, One, Hello Twelve, Hello Thirteen, Hello Love (talk about how a number should build), the opening of A Chorus Line, Steppin’ to the Bad Side, It’s Not Where You Start It’s Where You Finish and his uncredited work on Shine, from Smile. Mr. Robbins: America, Prologue, Cool, Tradition, Comedy Tonight, the Baby June and Dainty June numbers from Gypsy, and all of the purely dance sequences in On The Town. Wow, now I want to see all those numbers. Topic two: Since I mentioned Andy Williams, and we’ve done the female side of this, what is your one favorite song for each of the following male vocalists: Tony Bennett, Andy Williams, Mel Torme and Mr. Sinatra. I’ll start – Mr. Bennett: Well, I love Mr. Bennett, but I’m going with a song no one else will ever name, because it was the first I ever heard by him, and I fell in love with his voice from it and it’s a great great song – Firefly. Mr. Williams: Well, it should be Moon River, one of the great vocals of all-time, but I also adore his Days of Wine and Roses, too. So, a tie. But for sheer Andy Williams glow, you can’t do better than Can’t Get Used to Losing You. Mr. Torme: Oh, I’ll just go with The Christmas Song and be done with it. Mr. Sinatra: Almost impossible to choose one, isn’t it? But I shall. And again, it’s probably one no one else will choose, but for whatever reason, this song just “gets” to me, especially as done by Mr. Sinatra – This Was My Love. Your turn.