Well, dear readers, I must write these here notes quickly and be on my way – I have an appointment soon to view something, and I will have more to say about said viewing in tomorrow’s notes. But, never fear, I have answered all of your excellent questions, even the late ones (well, up until eleven last night at least), so there will be plenty to read.
Last night I supped with friend David Wechter. We went to an old-fashioned chop house called Valley Inn which, as you might imagine, is in the Valley. I had a lovely hunk of Prime Rib and David had one of their specials, the Ahi Tuna. I don’t know from Ahi Tuna but he seemed to enjoy it. I then finished watching Two Mules for Sister Sara, not a brilliant film but one that has its moments. Gorgeous transfer, though.
Well, why don’t we all click on the Unseemly Button below so that we can get right to your excellent questions, or, at the very least, get left to your excellent questions.
These here notes have a jaunty feel, don’t they? I feel jaunty whilst writing them and I hope that jaunty feeling translates. Well, without further ado annie, let’s get right to your excellent questions, shall we?
Laura asks if I was kidding when I said Jason could sing with Judy Kaye on the upcoming CD. Well, we need an ensemble of lusty villagers, and so why not?
Jose asks why his allergies won’t go away. Sometimes allergies are like Uncouth Interlopers – they just stick around way past their welcome. I have allergies, but haven’t had problems with them much this year.
Jrand52 asks which do I think is more important for a director in a theatrical enterprise – preparation or inspiration. Well, liberal doses of both, of course, but I’ll give the edge to inspiration. Of course, I don’t know if inspiration wants the edge, but that’s another story.
Lulu asks if I was up for the part in The Goodbye Girl, and if so, how would I have played it and who would I have liked as my co-star. I don’t really recall going in on the film, damn them, damn them all to hell. Maybe I did, but I just don’t remember. I know the film originally started off as Bogart Slept Here, with DeNiro in the lead role. Then they shut that down after about a week of filming, and then a year later it resurfaced as The Goodbye Girl. I don’t think anyone could have been better than Marsha Mason was in the role. And Dreyfuss was terrific, so I’m glad it was him. Interestingly, when they turned it into a musical, Mr. Neil Simon seemed to totally forget what made the movie work – which was that Miss Mason was totally lovable and Mr. Dreyfuss was totally obnoxious and then changed during the course of the film so that he became lovable, too – in other words, he had a journey. In the musical, Bernadette was obnoxious and Martin Short was lovable and the whole thing just went to hell.
Ben asks how I promote a book that isn’t generally sold in bookstores, other than doing interviews and sending out press releases. Is most of the work on my side or does the publisher do a lot of work to get the word out? Well, most of the promotion falls on my shoulders. I hired a publicist to work on Benjamin Kritzer, and he did an okay job of getting the word out. This publisher does do a ton of press releases and they do make the book available to reviewers at no cost. They also provide tools for promotion, such as postcards and bookmarks, and they do adverts in the LA Times and the NY Times, but they’re very pricey and the authors pay. It’s the downside with a small publisher – the upside is you don’t wait two to three years for your book to be published – if you even get it published by a major. And even then, there are no guarantees that they’ll promote it. My book is basically available everywhere online (Barnes and Noble, amazon, booka a million, the ABE, etc.) and it can be ordered at any bookshop. Do I make sure the Kritzerland page is listed in all the major search engines? I don’t, but it seems to be, so something is working.
William E. Lurie asks how I feel about certain stores who demand that record companies produce special versions of their CDs, omitting certain language and possibly changing the cover art – or, video stores who edit scenes out of films to make them family friendly. I think it’s not right, I don’t agree with the practice in any way, shape or form. I simply think those stores should not carry the product if they deem it not right for their customers. That way, the record of film companies decide whether they wish to encourage their artists to censor themselves in order to get their product into those stores. It should always be up to the artist, in my opinion, but then again, the artist is not usually funding the project. So, if the label or film company feels it’s necessary to offer edited versions of things, that is their right because they have the right to maximize their profit potential – unless, of course, the artist has a clause in their contract which would preclude such things. But a store should never ever be able to dictate what an artist should or should not do. A store is a venue in which to purchase products. If they don’t like the product, don’t stock the product.
Kerry asks if I collect autographs. Check last Thursday’s notes for the answer to that question.
MattH asks if I have a favorite Sondheim score and, if so, what and why? That’s hard, of course – but I always give the edge to Follies. Has anyone noticed I’m giving the edge away an awful lot today? Follies, to me, has it all – everything that Mr. Sondheim does brilliantly is encapsulated in that score. But, I also adore Anyone Can Whistle, Company, A Little Night Music and Sweeney Todd.
S. Woody White asks if I have a favorite section of the newspaper that I love to read more than any other. I haven’t read a newspaper in ages, but when I did I loved the NY Times Sunday Arts and Liesure section and the LA Times Sunday Calendar section most of all.
MarkL asks why are additional orchestra personnel added to some cast recordings. In days of old they always added strings because the pit couldn’t accommodate all that many, and the string sections sounded thin without adding to them. That said, with most of today’s orchestrators, they have synth doubling the strings and that seems satisfactory. Of course, on the Dolly tour, which I recorded, there was one cello or something, so we had to bring in a whole string section for that, and I added about seven more string players for The King and I recording.
Michael Shayne would love to know more about the television series WACked Out in which I played a WAC in drag. Well, it wasn’t a real series, it was one of the faux television series in Danny de Vito’s The Ratings Game. So, what you see in the show is all there is. Michael also asks how I went about writing the various faux TV themes for the MBC shows in The Ratings Game. They gave me the ideas for each of the show, and told me what they were spoofing and I went from there. They came fairly easily. I had a good deal of fun doing them, too. In certain cases, I ended up writing lyrics as well – originally they just wanted cartoony music for their animated show The Goombas, but I ended up writing a song for it instead and they thought it was so funny that they animated the title sequence to it to fit my song. The MBC logo music is quite accurate and could have been used on any network. Plus, I wrote one huge musical number which you only see part of at the MBC affiliates meeting, although they shot the whole thing.
MusicGuy (Lyn) asks when I am thinking of the backing and arrangement to go behind a vocal and I’m working with the arranger/orchestrator, how do I get across my ideas, as far as specific instruments and or instrumental effects. In other words, do I specify where I want a specific harmony, chord or instrumental color used? Do I work out a rough outline first, on my own? Well, it depends on the project. On those on which I’m the arranger, I figure out everything – how I want to present the song, how it will open, if there’ll be an instrumental repeat, whether it will have an extended ending, etc. I come up with vamps and what I call turnarounds back into the tune, and rideouts – I figure these out on the piano or in my head and then I get together (either in person or on the phone) with the musical director and we go over everything and he notates it exactly and then that is sent to the orchestrator. I discuss each song with the orchestrator, and go into fairly elaborate detail if I have certain ideas in my head for instruments or colors. Otherwise, I let him go and do his thing. When I’m working with other people’s arrangements, I usually just offer my two cents.
Hapgood asks if I’ve ever seen a production of Long Day’s Journey into Night. Only the film, which I think is great.
Are there other O’Neill plays I’m familiar with? Ah, Wilderness, certainly. Hughie, The Iceman Cometh and a few others. I’m a big fan of Mr. O’Neill. Are there any credits I try to leave off my resume? Any adult films that I really don’t want JB aka JK to know about? Well, I don’t really do the resume thing anymore – but no, I used to put all the credits on, warts and all. I hate the film Racquet, but I’m in it and that’s all there is to it. I don’t think First Family is such a hot comedy, but I’m okay in it and it was fun to do. I did do the music for one of Mark Haggard’s (co-director of Nudie) soft core things called The All American Woman that was pretty blechhhy. No adult films, I’m afraid. Any Tony predictions? Yes, Bernadette Peters for Gypsy and Hairspray for musical. Do I know the work of Brian Friel and if so what do I think? I like Brian Friel very much, especially Philadelphia, Here I Come.
Jane asks if her copy of Kritzerland will be personalized or generic. I believe it will be very personalized.
Craig asks what are my favorite TV theme songs and why? I don’t know from why, but I like the Maverick song, I loved the Laverne and Shirley song, I even liked The Great American Hero song. Of TV themes, too many to mention, but especially The Name of the Game, Barnaby Jones, Peter Gunn, Mr. Lucky, Columbo and on and on. Are there any theme songs I loved but hated the show they were from? I’m sure, but I don’t remember. Who are some of my favorite TV theme composers? I’m not sure if you’re asking about songs or themes – I like Charlie Fox, Mike Post, Billy Goldenberg, Henry Mancini – those guys.
Dennis asks what is my all-time favorite movie. Oh, it changes from hour to hour – as I’ve mentioned before: Sullivan’s Travels, Vertigo, North by Northwest, The Searchers, The White Sheik, etc.
Td asks of the Academy screeners that I own are there any in particular that stand out from the rest? I don’t own that many, but of the current batch I have Spider was terrific and worth a rewatch, and I enjoyed Catch Me if You Can, as well. Have I heard HONK! and if so what do I think of it. I’ve heard one of the recordings and I remember liking it.
Matthew asks what is my favorite song by the following musical theater composer/lyricists: Rodgers and Hart – oh, Where or When or On Your Toes. Rodgers and Hammerstein – oh, Love, Look Away. Stephen Sondheim – oh, Every Day a Little Death or The Road You Didn’t Take. Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber – oh, Half a Moment or As if We Never Said Goodbye. Maury Yeston – New Words. Cole Porter – Anything Goes or True Love. Irving Berlin – I Got Lost in His Arms.
Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do and I must do them jauntily, I must view something and then report to you and tell you all about it unless, of course, it doesn’t want me to tell you such things. Today’s topic of discussion: We’ll use Craig’s question – what are your all-time favorite TV theme songs. I’ll check back later to see all your various and sundried excellent posts.