Well, dear readers, I finally managed to calm my stomach down (for those who don’t know what was going on, read the late posts for yesterday), and I fell into bed at two-thirty, the bird was thankfully on a break, and I fell right asleep and managed to get seven hours of rest, despite some rather disturbing dreams. I don’t really remember much of them other than one of them was just like an Italian giallo thriller movie, with a lot of straight razors slicing people up. I don’t feel so queasy this morning, and I know that all you dear readers will be happy as clams to know that I managed not to throw up. Isn’t that exciting? Isn’t that just too too?
Yesterday, I met Miss Katherine Helmond and I’m happy to report she is absolutely delightful and she’s going to be wonderful on our little CD. She had some concerns about one section of the song, but I gave her a little hint, and then she was fine and she can’t wait to get into the studio.
Today, I intend to stay around the house and rest, do some writing, but also try to do a little napping if possible (naps and I don’t mesh, but when I’m this overtired sometimes I just nod off).
Well, why don’t we all click on the Unseemly Button below because you had quite a few excellent questions and I have answered each and every one of them, not necessarily in that order.
Well, shall we get right to the answers to your excellent question? Why, yes, Virginia, I do believe we shall.
S. Woody White mentions that in a book on Sondheim, Mr. Sondheim says that pre Mr. Hammerstein, songs in musicals would be written to capture a moment rather than advance the plot. This strikes S. Woody as the sort of thing I do well and he feels it is something of a lost talent. Are there any new songs in Nudie Musical that I’ve written for the stage version that fit the moment-capturing state of mind? Or are there any happy songs in the new Nudie, just a nice happy song sans cynicism. There is what I believe to be a very moment-capturing song for Rosie, called Simply, a very pretty ballad – it doesn’t exactly advance the plot, and yet it does tell you what that character is longing for. A sample:
I don’t need fireworks
Don’t need parades
I don’t need choirs singing or bells ringing
I don’t need shouts of elation
I don’t need a show
Simply
Tell it to me
Simply
Say it to me
Simply
Then I’ll know
As to happy songs sans cynicism, I suppose that We’re Gonna Need a Lot of Donuts is a happy song sans cynicism.
William E. Lurie wants to know exactly what Def Poetry is. It is poetry that you wish you were def when hearing it.
Jrand says that my singing bird might be doing so around midnight because it is attracted to an artificial light in the area. At that time of night, there are no artificial lights near the tree that the bird sings from. All porch lights are off and there are no streetlights nearby. If I could add a category to the Academy Awards, the Grammy awards and/or the Tony Awards what category would it be? I would definitely find a Grammy category for compilation albums like Lost in Boston, etc. Right now there is absolutely no category for that type of album. For the Tonys, I might add Conductor or Musical Director because they never get the recognition they so rightly deserve.
Anna asks how I discover all of the unung gems on albums like Unsung Musicals. Either I know them or people make suggestions – sometimes the composer has stuff that no one knows about, and because they trust me and have enjoyed the work I’ve done they give me stuff. The hard part, of course, is narrowing down what we’ve got.
SteveG asks if I find that the melody for I’ve Written a Letter to Daddy is similar to The Man in the Moon is a Lady from Mame. I suppose there is a similarity of some sort, but not enough for Mr. DeVol to have sued Mr. Herman (and believe me he would of after what happened with Hello, Dolly! and Sunflower).
Jose asks if I’ve ever had tickets for a show that ended up closing before I got a chance to see it. No, I’ve been very lucky, but it’s only because I never book shows that far in advance. There are shows I’ve wanted to see that have closed before I could get in, but I’ve never actually held tickets for them. Has there ever been a calendar date for an event or birthday that I swore was on one day but turned out to be on another? Not really, although I often swear that it is my birthday on days which it isn’t. Have I ever had tickets for a show but once I got to the theater I realized that I was there at the wrong time or wrong date? No, but I am notorious for occasionally telling people to meet me at the wrong theater. It’s happened with Rupert Holmes several times – we were supposed to see The Producers together, and I’d mistakenly told him I’d meet him at the theater where the Follies revival was. He was there (he thought maybe I meant we were seeing Follies) and I was at The Producers and we totally missed each other.
Matthew says that it has often been said that my CDs with solo artists often sound disconnected because I record the band first, then the vocals. Have I ever had the luxury of having both singer and orchestra at one sitting? First off, I don’t know that it’s often been said that the solo CDs sound disconnected. I don’t know what that means, really. I would defy anyone to sit down with any CD of mine and tell me whether the vocal was recorded at the band session or later. I guarantee you they would be wrong most of the time. If one is talking about solo artists, they are at the orchestra date and they sing vocals with the orchestra. However, there is no pressure on that date for those vocals to be final. If we get great stuff, great. If we get a perfect take, great. If not, we have two vocal days to do other takes until we’re all happy with the result. Just because I’ve shared the process doesn’t mean that our recording slip is showing, because it isn’t. Some singers get quite a lot on the orchestra day – Liz Callaway does, Rebecca Luker got ninety percent of her album nailed on the band date. The compilation albums, where I record the band here, but have multiple singers in New York are different – the musical director and I work with the singers in advance, set tempos and rubatos the way we want them, and then we do the tracks. They get a copy of the track and they work with that for weeks before I record them. There is still plenty of room for spontaneity and interpretation. I say again, very few singers get these things in one. They punch, they fix, they edit together takes. It has always been that way, despite what you may have heard, and despite whether they are with the band or not. Again, I venture to say that no one would be able to guess which songs were done in one take and which weren’t on any of the 130 plus albums I’ve done. Can’t be done. Have I ever recorded a duet where the two people never met to rehearse or record together? That doesn’t happen very often, but it happened on the Cinderella album because my original Prince Charming was having major vocal difficulties, and I had to replace him with Jason Graae, who had to sing to the already recorded female track. Also, Guy Haines did all his duet parts first, then the other singers sang to his track (they all got them in advance), and then Mr. Haines adjusted his vocals to the other singers.
Jay asks if the current cast of Hairspray decline to do the national tour and I was asked to cast it, whom would I cast as the Turnblads? Well, they’ve already got Bruce Vilanch as Edna. I don’t really know anyone who could do Tracy, and Wilbur could be done by any number of people who’ve played Herr Schultz in Cabaret (as did Mr. Latessa).
Td asks other than sharing credit on the new CD Jeepers Creepers, two of the female vocalists have something sinister in common; who are those two singers and what it the tie that binds them together? Well, Rebecca Luker and Judy Kaye were both involved with that nasty Phantom of the Opera. But it’s probably something to do with Katherine Helmond and someone else.
Ron Pulliam asks if I’ve ever thought about the conceit of doing an album with a bunch of singers singing the same two or three songs. No, not really. I think as an academic exercise it might be fun to take existing recordings of the same song to compare them, but to do a new album like that, I would think would get old fast. Although, that said, I do have an album with nothing but the song Round Midnight as interpreted by a variety of jazz and vocal artists, and that’s quite enjoyable.
MattH asks if I’ve ever written film criticism professionally and if so, where, and if not, would I be interested. Oh, I don’t think I’d enjoy doing that outside of these here notes. The only “professional” review I’ve ever written was for the Director’s Guild magazine, when I reviewed the restored laserdisc of John Ford’s The Searchers.
Maya asks what Broadway musical would I most like to see revived right now, and who would I cast. I can think of no other musical I’d like to personally revive more than Li’l Abner. I don’t know who I would cast, other than Dick Latessa as Pappy Yokum and maybe Cady Huffman as Apposionata von Climax or the Stella Stevens role. I should think it would be fun to get fresh new faces for Abner and Daisy Mae.
Michael Shayne says that since I’m back in the recording business (heaven help me!), would I approach my close personal friend, Mr. Stephen Sondheim, about recording his new musical Bounce. Sure, if I had the wherewithal to pay for it, which I don’t. That’s a very expensive cast album, and it will go to a major label. I would, however, record a jazz version if I liked the score and thought it would lend itself to that sort of treatment.
William F. Orr asks what news on the movie. As I think I’ve shared with you, the financing we had in place earlier this year fell through when the war started, and the producers quickly followed suit. I have since raised two-thirds of the money myself, and am trying to close the last third. You will all, of course, be the first to know. What news on the musical. We are still trying to arrange a time for a reading, either here or in New York, and I’ve been approached by a theater outside of Chicago about doing a workshop. We shall see. What news on the record label? There will definitely be a new label, but that is all I can say for now, other than nothing will really happen with it for the next six months. What news on the Kritzerland CD? There will be one, but we can’t even begin the arrangements until Grant finishes the last two tracks for Jeepers Creepers, which will be by the end of this week. I think we’ll realistically get to it the first week of July. Once we do it, it will be ready very fast.
Laura asks what happened to the staged reading of Drat, the Cat? You know, actors, when they’re out of work, are all hot to trot to do these sorts of things – then they get jobs and forget all about it.
My goodness, those were excellent questions, and I hope my answers were worthy of them.
Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must not go hither and thither and certainly I will not be going yon, I must write, I must rest, and I must make the odd telephone call. Today’s topic of discussion: Of any show that has not had a recording, which would you most like to have a studio recording done for. Of all the Broadway cast albums you have, which would you most like to have a different version of and why? Post away, my pretties, and I shall be checking in often.