Well, dear readers, I must write with haste but must have no waste because as we all know haste makes waste but not if you have taste. Well, we’re off to a flying start, are we not? In fact, we’re off to a flying Wallenda start. In mere moments I must go pick up Ben Jones, son of Richard Jones – Bee Killer, and Margaret Jones, my muse. Together we will go to the downtown library on a field trip, so that I can make sure that all the movies and dates in Kritzer three match up perfectly. I’ve done this for the other two books as well – it’s very tiring but I like to be accurate (and usually am). We are going to park in North Hollywood and take the MetroRail downtown, which will be my first time doing so. Apparently it lets you off right at Pershing Square, which is a mere two blocks from the library. That way we avoid the awful morning and afternoon traffic. Isn’t that exciting? Isn’t that just too too?
Today we introduce a brand spanking new feature here at haineshiway.com. It’s Juliana’s Journal, wherein our very own Juliana A. Hansen keeps a journal of her experiences doing the national tour of Thoroughly Modern Millie. We’ll follow her ride from the casting sessions, through rehearsals, right to opening night and beyond. I think you’ll find it a lot of fun. It will be updated at least two or three times a week, probably more, so pay a visit. For now, use the Handy-Dandy links to new sections button, and then simply click on Juliana’s Journal and voila, there you will be. We’re going to redesign our home page in the next few weeks, so that all the key links are right there and ready to be clicked on.
Speaking of clicking, why don’t we all click on the Unseemly Button below, because don’t I have some excellent questions to answer? I do and I shall.
Mr. Craig Brockman promises me we shall have quite a few lovely photos up for your viewing pleasure – photos from our recent New York jaunt, along with the cover art for the new album. But enough about Craig, on to your excellent questions.
Jose asks if I’ve ever been down under to Australia, or New Zealand or even the Pacific Islands. No, I have not been down under or up over, I have been nowhere, man, nowhere. I was in Toronto once, and Montreal once (and no, Virginia, I did not have poutine), but that is all. I’ve been all over these United States however, but the rest of the world is virgin territory for me. What determines what my daily attire will be? Unless I’m going somewhere, I just throw on whatever I see hanging in the closet. If I have an appointment then I do make an attempt to not look like a bag of laundry. Do I like wearing black tie/tuxedos? If not, what do I prefer to wear to formal events? I do not like formal attire much, but I wear it if I’m forced to. I would always prefer to be casual and wear tennis shoes.
Jrand52 asks which is my favorite score – Damn Yankees or The Pajama Game? I like both, but I am more partial to Damn Yankees. Do I think Janis Paige should have been cast in the film version of The Pajama Game? Well, I never saw her on the stage, so I cannot say, oh, no, I cannot say at this time. I do, however, think Miss Doris Day does a fine job. Have I seen Miss Allison Hayes at the Hollywood premiere of Giant? No, I still haven’t gotten around to either the film or the supplements, but I will soon.
MBarnum asks when I attend the Ray Courts show do I ever get anyone’s autograph. I’ve attended most of his shows over the years, both as spectator and signer, but I’ve never gotten anyone’s autograph. Who am I looking forward to seeing? Well, Shirley Jones, of course, and the amazing Tura Satana, and I’d like to say hello to Ronald Neame, and there are quite a few others that are nifty.
Ron Pulliam asks how I rate the score to Nine against scores of the past ten, twenty, thirty, forty, fifty and sixty years. Okay, I will admit it – I have never been all that partial to Nine. I will be buying the reissue, and maybe this time I’ll get into it more. I like moments and pieces of it, but a lot of it I find really irritating. I think I would rate it okay against scores of the last ten years, and less okay for each successive decade.
William E. Lurie says that over the years I have no doubt attended many readings and workshops of works-in-progress. Did I ever see anything in this form that I thought would be a big hit in its finished version and then it never went beyond the workshop stage? No, I can’t think of any – nor have I seen all that many workshops or readings. Did I ever see anything that did get further productions and were they shows I would have predicted a future for or was I surprised they were produced? I have seen very bad workshops of things that go on to other workshops, but so far nothing has gone beyond that, which means taste does prevail every now and then. I did see the Flower Drum Song revisal workshop, and I did offer my opinion that I thought it could really work like gangbusters if they fixed the thirty percent that just didn’t work at all. Unfortunately, they didn’t, although after much badgering on my part I was happy to see they finally cut The Next Time it Happens. It was still in the show here at the Taper, as it had been at the workshop. I’d been as vocal as could be after the workshop that it had no place in the score, and at the opening night party here, I was even more vocal, cornering Ted Chapin of the R&H Organization and telling him I would put a hex on the show if they didn’t cut it. Thank goodness, sanity prevailed.
Matthew asks what has been my favorite cast album to produce and what has been my least favorite. Well, the easiest was Bells are Ringing. My favorite probably would be The King and I, which I’m very proud of. The most annoying would be Hello, Dolly! because its star was not the most pleasant person to work with, and Play On! as good as it is, and as great as the cast was to work with, was kind of an annoying session because the musical supervisor was a curmudgeon and just not cooperative. I also loved doing the No Way to Treat a Lady album – just tons of fun.
Phil asks if I’m familiar with the full score to Stephen Schwartz’ Children of Eden and if so why do I think it has not made the transition to Broadway? I’ve never seen the show so I don’t know how it works on stage, but I will say it’s my least favorite Schwartz score.
MattH asks if I use a Mac or PC. I wear a Mac in the rain, and I use a PC, a Dell laptop.
Michael Shayne has seen the horrid DVD transfer of Naked Space (aka Spaceship, aka The Creature Wasn’t Nice). I’ve mentioned how terrible the framing is (it’s an open matte transfer, therefore you see things above and below the 1:85 ratio that weren’t meant to be seen, like the tops and bottoms of sets, etc.), and Michael’s question is why didn’t the cinematographer make the shot tighter so that the top of the set would not be seen in case of misframing? Well, we didn’t want the shot tighter – we “protected” up to 1:66, but everything above and below that is just wasted space. When I made the preview print of my version of the film I had it hard matted to 1:85 so there could be no misframing. But most 1:85 movies always have the rest of the frame exposed, and unfortunately there have been a few awful open matte transfers where you see mics and all kinds of junk. The first laserdisc of North by Northwest that came out exposed to much top and you could see the top of the Mt. Rushmore backdrop. The film was shot at The Laird Studios – do they still exist and what were they before they were Laird? Laird is now The Culver Studios and was originally David O. Selznick (the David O. Selznick logo – that building is the front of the studio on Washington Blvd in Culver City – it’s still there). ET was shot there, Mad About You was shot there, and it’s currently still quite a busy lot. The Bay Cities offices were originally on the lot and then moved directly next door. Do the Broderick Crawford audio tracks still exist (Mr. Crawford was the voice of the ship’s computer in the original cut) – well, they exist in the tape I have of my version of the film – beyond that I have no idea if the original masters exist. If I were to be remembered by one filmed or video acting performance which would it be? No contest – Nudie Musical. Which would I like to be buried in the desert? The Young Lawyers, I suppose – I was really terrible. What five more or less would best describe Bruce Kimmel? I do not understand this question. What five what? What five foods? What five movies? What five diets? What five pennies – oh, a Susan Gordon reference.
Hapgood asks if I’ve ever directed a play that I did not write? You know, I can’t remember. I don’t think that I have, though, other than maybe something in college. I did direct a film I didn’t write, though – Prime Suspect – where I replaced the original director and finished the thing. But I would like to direct things I don’t write – in a way doing my albums is like directing things I don’t write. Am I familiar with Greek tragedy? Yes, I got very familiar with Greek tragedy and Greek tragedy slapped me silly. I saw Medea once (with the great Judith Anderson), so I guess that means I’m a little familiar with Greek tragedy. I once had a very bad meal in a Greek restaurant, and let me tell you, that was a Greek tragedy. What was the last play I saw and what was my opinion? The last play I saw (if one considers it a play) was The Search for Intelligent Signs of Life in the Universe, written by Jane Wagner and starring Lily Tomlin. I’d seen it before, several times, and I still adore it, although I did not like some of the new additions. Did I ever write a non-musical? Only one so far – a comedy, The Good One, which I had a blast doing. Am I planning to see Bounce in Chicago or D.C? I’d like to, but am not sure about the timing yet.
Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must try to keep up with the Joneses, I must take the MetroRail, I must look at four years worth of microfiche. I do hope that my answers to your excellent questions were to your liking. And do check out Juliana’s Journal. Also, on Friday morning, Miss Christianne Tisdale’s Unseemly Interview will be up and running, so check that out, too. Today’s topic of discussion: I’ve decided that it’s another Ask Dear Reader day, the day in which you get to ask other dear readers any old question you want to, and they must answer you with candor and even with ebb. So, ask away my pretties, and I hope to have lots and lots of posts to read upon my return home.