Well, dear readers, we had a hectic rehearsal last night. I’m so impressed with the cast; they are learning an incredible amount of material in an incredibly short time, then having to learn a lot of staging for a lot of numbers. Some of them are getting a bit frustrated trying to remember where they go when, but considering we’re only a week into rehearsal, it’s just amazing to see them go through the paces, even when they’re struggling. The other thing is they all really like each other and, even at this early stage, that’s really coming across strongly. No matter what the show ends up being and no matter how much people like or dislike the material, the cast will shine and the show will work in at least that way. Our choreographer managed to get three What Ifs done last night (some of these are very short), and we even had time to run the big What If from last Sunday, and we even had time to run what I staged last night. Jose is really getting into the swing of things now. I also added another song to the show – I’d been searching for an Alet number and finally remembered one I loved that’s not too well known – she really liked it so we’re doing it. Now I’ve got to find one more Susanne number and I’m done with the material, I think, unless something really isn’t working, in which case I’ll have a couple of backups. And that’s the up-to-the-minute report.
Last night I finished watching the motion picture entertainment, The Spy Who Came in From the Cold, from the novel by John Le Carre. What a terrific film this is. The screenplay is literate in a way films simply aren’t anymore, the dialogue is fantastic, and the characters are complex and interesting. The cast could not be better, from Richard Burton and Claire Bloom, to Sam Wanamaker, the great Michael Hordern, and the rest, including Cyril Cusack, who’s one of the great character actors and who most people don’t even know. The transfer is great – 1:85, anamorphically enhanced for widescreen TVs; crisp, excellent contrast and just a wonderful image. There’s a new stereo track (good) and the original mono (also good). Also, I must say a word about the excellent score by Sol Kaplan – he didn’t really do that many movie scores but all the ones I’ve heard are really good. And one can’t praise the direction of Martin Ritt enough. Subtle, understated and beautifully cinematic, and also kudos to the great cameraman, Oswald Morris. I recommend this, especially since it can be had for around ten bucks.
Well, why don’t we all click on the Unseemly Button below so we can see if there’s any more up-to-the-minute news.
Let’s see, what else is up-to-the-minute? Well, we have our production associate, and she’s already doing a great, great job, taking on a lot of the minutiae that Tammy and I were dealing with. Don’t we love the word “minutiae”? It’s so filled with minutiae, isn’t it? It’s so up-to-the-minute, isn’t it? In fact, this whole paragraph is both filled with minutiae and up-to-the-minute.
Our very own Mr. Donald Feltham will be attending tonight’s rehearsal and he’ll be doing some interviews with our cast members for a future radio show. Isn’t that up-to-the-minute and minutiae-filled?
Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must be up-to-the-minute, I must organize, I must do an arrangement of the new song, I must attend to some details that need attending to, and I must once again rehearse. Today’s topic of discussion: It’s Ask BK Day, the day in which you get to ask me or any dear reader any questions you like and we get to answer them any old way we like. Ask away, dear readers, and let’s have loads of lovely up-to-the-minute postings, shall we?