Well, dear readers, we were sold out last night – lots of elderly folks in the audience, hence a very strange and quiet reaction to the show’s first ten minutes or so. But the cast didn’t let it throw them and they delivered our best show so far in terms of sharpness and energy. The audience finally got with it and, of course, given its demographic, loved the face lift song and the Yiddish Sondheim section. By the second act we had them completely, and the second act played wonderfully and the actor who’d had a problem setting it up before did it right this time and everything worked well after that. Certain What Ifs went the best they’ve ever gone. Tammy’s Joshua Noveck is really beginning to hit the mark – they really liked it tonight. The Broadway Coming Attractions brought the house down again and we got our first standing ovation at the end. I have heard through the grapevine that the reviews from Friday night will be very mixed, in part, I believe, from the second act problems. I’ve heard the critics like the parodies and like the other material much less. I truly think it’s because the revue form has been so subverted in recent years that no one really remembers what these were like in the good old days, which is the main reason I did it this way. I could panic and start changing things, but I find it best to have the courage of one’s convictions and to hang tough. Certainly the audiences are responding to the other material and, of course, everyone who has a criticism of some of the other material lists different songs they’d change. I personally don’t love a couple of the numbers, but I’d run out of time to keep looking for better. If the show has a life, I’ll replace those, but I doubt I’ll change the form. What these critics seem to want is all comedy and that just didn’t interest me. I’ve seen several all comedy revues and after six or seven comedy numbers in a row I’m just done – I can’t laugh anymore no matter how good they are. As wonderful as some entries in Forbidden Broadway have been, I just grow weary at some point. I like having ballads and heartfelt numbers in between the comedy stuff – to me, it’s a more rounded and interesting evening. As I’ve said all along, it’s the way revues used to be. In any case, Mel Brooks and Carl Reiner have given us quotes to use and those are more important than any review of our revue we’d get. And the really amusing thing is, our very own Mr. Nick Redman was sitting directly in front of Mr. Brooks and Mr. Reiner, and he overheard them saying that they loved two of the ballads that people have suggested I cut. Go know. And that is the Saturday Report.
Well, why don’t we all click on the Unseemly Button below so I can tell you about two DVDs I watched yesterday afternoon whilst sitting on my couch like so much fish.
Yes, Virginia, I watched two count them two DVDs yesterday afternoon. First I watched Mr. Herbert Ross’ film of Pennies from Heaven, starring Mr. Steve Martin and Miss Bernadette Peters. I remember pretty much loathing it when I first saw it, even though I also remember liking the musical numbers, the set design, the choreography and the camerawork. My biggest problem with the film back then was Mr. Martin, who simply hadn’t done a huge amount of acting – I found his performance weak. Seeing the DVD I haven’t really changed my opinion of the film as a whole, but I do have even more respect for the musical numbers now. They are all wonderful and they are choreographed by one of the great unsung choreographers – Danny Daniels. His work, in a word, is brilliant and puts the numbers in the film of Chicago to shame. I really like Bernadette in this film, and also Jessica Harper. Steve Martin is still a problem for me, although I’m used to the performance now and it doesn’t grate on me like it did. Vernal Bagneris is terrific in his Pennies from Heaven number, and Bernadette’s number with the children is a classic. The set design is great, as is Gordon Willis’ camerawork. However, this film was made in 1981 and lab work back then (especially at MGM) was at a really low ebb and the opticals on this film (dissolves, effects, etc.) are the grainiest I’ve ever seen – the grain looks like popcorn. It looked that way in the theater and it looks that way on DVD. Once the optical is done, the camerawork shines through and the transfer replicates perfectly the look of the release prints, both bad and good. I then watched Kill Bill Vol.2. I had enjoyed the first film, even though I found Mr. Tarantino’s continuous borrowings annoying after a while. Still, he somehow did his homages and made them work and it all moved right along. The second film was not as much to my liking. It’s leisurely-paced, there are some really endless dialogue scenes (I like long dialogue scenes but these really do go on and the dialogue isn’t that hot), and the film just ambles along from one scene to the next without any of the kineticism of the first film. Mr. Tarantino says the first film was his Hong Kong tribute and the second film is his Leone tribute. That’s a convenient way to address the film’s problems. If that’s really the case, how was this ever shot to be one film – not possible. I’ve read several “reviews” on the Internet which all go along with the Leone theory – and they really like it almost better than the first film. But then, people just see what they want to see. They also say the transfer is much better than Volume One. Now, I happened to think Volume One looked pretty damn good. Volume Two, on the other hand, is not so hot – the whole thing is soft to the point of being out of focus in everything but the close-ups. When Village of the Damned, a forty-year-old black and white film looks better than Kill Bill Volume Two you know something is awry somewhere.
What am I, Ebert and Roeper all of a sudden? I’m thinking that our Unseemly Live Chat will be on Monday night at six o’clock Pacific Mean Daylight Savings Time. Be there or be round. And don’t forget, Donald has a brand new radio show up, so give a listen.
Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must relax, then I must attend our matinee, then I must eat, then I must crash. And that, dear readers, is the Saturday Report. Today’s topic of discussion: It’s free-for-all day, the day in which you dear readers get to choose the topics and we all get to post about them. So, let’s have loads of lovely topics and loads of lovely postings, shall we?