Well, dear readers, I am on a dried fruit kick. Every day, I get up and kick some dried fruit. It’s ever so amusing. I have been buying bags of dried fruit at Gelson’s for about three weeks. I buy dried pineapple, I buy dried cherries, I buy dried apricots. I put a few of each in a bowl and I sit on my couch like so much fish and I eat the dried fruit, and whilst I eat the dried fruit I wonder why I am eating such weird foodstuffs. I mean, why am I eating dried fruit when I could just buy some pineapple, some cherries, and some apricots, fresh from the fresh fruit section? Well, I’ll tell you why. Because that would be too normal for the likes of me. Why should I eat real, healthy fruit, when I can eat weird dried fruit? Has anyone noticed that I have just waxed on and on about dried fruit? Well, the good news is that I, at least, did not wax on and on about waxed fruit. Frankly, I eating dried fruit as I type these here notes. “Frankly, I eating dried fruit as I type these here notes?” What am I, Tonto all of a sudden? Yesterday, I had yet another jam-packed day. I dealt with Kritzerland business, wrote four pages of the short story, and met with Miss Tammy Minoff. We had to return the job we had done at Kinko’s because they’d done it incorrectly. They were very nice about it, and completely redid the job at their expense. Some things that were supposed to arrive today did not arrive today, and that is always cause for concern. Hopefully, those things will arrive today. If they don’t, that, too, will be cause for concern. Where was I? Oh, yes, I then had a ninety-minute rehearsal with Mr. Kevin Spirtas and his musical director, John Boswell. We implemented notes and changes from our last rehearsal, and they all worked very well. We also decided on what type of music is going to underscore each of the patter sections. The show is feeling very good now – the structure is sound, and the song selection is varied and interesting. We did a lot of research into these types of shows, and we learned that the audience likes to know the songs they’re hearing. Therefore, there are no real rarities in the show. The song selection is like comfort food. That said, I did manage to sneak in one of my favorite Kander and Ebb songs, Sometimes a Day Goes By. In about two weeks, we start staging the show, which I’m really looking forward to. I then had a marvelously marvelous dinner with the Pogues. We went to Hamburger Hamlet on Hollywood Blvd. The food was really quite grand, and we had a splendidly splendid time. We dished the dirt, we dirted the dish, and we laughed and laughed and just when we thought we could laugh no more, we laughed again. If you’d like to read Pogue’s comments on the new Guy Haines CD, which he got an advance copy of, see last night’s posts. I then came home, changed into my lounging pyjamas, my smoking jacket, my leopard-spotted dickie, and my bunny slippers.
Last night I watched a motion picture on DVD entitled The Innocents. It’s a region 4 DVD, but rest easy, it will be out in the US in a couple of months. What can one say about The Innocents? I came to know the film only a few years ago, and I really liked it upon first viewing. It gets better each time I see it. Let’s start with the riveting and brilliant direction of Jack Clayton, and the amazing black-and-white Cinemascope photography of Freddie Francis – some of the most amazing black-and-white images ever put on the screen. Then there’s the score by Georges Auric – a unique, unsettling soundscape that is breathtaking. It’s criminal that this soundtrack has never been available. Our very own Mr. Nick Redman has searched the vaults at Fox, but, because the film was a pickup, only distributed by them, they don’t seem to have the music track. Then there’s the sound mix of the film. Anyone who thinks they do this better today need only listen to the incredible mono mix on The Innocents. It’s textured, layered, and imaginative, and it supports the visuals perfectly. Then there’s the performances; every single one of them pitch-perfect. Deborah Kerr is radiant, strange, fevered, and complex as the new governess, Miss Giddens. Martin Stephens and Pamela Franklin give two of the best child performances in the history of film. Megs Jenkins is wonderful as Mrs. Grose, as is Michael Redgrave in his one scene as The Uncle. The screenplay, by William Archibald and Truman Capote, is equally marvelous. I know some people find the film one of the scariest ever made, but I’m not one of them. What I do find is a film that is completely unsettling and unnerving, with some great eerie moments. I don’t think they could make this film today – there is no way the PC idiots would stand for the kiss between the boy and Miss Kerr, and then they’d just tart the thing up with “boo” moments and loud, annoying music. The Innocents is the way movies should be made – it’s daring, unique filmmaking. It tells a story, but it doesn’t pander. It is, in short, one of the greats. The transfer is excellent, but I’m suspecting that the region 1 release will be even better. I do hope they don’t remix it for 5.1 or, if they do, that they leave the original mono mix on the DVD.
Well, why don’t we all click on the Unseemly Button below, because, frankly, I’ve got to go kick some dried fruit.
Dried fruit, dried fruit, I’m sick of this stuff already. I need some wet fruit. I think I’ll stop right there.
Today, I must put the After the Ball booklet to bed. I’ve just seen the redone twelve-page version, and it’s pretty stunning to look at. Lots of gorgeous color photographs, nice notes, a synopsis, and easy-to-read type. I must also lunch with Miss Tammy Minoff and a friend of hers, an acting coach, who may want to be involved in this little thing that Tammy and I have been working on. I must then attend to a bunch of errands and things that must get done before I leave town on Sunday. We’ve also begun the difficult task of setting up accounts at amazon, CD Baby, and other online stores, along with setting up accounts at specialty shops such as Footlight (soon to only be an online store), Colony Records, and basically any store that will buy our CDs under our conditions. I’m also supposed to begin testing the Kritzerland website today, which I’m most excited about. I’m sure there will be lots of adjustments over the next few days, but I’m still hoping to go “live” sometime early next week. Then, you’ll be able to place your orders, which we hope will be plentiful.
Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must write, I must do all of the above, I must prance about like a gazelle eating dried fruit, and I must eat a reasonable, not-too-caloric meal. Today’s topic of discussion: What are your all-time favorite ghost stories – in literature, in real-life, in movies, and in plays. Let’s have loads of lovely postings, shall we, and let’s all eat some dried fruit while we’re at it.