Well, dear readers, today will be the only day I have off until a week from next Tuesday. Starting tomorrow, we have run-throughs every day, plus I must also deal with a bunch of other stuff that’s happening, including, we hope and pray, the delivery of the first two Kritzerland CDs. We had a little slowdown with getting a proof of the booklets for our designer to look at, but the pressing plant knows that I must have discs no later than the 15th, and, so far, they’ve still promised that that will happen. Yesterday, we had an excellent work session on Kevin’s show – he’s starting to get the staging and patter in his bones, and it’s great to watch him get comfortable with it. I then spent the rest of the afternoon catching up on stuff, and then Miss Tammy Minoff arrived. I’d already heard that the Bowl didn’t open until six (my plan was to get there at five, to beat the traffic), so we went over to Gelson’s, got our food, and then headed to the Bowl. We arrived at what turned out to be the most perfect time imaginable. It was five-forty, and we turned into the parking lot and somehow were lucky enough to be first in one of the car lines – it’s hard to explain, but they stack the cars one behind another, and no one can leave until the first cars leave. Well, we were the first car in one of the lanes, just past the Highland entrance to the Bowl. That meant that when we left, we’d just get in the car and have no waiting – just pull right out and onto the freeway. We then waited in a short line until the gates opened at six. The first person we ran into in line was our very own Miss Adryan Russ. We chatted until the gates opened. We then went in and found our box in the Terrace section. I could not have been happier – we were dead center in the first row of the Terrace boxes, and I must say it’s the best seat in the house. Below us were the Garden Terrace boxes (where ASCAP had bought up most of the seats as a fund-raiser), and in front of those a small number of Garden boxes (closest to the stage). But, our box was perfection. We set up our table (our box partners didn’t arrive until seven-thirty or so, so we had it to ourselves for quite awhile), and we dined on chicken breasts, shrimp cocktail, a great Brie, great bread to go with the Brie, and potato salad, and some grapes, too. It was a lovely early evening with wonderfully nice weather, and the food was good, and just right – no gorging or overdoing it – in fact, it was quite the diet-conscious meal. I said hello to several friends, including our very own Miss Barbara Deutsch and her party, which included Mr. Kevin Spirtas and Mr. David Galligan. I also visited with ASCAP’s Michael Kerker, and gave a big hug to the great Miss Karen Morrow, who loved my hair. Our box partners arrived and it turned out that I knew one of them from my acting days – casting director April Webster. We all had a grand time chatting, and it was amazing the number of actors who stopped by to schmooze with April – Jack Noseworthy, Doug Sills, Samantha Mathis, and several others. The ubiquitous Miles Kreuger was seated nearby, and we waved at each other. Then, behind us was my friend Jane Klain, who’s one of the honchos at the Museum of Television and Radio in New York. I visited with her for quite a while, too. She was very excited about Kritzerland, and I must say I was rather taken aback by how many people knew about it and were thrilled that it was happening.
Finally, the show began. After Paul Gemignani led the LA Phil in an overture, Jason Daniely came out and sang, Something’s Coming from West Side Story. I’m not going to remember everything everyone did (I left the program in the car), but I’ll do my best to give you the highlights. Overall, the whole Bowl ambience just sort of lets you forgive the stuff that doesn’t work so well. My problem with the evening was that it didn’t seem to have a point of view, which, for me, is key. It’s not enough that you’re doing a birthday celebration – there has to be a point to it, no matter how simple the point may be. Jason sang Something’s Coming very well, but it was an odd choice to open with, as it had music by another composer. If one was going to do that, then, for my money, pick someone like Bernadette Peters to open the show with something like Some People, which would have given a huge adrenalin rush to kick start the evening. Angela Lansbury came out and said a few words (all the performers were introduced by an announcer, something that I thought ruined what could have been some wonderful surprise entrances). In the first half of the show we had Opening Doors (both Bernadette Peters and Jason Alexander had small bits, while the main parts were sung by lesser-known folks). Barbara Cook and Josh Groban sang Move On. I love Barbara Cook, but Mr. Groban is a mystery to me, and someone really needs to tell him that the hair is ridiculous. We had Vanessa Williams doing More, with a bunch of boy dancers – unfortunately, Miss Williams just didn’t have the stuff for the song, and the choreography was sort of lame. Bernadette sang Being Alive, which she did well. Anne Hathaway did a nice job with one of the Saturday Night songs. Marin Mazzie took over for Donna Murphy (duetting with someone whose name I can’t remember) doing There’s Always a Woman (Miss Murphy cancelled the day before the show), which, to my ears, did not use Larry Moore’s chart that I sent them – and the one they did use wasn’t nearly as good. Marin also sang In Buddy’s Eyes. Carol Burnett and Eric McCormick did Getting Married Today – Miss Burnett took it at a slow tempo, but it’s Carol Burnett and she was funny, even though she got off. Mr. McCormick seemed to be in another land altogether – he was hoarse, and, at one point, he couldn’t find what key he was in. There were other things which I’m not remembering, but the first half closed with the Quintet from West Side Story, with Vanessa Williams doing Anita, Audra McDonald doing Maria, James Barbour as Tony, and others as the Jets and Sharks. It was fine – not what I would have chosen as an act-ender, but, you know, that’s what makes horse racing. Interspersed throughout the show were video clips of Steve on various shows, and a very clever and funny newly-filmed bit with the Desperate Housewives cast all saying what their favorite Sondheim songs are (in character).
At intermission, Tammy and I roamed around and said hey to a few folks. We saw our old pal, Mr. Kevin Chamberlin, and it was whilst chatting him up that I noticed that my close personal friend, Mr. Stephen Sondheim, was standing inches from me, surrounded by the usual fawning suspects. Kevin said hello to him, while Tammy and I said hello to Brandon, the young man who did the sound for What If. I was about to move on, when I saw Kevin walk away from Mr. Stephen Sondheim, at which point I did something very uncharacteristic of me – I just wheeled around and said hi to Steve. He actually seemed happy to see me, and I introduced him to Tammy, who was dying to meet him. We had a nice chat – he seemed in good spirits and he told me to watch for Audra’s big number in the second act, which he told me would have my jaw on the floor. We then returned to our box and the second act began.
The second act had some nice moments, and some moments that just didn’t land. It began with Miss Elaine Stritch coming out and doing a wonderful Broadway Baby. Well, it would have been wonderful if Miss Stritch’s head mic was working. Something was wrong with it – it went in and out, it fed back, it was terrible. Now, the one thing you know if you’ve ever directed one of these things, is that you have a wireless hand mic standing by at all times. When the problem began, which was right at the top of the number, they should have sent someone on with a hand mic, she should have stopped, and then started again. A shame, as she was in wonderful form. Miss Cook sang her usual fine rendition of Losing My Mind. And then came the highlight of the evening – the number that made the whole show worthwhile. Miss Angela Lansbury and Mr. Len Cariou doing A Little Priest. I cannot tell you how magical and wonderful it was to see Mr. Cariou back as Sweeney. And the number was sublime from start to finish, and garnered a standing ovation (there were several during the evening). Bernadette sang a nice Children Will Listen, and Audra, who I have never really been crazy about, really did deliver the goods with a put-together of What Can You Lose and Not a Day Goes By. The idea of those two songs together was better than the actual arrangement of them, but Miss McDonald really tore into them and was great. Mr. Warren Beatty came on and was his usual awkward self – he spoke, and then Miss Barbra Streisand came out, spoke briefly, and introduced Miss Marilyn Bergman, who presented Mr. Sondheim with some sort of award or plaque. Then, Barbra sang – well, she led the audience in Happy Birthday. Then a kids chorus came on and did Our Time. Then the cast came out for their bow, and Miss Lansbury took a header, tripping over what looked like a mic cord. She tried so hard not to go down, but down she went. She was helped up and was, thankfully, fine. What a trouper she is – none better. I have, of course, left out other numbers, but you get the idea. Could it have been better? Absolutely. Was it enjoyable? Absolutely. And, it really is hard to control these things. The show’s producer/director, Paul Lazarus, spent seven months putting it together – it’s very hard work (I spent a year doing the Julius Wechter benefit tribute for Tourette’s). All in all, one forgives the faults, and one just soaks in the atmosphere of the evening, which was completely sold out. I will say one further thing, just because it was shocking to me – the LA Philharmonic was very ragged, with some very iffy playing.
Well, why don’t we all click on the Unseemly Button below, because these here notes are taking forever to write (and, conversely, will take forever to read), and we simply must get them up and posted.
All right, I must fly through the rest of the notes. So, I didn’t have time to do a major Unseemly Trivia Contest, so here’s what I came up with:
In a season filled with hit plays and musicals, two plays were directed by men who were much better known as film directors. Now, there are several interesting things about this – for example, the first play, a drama, was directed by a film director who would go on to create at least two iconic and classic films. The second play, a comedy, was directed by a well-known film director who would, in a strange bit of fate, go on to direct the film version of the first play. The second play was also turned into a film, and that film starred two beloved comic performers. Moving on – the first play was based on a novel. The second play was written by someone who would go on to write several best-selling novels. Finally, the film director of the first play would go on to direct his most famous film, which was based on a book by a writer who, in that same season, had a play adapted from another book of his. That play was a complete flop, despite the presence of a major motion picture star in its lead. And strangest of all, the director of the flop play with the movie star lead was also a well-known film director. With me so far? So, here are the questions:
Name the two film directors.
Name the two plays they directed.
Name the two comic performers who starred in the film version of the second play.
Name the first play’s film director’s most famous film, and the author of the novel it was adapted from (who also had a play adapted from a novel of his that same season), name the flop play, name the movie star of the flop play, and name the film director of the flop play.
Whew! Convoluted, I know, but what else is new? If I haven’t been clear enough about something, just post and tell me what you need clarified. Otherwise, good luck to one and all and also all and one. And remember: DO NOT POST YOUR ANSWERS TO THE SITE! Just send them to me at bruce@haineshisway.com (and don’t worry if you get the e-mail bounced back – I do get them).
Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must enjoy my day off, I must open the Kritzerland bank account, I must write, I must do errands, and I must catch up on my DVD watching. Today’s topic of discussion: Name your ten favorite Sondheim songs. Let’s have loads of lovely postings, shall we?